以赛亚书56:1，6-8；罗马书11:1-2，13-15，28-32；马太福音15:21-28

恩惠、平安从父神和救主耶稣基督归于你们时常带着谦卑和信心恳求主怜悯的人。阿们。

有一次跟一位不信的朋友谈福音，对方说，如果你要作基督徒，你必须先成为犹太人（以色列人），因为耶稣是犹太人。其实大家常常听人讲：我是中国人，基督信仰是给外国人的，更具体地说是给中东的以色列人的。又或者大家误以为基督信仰是西方人的信仰。这些都是错误的认识，因为基督信仰是信仰圣三一上帝，创造天地万物的主，是在历史时空中成为人的第二位格耶稣基督，信靠时常引领我们，赐生命和各样恩赐的主圣灵。如果要讲种族或者国界，从上帝的救赎历史来看，全世界有几个族类呢？只有两种：以色列人和非以色列人（外邦人，即所有非以色列国家的统称）。

很显然，我们华人属于外邦人的一部分，从前是不认识神的，没有神所差遣的先知和使徒，也没有神圣的启示，没有圣经，没有正确的献祭礼仪，没有会幕，没有圣殿等等。保罗说：“你们从前不顺服神”，就是对神不屑一顾、不感冒、轻蔑、无所谓的态度。不是这样吗？我们刚听说福音的时候，有谁一下子就信了呢？不是以无神论的思维判断说，这实在是倒退而不是进步，怎么还谈起信仰来了呢？有什么用呢？不如干些正经事，好好赚钱吧。

我们信了主了，明白真理并且有活泼的盼望和信心，知道将来的审判和死里复活得享永生的真相，我们更要清楚上帝拯救人类的方法，尤其是以色列人和我们的关系。基督是主，是给全人类的，但祂首先是犹太人，寻找以色列家迷失的羊，这是神自己的美善旨意。在今天的福音经文中，一位外邦女子，就是这位迦南妇人寻求耶稣的帮助，医治她被鬼附的女儿。主耶稣说的话听起来很不客气：“我奉差遣不过是到以色列家迷失的羊那里去。”（太15:24）那怕门徒们为了赶紧摆脱这位大喊大叫、紧追不舍的迦南妇人的纠缠，恳求耶稣赶紧回应，帮助她这一次，大家就可以继续向前走了。然而，主耶稣继续说道，“不好拿儿女的饼丢给狗吃。”（太15:26）

我们之前讲过这段福音经文，准确地说是三年前的同一个主日。之前我们专门讲这位妇人透过信心聆听到主耶稣怜悯的信息，而不是被这句话冒犯到。今天我们讲另外一件事情，那就是主耶稣的使命是怎么样临到全人类的。保罗在今天的书信经文中清楚地讲明：作为外邦人的使徒，他可以激动自己骨肉之亲发愤，好救他们一些人（罗11:14）。这也正是主耶稣在今天的福音经文中所做的。以色列人当中有几分心硬，不顺从真理，反而抵挡主耶稣的，所以主耶稣就藉着迦南妇人的祷告和施行怜悯，让这女人的信心激动以色列人，或许他们的心也能够被挑动，顺服主的话语，进而得救。主耶稣本来可以直接让妇人的女儿好了，不需要这样一番艰难的对话；然而祂这样做，就是做给、说给以色列人听的。就像前面马太福音8章里面，主耶稣夸赞那位外邦百夫长的信心一样：“耶稣听见就希奇，对跟从的人说：‘我实在告诉你们，这么大的信心，就是在以色列中，我也没有遇见过。”（太8:10）而主耶稣对今天的迦南妇人说：“妇人，你的信心是大的！照你所要的，给你成全了吧。”（太15:28）

事实上，这位迦南妇人，外邦女子因着信心就成为以色列的儿女，而不再是主人桌子下面的狗。因为凡信靠主耶稣基督，信靠大卫子孙的，就成为了神的儿女，也是真以色列人了。你不需要改变种族、国籍或者肤色、地位等等，只是因着信心，就在神面前有了继承产业的身份，就是名正言顺的以色列人了。加拉太书3:7“你们要知道，那以信为本的人，就是亚伯拉罕的子孙。”这并不是说外邦基督徒取代了以色列，因为神并没有弃绝他的百姓。保罗说：“就着拣选说，他们为列祖的缘故是蒙爱的。神的恩赐和选召是没有后悔的。”（罗11:28-29）事实上，历世历代都有犹太人归信耶稣基督，在圣路易斯，就有一间犹太人的基督教会，他们崇拜时用的就是希伯来语，他们信耶稣是基督，他们的弥赛亚，是救主，是耶和华，是独一真神。“神并没有弃绝祂预先所知道的百姓。”（罗11:2）也就是说，神继续在以色列人和外邦人中作怜悯人拯救人的工作。“神将众人都圈在不顺服之中，特意要怜恤众人。”（罗11:32）

