August 16, 2026
"Jesus Desires All to Be Saved by His Righteousness"
Matthew 15:21-28
Our text is an account of a woman who had exceptional faith in Jesus. She believed with her whole heart that Jesus could heal her daughter who had been possessed by a demon. Jesus responded to her great faith by healing her daughter.
Now, we might rush to the conclusion that we need to have great faith like that of the woman. Her example of faith is a good example for us to follow. That would be the obvious conclusion for us to make. And we wouldn’t be wrong if we made this conclusion. We all could have a stronger faith in the Lord. All too often we are ready to give up on the Lord. Our faith in Him wavers. But the woman in this account wasn’t about to give up on Jesus. She remained firm in her faith even though it seemed that Jesus at first ignored her. This is certainly a good example for us to follow.
But there is really more in this passage than meets our eye. I would like to point out some of the other lessons for us in this account because they don’t necessarily jump out at us. We have to delve deeper.
Our text says that Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. (These cities exist today in the country of Lebanon, by the way.) The district was a Gentile district. In other words, it wasn’t administered by Jews. Why did Jesus go there? It could have been that Jesus wanted a break from the Jewish religious authorities. They constantly hounded Him. So, it could have been that He wanted a break.
It could have been that Jesus wanted to make it clear to His disciples and other Jews that Gentiles were also His concern. He loved all people and included all people in His plan of salvation. I personally think that this might have been the main reason for Jesus’ going to this district. Jesus’ forgiveness of sins in Him was for all people and not just for Jews.
The Jews in Jesus’ day believed that God had chosen only them unto salvation. The Gentiles had no hope. But Jesus went to a Gentile land to dispel this notion of the Jews who believed they were morally superior. The Gentiles were an unclean people and therefore were looked down upon. But Jesus hoped to convince them that they weren’t better than the Gentiles. As a matter of fact, there were some Gentiles who had more faith than many Jews, this woman being one of them.
This feeling of being morally superior to the Gentiles led the Jews to believe that they were holier than the Gentiles. This in turn led to a sense of self-righteousness. This disease affected the Jewish people, in particular the religious authorities.
This account of the woman in our text was meant to dispel the notion that the Jews were more righteous than the Gentiles. There were indeed Gentiles more righteous than Jews. Jesus message to those who were with Him was, “Be careful in judging others and how you consider yourself. You aren’t as righteous as you think you are. There are people holier than you.”
The woman in our text was an example to those who were with Jesus. It turned out she was more righteous than they were. She believed Jesus and didn’t at all doubt what Jesus was capable of doing. This explains why she went to Jesus in the first place.
How many times did Jesus’ own disciples have doubts about what He could do? Often times, Jesus got on their case for their lack of faith. This Gentile woman had more faith than they had. She had more of a faith that led to her righteousness than did Jesus’ disciples.
I’m sure some thought how could a woman have more faith in God than a man—a Gentile woman at that. Men were the religious leaders. They knew more about God than women. Maybe some men knew more about God, but that didn’t mean they believed more in God. There are children who have a stronger faith in God than many adults. It’s not at all odd that a woman could have more faith in God than a man. Jesus made this clear when He answered the woman, “O woman, great is your faith.” Women can have great faith in God.
At this point, let me summarize the other lessons we can draw from this passage. The first is Jesus made it clear that Gentiles are included in God’s plan of salvation. God is the Savior and Creator of all people. He was the Creator and Savior of the woman in our text who wasn’t a Jew.
The second is the Jews weren’t morally superior than all the Gentiles. There were Gentiles who were holy because of their belief in the true God. Not all Gentiles had been cut off from God. There were Gentiles who had been included in God’s family of believers.
The third is many Jews fell into the trap of self-righteousness. They considered themselves more righteous than others, trusting in their own good deeds to justify themselves. Sadly, many of them didn’t put their trust in the righteousness of Christ. We have been taught that Jesus is the one who makes us righteous. It’s not our own good deeds that make us holy and righteous in God’s sight.
And the fourth is there are women who have a deeper faith than men. Women are included in God’s promise of salvation. God hasn’t excluded women from believing in Him. The woman in our text is a prime example. Jesus loved her just as He did any man.
So, these are the four lessons we can take away from our text. Again, they don’t necessarily jump out at us. We have to read through it a few times before we see these lessons come to the surface.
How do these lessons pertain to us? Jesus is our Creator and Redeemer. We are included in God’s plan of salvation. We have been chosen to love and serve the living God. Salvation isn’t for just the Jewish people. God has all people in mind. Jesus went to the cross to save all people. As John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world…” and in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, “God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We are included in the word “all.” This means that our sins have been forgiven, and we are at peace with the Lord.
Just think where we would be if we aren’t included in the word “all.” We would be cut off from the Lord with no hope of living forever after we die. We wouldn’t be a part of His family. But we don’t have to contemplate this. Jesus died for all people, both for Jews and Gentiles. We who believe in Him are included in His plan of salvation.
We aren’t morally superior to anyone by ourselves. We continue to sin. The only difference between us and unbelievers is that we turn to the Lord for forgiveness. He then gives us the strength to do good deeds. If we are morally superior it’s because of what God has done for us. He has made us holy. We haven’t achieved such a status all by ourselves.
I tell people we Christians aren’t better than others. We are simply more blessed. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good here on earth. All the credit goes to God.
We must be careful of self-righteousness. There is the temptation to think that we are the creators of our own righteousness. That’s just not true. A righteousness based on ourselves is a false righteousness. Again, we are righteous in God’s eyes because He has made us righteous. We are righteous because God has declared us righteous because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, which has washed us clean. We are spiritually clean because of Jesus.
Many of the religious rulers in Jesus’ day fell into this trap of self-righteousness. They believed that their obeying the commandments and religious traditions made them righteous—more righteous than others. But that’s not how it works. Without Jesus in the picture, no one can consider himself righteous, not even a deeply religious person. Belief in Jesus makes one righteous.
God looks at men and women through the same lens when it comes to belief in Him. Both men and women must believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. God hasn’t given a deeper faith to men so that all men believe more deeply in God than women. Again, there are women who have a much deeper faith in God than men. God has used women in His service, and they have done much for the kingdom of God. We need to remember that it was a woman who gave birth to Jesus.
May the Lord raise the level of our consciousness to embrace the four lessons of our text. And may He give us the power to apply these lessons to our lives.