Authentic Christ-Centered Worship, Study, and Sometimes Just Plain Silliness!

Martin Luther on the Gospel for Reminiscere

The Tenacity of Faith


She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly" (Matthew 15:27-28) Faith takes Christ captive in His Word, when He's angriest, and makes out of His cruel words a comforting inversion. In today's Gospel, the woman says to Jesus, 'You say I am a dog. Then I ask for no more than a dog's right. Let me, like a dog, pick up the crumbs under the table. Let me have what the children don't need or even what they miss-the crumbs-and I will be content. ' Do you see how the woman catches Christ the Lord in His own words and with that wins not only the right of a dog, but also that of the children? He let Himself be made captive, and must comply. Be sure of this-that's what He most deeply desires." The woman in today's Gospel imagines the Lord will not fulfill what he has spoken, and will let his Word be false. So what does she do? She turns her eyes from all this unfriendly treatment of Christ. This does not lead her astray, neither does she take it to heart, but she continues immediately and firmly to cling in her confidence to the good news she had heard and embraced concerning him, and never gives up. We must also do the same and learn firmly to cling to the Word, even though God with all his creatures appears different than his Word teaches. May God help us in time of need of death to possess like courage and faith! Today's Gospel is written for our comfort and instruction. In it, we hear how deeply God conceals His grace, and that we should not estimate Him according to our feelings and thinking, but strictly according to His Word. Jesus appears to be hardhearted to the woman, and all his answers indeed sound like "no," but they are not. We learn, then, that we must turn from our feelings and lay hold of and retain the deep spiritual "yes" under and above the "no" with a firm faith in God's Word (as this woman does). Like the woman, we can say, "Lord it is true, I am a sinner and not worthy of Your grace. But You have promised sinners forgiveness, and You come not to call the righteous but to save sinners."
A congregation of the Wyoming District of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod serving the students of the University of Wyoming & The Wyoming Technical Institute