She was a Syrophoenecian woman. She lived in a land north of Israel or Galilee, some distance from where Jesus was performing His ministry. She was a Gentile. She was not part of the tribes of Israel. She was not a Jew, by birth.

This woman had a serious, serious problem. She was a mother who had a daughter who was suffering terribly from demon possession. She had heard about Jesus and her heart, her mother's heart, went out for her poor daughter, who was suffering so terribly from demon possession. (We don't know exactly what was going on with her daughter, but we do know that mother's heart went out for her daughter.) And, she had heard about Jesus.

This Syrophoenecian woman had come to believe in Jesus, and believed that Jesus was her Savior. She believed that Jesus was kind, loving, and compassionate. She had heard that Jesus had compassion on the sick, driven out demons, and raised dead.

This loving mother, who was so compassionate for her daughter, wanted to help her daughter. And so, this woman left her home in Syrophoenecian, and went in desperate search of Jesus, with a mother's heart, desiring the healing of her daughter.

You can imagine the speed in her footsteps, as she headed toward Galilee. Back then, they did not have a phone, or TV, so she had to begin to ask where Jesus was. You can imagine her excitement, as she entered into Galilee and began to narrow down exactly what town Jesus was in. You can see her footsteps speeding toward that town, finally finding the town where Jesus was. Imagine this mother's heart, now, as it begins to rapidly beat, as there off in the distance, she sees a crowd gathered, and that is where Jesus is!! She makes her way into that crowd, gets up to the point where she knows Jesus can hear her voice, and finally does what she came for. With a mother's heart she cries out to the One she has been seeking and says, "Lord help me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession."

There she had let out her cry, the cry of a mother's heart. She had let out that cry to Jesus, the Savior. She had let out that cry to the One she knew was kind, loving, and compassionate. She had let out that cry to the One who could help her, and help her daughter. How her heart must have soared, as she said, "Lord help me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession."

The Bible tells us Jesus uttered not a word. I wonder if He looked straight at her and uttered not a word. What happened to her heart? What did she begin to think? "Did He not hear me? Surely, it is not that He does not care about me."

And so, she cried out again, "Lord, help me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession."

But, Jesus uttered not a word! What did it appear like? What did it look like? What must have been going on in her heart? What turmoil she must have had. And so, she began to cry out more, to the point that the disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, send her away. She is crying out after us."

And Jesus, instead of responding to the woman who had traveled all that way, seeking help for her dear daughter, and who knew Jesus could help, instead of even looking at her and responding to her, Jesus just said to His disciples, "I was sent only for the lost sheep of Israel."

"She is a Gentile," He was saying. "I came for the Jews."

What would her heart say? Here is the One she thought would help. Here was the One that she thought could heal her daughter and it appears as though He is rebuffing, as if He is saying, "I don't want to help you. I don't care about you."

But what does she do? The Bible tells us, this woman, instead of giving up, obviously made her way through that crowd, got right in front of Jesus, got down on her knees, and said to Jesus, "Lord, help me!"

Jesus looked at her and said, "It is not right. It is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs."

He was calling her a dog. He was saying, "I came for the Children of Israel. Why would I give anything to you?"

To which she responded, "True Lord. True Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table."

Wow! What a faith! What a faith that woman had! Despite all appearances, despite what things looked like, despite the feelings that may have been going on in her heart, that woman had faith that Jesus could and would help her daughter.

I wonder how I would have responded, had I been in that situation. Don't you wonder how you would have responded? I fear that I would have been much more like Thomas, in today's scripture reading. Thomas was a man who was an apostle. He had been with the Lord. He had heard the Lord's wonderful message. He had been moved by the Lord's teaching and preaching. He had seen the Lord's mighty miracles. He had been with the Lord, when Jesus raised three different people from the dead. He had been there, when the young man of Nain had been raised from the dead. He had been there when Jarius' daughter had been raised from the dead. He had been there when Lazarus had been raised from the dead.

Thomas was, apparently, a man of some courage, an apostle of some courage. When Jesus wanted to go and see Lazarus, back in Judea, the disciples knew that Jesus would be in danger, if He would do that. However, Thomas bravely said, "Let us go and die with the Lord."

He had a manly heart, and yet, in the face of adversity, what happened to Thomas? His Savior had died, just as Jesus said He would. He had died, and now Thomas' heart was in turmoil. It was in great trouble. It was in despair. His heart began to look at the outward appearances. It began to look at its feelings. In the face of severe adversity it began to say to itself, "Surely He died. Maybe He isn't the Savior. Maybe He wasn't who I believed He was."

His heart was filled with doubts.

And, where did Thomas go to try to allay his doubts? Thomas went to outward appearances. He went to outward signs. He went to something that could bolster his feelings and his emotions. Thomas even picked the sign that he wanted. He picked the outward sign. He said, "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands," (and then he used hyperbole), "and I put my finger where those nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it."

Thomas would not believe, he said, unless he could have some outward sign, unless the appearance of things would convince him that what Jesus had said was true, unless his emotions and his feelings could convince him that yes, what Jesus said was true.

Oh, how often are you and I, in times of adversity, like Thomas, instead of being like that Syrophoenecian woman? Nothing shook her, did it? Nothing! She did not doubt the promises of Jesus, no matter what the appearance was, no matter what her feelings may have been telling her.

She did not doubt the Word.

