The Second Sunday in Lent (Reminiscere)
March 1, 2026
Matthew 15:21-28
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the Gospel today, we see Jesus not as we are accustomed to. The Canaanite woman approaches Jesus and His disciples with a prayer – a plea, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
The Gospel says, “He answered her not a word.”
This is not the Jesus we know and love. Maybe in the back of your mind, you are wondering about this Jesus, “Who are you?”
While I was on vicarage, there was a lady who lived in a nursing home; one day, she asked the pastor for a picture of Jesus to hang on her wall. My supervisor brought her an image of Jesus, one of the Olan Mills style portraits. But it was not right, she told us. She did not want a feminine-looking Jesus but a strong Jesus, a Savior – that’s what she was looking for.
This got me thinking – there are numerous images of Jesus throughout the church, but how does his appearance strike you? What does his facial demeanor confess to you?
Isn’t it interesting how the true subjectiveness of art influences not only how we see the world, but also how we want Jesus to appear to us and within our own hearts? What Jesus do you want? The masculine Jesus? A serious Jesus? Or a happy Jesus? Well, the Canaanite woman doesn’t get a choice, and neither do you.
Now, this woman pleads with Jesus for His mercy three times, and it seems He might remain unmoved. Her crying must have been powerful because even the disciples felt for her and turned to Jesus to intercede on her behalf. At first glance, you might think the disciples aren’t that compassionate, but I believe their concern is genuine and perhaps gets lost in translation, as Jesus responds with, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He is saying, I was not sent for this Canaanite—this woman from the ancient and idolatrous enemies of God’s people—rather, I was sent to redeem Israel.
None of this matters to the woman, though. She will not give up or be dismissed. She has heard of Jesus and the miracles He has already performed—possibly the healing of the paralytic, the raising of the ruler’s daughter, the restoration of sight for the blind, the loosening of the mute man’s tongue, and the feeding of the five thousand—where even the crumbs were collected into baskets after everyone ate. All that Jesus has done precedes Him, and this is enough for her here; she places her faith in Him to grant her and her daughter healing and mercy. But, “He answered her not a word.”
The whole Gospel can feel a bit uncomfortable for us, can’t it? The Psalmist writes, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8) But, where is His mercy? Where is His graciousness in saying, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs”? As if the situation couldn’t get worse, He insinuates she’s a little dog.
Throughout time, the God of Israel has fed His ungrateful people in the wilderness during the exodus and again in the recent feeding of the five thousand. In saying, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” Jesus will learn whether this woman really knows who He is, or if she is just giving Him lip service as she addressed Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!”
Ultimately, in the final conversation, she will confess the purity of her faith in Jesus and her unworthiness by saying, “Even [the little dogs even] the puppies eat from the crumbs that fall from tables of their masters.” (Jerome) If you have observed little children, you know how the endless stream of crumbs falls from the table to the floor below. This space becomes a utopia for dogs to dine and feast.
The woman doesn’t want to take anything away from the lost sheep of Israel. She understands that Jesus came to redeem His sheep that have wandered, but she also believes in the abundance of God’s mercy - that even the crumbs will be enough for her and her daughter to survive.
Are you as persistent and bold as this Canaanite today in your pleas for mercy and your desire for God’s help? Would you also be satisfied with crumbs?
In the end, none of us pray as we should, and our faith often wavers throughout life. When God doesn't seem to answer your prayer, you might get discouraged and possibly seek out another Jesus—one that better fits your needs.
Maybe you have prayed for Jesus to remove a burden from your life – a broken relationship or an illness that could be fatal. Yet, in the end, you still find yourself not speaking to your spouse while your brother’s cancer persists. You wanted a powerful Jesus, one who would fix these struggles or take them away.
Maybe you prayed for a miracle, hoping that the child in your womb—whom you were told would die even before taking a breath—would actually survive and live, but that didn’t happen. You desired the merciful and life-giving Jesus. All of these are good things to pray for, and if we learn anything from the Canaanite woman, it’s this: don’t stop praying. Instead, approach God with persistent prayer and faith.
Learn to pray as she did: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!” In these pleas, she shows Jesus as the object of her faith, and she was not swayed by his demeanor.
There’s something else she confesses with this statement, “Son of David”—that Jesus is both God and man. We often come to believe that prayers are to be answered, just as letters were once returned in the old days, and that emails are supposed to be responded to today.
Likewise, we have a certain belief regarding the demeanor of Jesus and often prefer a smiling and welcoming Jesus – one to accompany our Precious Moments collection of angels. But Jesus was “born of the Virgin Mary and made man.” He grew not only in age, but also in wisdom. When the temple became a place of commerce, Jesus cleansed it by driving the merchants out with a whip. When He gathered the children unto him, He did so with joy. When His friend Lazarus died, He wept. When you look at the processional cross, the crucifix, what do you see? I see the face of a Savior who experienced an agonizing and painful death not only to redeem the Israel of the Old Testament, but to save this Canaanite who descends from the ancient and adulterous enemies of God. I see a man who entered the judgment hall to redeem you.
Luther wrote regarding today’s text, “This was written for all our comfort and instruction, so that we may know how deeply God hides His grace from us, so that we would not consider Him according to our perception and thinking but strictly according to His Word.”[1]
We often approach prayer as a means to receive an immediate response from God. But God’s grace can be hidden from our perceptions – and when we experience this, we see Jesus as uninterested. His demeanor appears cold, and His countenance is not as we desire. But this is not so, for in these ways we are taught to rely all the more upon God’s Word. It is not subject to our feelings, emotions, or perceptions – it is unchanging, and it is good.
This Lent, do not waver in your prayers, nor be dismayed if God’s grace appears hidden from you; remain persistent. The voice of the Canaanite woman did not waver; her voice remained persistently focused on the object of her faith – her Lord and the Son of David. His response to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” In this way, we are taught that prayer is the voice of faith.
Join her now in singing and echoing a similar prayer in the Agnus Dei before you approach the altar: “Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.” Give voice to your faith and remember that even in the crumbs of bread and the drops of wine, your Lord sees your faith and has mercy on you – He grants you His forgiveness and His life. He gives you His Word. +INJ+
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Website: www.goodsheptomah.org
The Shepherd’s Voice Podcast: https://goodsheptomah.podbean.com/
[1] Luther, M. (2013). Gospel for the Second Sunday in Lent. In B. T. G. Mayes, J. L. Langebartels, & C. B. Brown (Eds.), Luther’s Works: Church Postil II (Vol. 76, p. 380). Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