But, how often are we like Thomas, in the face of adversity, when things begin to get difficult in our lives, and our hearts begin to grow troubled. Maybe it is health problems, maybe it is problems at home with relationships, maybe it is difficulties at work, maybe it is difficulties with friends. It can be a wide variety of troubles that can go on in our lives, and what happens to our hearts? Our hearts begin to grow troubled. Why do our hearts grow troubled? If we had true, strong, certain, and absolute faith, we would not fear. We wouldn't be worried.

We would trust

the promises of God.

But our sinful nature begins to look for a sign. It begins to look for something that we can cling to. "Oh, if only things would go well in my life, then I would know that God is with me and He loves me."

We long for things to go well, just so we can be convinced. Oh, maybe we are troubled by some sin that we have committed and our guilt is weighing us down. We have asked God for forgiveness, but the feeling of forgiveness is not there. Our heart says, "Oh if only I would feel like my sins were forgiven, then I could be assured, then I could be certain."

Our heart, our sinful heart strives to go after those outward signs, those outward emotions, those outward feelings, as if they are somehow going to give us certainty.

Well, Jesus, in His mercy appeared to Thomas. In His mercy, He appeared to Thomas and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Thomas fell on his knees before Christ, and he made a great confession of faith. He said, "My Lord and my God!" Thomas' doubts were removed. Thomas believed that Jesus was alive. Thomas believed that Jesus was the Savior of the world. Thomas believed that his sins were forgiven.

Then Jesus said something to Thomas that was meant for you and me. You know what He said to Thomas, and He meant it for you and He meant it for me? He said, "Because you you have seen me, you have believed." And then Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

"Blessed are those who have not seen,

and yet

have believed."

There Jesus teaches us that we are not to put our faith, our confidence in outward signs, or those outward emotions, but we are to put our confidence in One thing and One thing only. It is the One thing that is sure, the One thing that is certain, the One thing that is immovable. And that One thing is the Word of God. "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

Look at that Syrophoenecian woman's faith. By all appearances, by all appearances

✔ it looked like the Lord was rejecting her.

✔ It looked like the Lord wanted nothing to do with her.

✔ It looked like the Lord had no intention of helping her.

But, she refused to go by the outward sign. She knew the heart of her Savior. She knew it! She knew it and she clung to it.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

Faith is being sure of what we don't see. When there is adversity all around us, we need to train our hearts not to go to or, to long for some outward sign, or some emotion that can make us 'feel certain' that God is with us, and He loves us. But, we need to train our hearts to go to God's Word. God's Word is more sure than any outward sign. It is more sure than any emotion. There, in God's Word, we find our certainty.

What if you ever struggle, and you think to yourself, "Does God love me? Does He forgive my sins?" What if we had to base our certainty of forgiveness on whether we felt forgiven, with some sign? And what if you don't feel forgiven? What if you still, day after day, struggle with the guilt of some sin that you have committed? It still plagues you that you did it. It still bothers you. Does that mean that you are not forgiven? No! It does not mean that at all.

Jesus says, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

We have God's promise. We have His sure and certain promise. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God's promises are sure and certain, more sure than all of my emotions, more sure than all appearances. And, we cling to that.

Isn't it interesting, that Jesus, on that first Easter Sunday, when He had risen from the dead, gave the disciples a mission. He said, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Then, He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." And then He spoke these words, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven."

He did not say, "Whoever you can make feel like they have been forgiven." Or, "Whoever has seen some sign to prove to them that they have a God who loves them." Or, "Whoever you can show some outward sign to, to prove that Jesus rose from the dead." Or, "Whoever you can convince by filling them with great joy."

Jesus said,

"If you forgive anyone his sins,

they are forgiven."

He was pointing away from outward signs and outward emotions, and He was pointing to His Word.

What do we know from the Word? We know from the Word that Jesus took the sins of all people. They were imputed onto Him. The Bible says,

"The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

We know that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, that were laid upon Him. The Bible says,

"God was reconciling the world to Himself,

not counting mens' sins against them."

Our sins are not counted against us. We know that when Jesus rose from the dead, God was declaring to the world, to the world that our sins are forgiven. The Bible says,

"He was put to death

for our sins

and raised to life

for our justification."

There was God's declaration to the world that forgiveness has been procured. When Jesus said to His disciples, "Go therefore into all the world," He was telling His disciples that He wants the whole world to know that message that their sins are forgiven, and have been forgiven, and stand forgiven. And, as surely as God wants the whole world to know that, our Savior wants each, single, individual to know it. If it is true that the whole world's sins are forgiven, then each individual's sins are forgiven. If it is true that Jesus wants the whole world to know it, then He wants each, single, individual to know it.

And so, Jesus said to His disciples, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven." There scripture tells us to proclaim that to each individual.

Your sins are forgiven.

What does Jesus say? He says, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven." They are forgiven.

Why are they forgiven? They are forgiven because Christ has promised it. His Word stands true.

And so, our Savior teaches us that in the face of trials, troubles, and adversity, let's not base our certainty on our emotions. Let's not base it on appearances, (which is what Thomas did). But rather, (like that Syrophoenecian woman), let's base our certainty on God's promises.

➢ When God promises that He is with us, He is.

➢ When He promises that everything works out for our good, it does.

➢ When He promises that our sins are forgiven, they are.

Amen.