仍然是使徒保罗，在以弗所书中讲到，以色列人和外邦人因着信靠钉十字架的耶稣基督就合为一了，正如全人类都有同一个始祖亚当一样。大家明白这一点的重要性吗？无论你是以色列人，美国人，欧洲人，白人或黑人，还是华人，甚至无论你信主还是不信，我们本来都有同一位祖先亚当。现在，因着基督的十字架，神就“将两下合而为一，拆毁了中间隔断的墙。……既在十字架上灭了冤仇，便借这十字架使两下归为一体，与神和好了。”（弗2:14，16）我们跟以色列人有没有关系？有，不仅从创世来说有，而且因着基督和救恩更是有关系。这一个奥秘不是从新约基督教会才有的，当然，因着主耶稣，这个奥秘就彰显的清清楚楚了。我们再往前看，就看今天的旧约以赛亚书的经文，给了我们明确的答案。以赛亚书是主耶和华藉着先知以赛亚给以色列人的信息，神亲自说：

“还有那些与耶和华联合的外邦人，要侍奉祂，要爱耶和华的名，要作祂的仆人——就是凡守安息日不干犯，又持守他约的人。”（赛56:6）这里所说的“耶和华的名”就是耶稣基督，因为“天下人间，神没有赐下别的名，让我们靠着得救。”（参徒4:12）并且我们知道，耶稣的名字意思就是：“耶和华拯救”。我们作耶稣基督门徒的，就是作祂的仆人，抛弃一些偶像，单单敬拜侍奉主。“你不可侍奉两个主，要么金钱，要么主耶和华。”主耶稣就是安息日的主，若我们时常聚会，聆听主的话语，靠着主的话语和应许得享安息，罪得赦免，生命丰富地赐给我们，我们就是守安息日，并且持守祂的约了——祂的约是用自己的血所立的新约。”

感谢主。我们成为得救蒙拣选的民，认识主耶稣基督，并不是从耶稣来才开始的，从一开始这就是神的旨意和计划。祂要领我们到祂的圣山，就是基督的教会，“在祷告祂的殿中喜乐……主的殿要称为万民祷告的殿。”（赛56:6-7）主耶稣在洁净圣殿的时候不正是引用了这节经文吗？那时，圣殿已经被糟蹋为交易市场、贼窝了。主的殿要称为万民祷告的殿，这是我们的福分。我们因着主耶稣的名，奉祂的名聚集，我们就有权柄一起祷告神，赐下怜悯和平安，赐下医治和安慰。

主耶稣在今天的福音经文中也是引用旧约以赛亚的话：“主耶和华，就是招聚以色列被赶散的”（赛56:8上）。我们若只读福音经文，可能不知道，但当时听见的人都熟悉以赛亚书，他们知道主耶稣还没有说完的话。事实上，这位外邦女子就抓住了这后面还没有说出的话：“在这被招聚的人以外，我还要招聚别人归并他们。”（赛56:8下）我们也是被招聚、蒙拣选的民，用保罗的比喻说，是“天生的野橄榄支”嫁接到本树上（罗11：17-19）要因着信心成为亚伯拉罕的子孙，从石头缝中凿出来的，就是基督磐石中出来的，也是真以色列人了，“以色列全家都要得救”，即蒙拣选的一个也不会落下。

神就是这样作工的，让以色列人和外邦人互相激励，为要更多的人得救，蒙受恩惠。“你们从前不顺服神，如今因他们的不顺服，你们倒蒙了怜恤。这样，他们也是不顺服或者不被你们蒙的怜悯激动、说服，现在也就蒙怜恤。”（罗11:30-31）这是一个不可思议的对比。换句话说，我们的得救蒙拣选完全不靠我们的顺服，恰恰相反，都是在我们不顺服，或者以色列人不顺服的情况下，神的怜悯临到了。我们的不顺服迎来了怜悯，而以色列人的不顺服也是迎来了怜悯（怜恤）。最终，最终，都是神在做，神将众人都“圈在不顺服之中，特意要怜恤众人。”（罗11:32）也因此，以色列人不应该骄傲，我们外邦人，或者更具地体说，华人能够信耶稣，更不应该骄傲，反而珍惜，甚至带着敬畏的心，惧怕的心保守自己，不沾染污秽，不重新返回偶像崇拜，因为神若弃绝不信的以色列人，怎会轻易对待我们的不信呢？求主怜悯，让我们在神的奥秘工作中享受着安息的救恩和医治，更是带着主的心去宣扬主的大爱和救恩。奉主耶稣的名。阿们。

 Scripture Readings: Isaiah 56:1, 6-8; Romans 11:1-2, 13-15, 28-32; Matthew 15:21-28

Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, who grants mercy to those who constantly pray with humility and faith. Amen.

Once, while talking about the Gospel with an unbelieving friend, they said: "If you want to be a Christian, you must first become a Jew (an Israelite), because Jesus was a Jew." In fact, we often hear people say, "I am Chinese, and Christianity is for foreigners"—or more specifically, for the Israelites in the Middle East. Or perhaps people mistakenly believe that Christianity is a Western religion. These are all misunderstandings, for Christianity is faith in the Holy Trinity: God the Lord who created heaven and earth, the Second Person Jesus Christ who became man in time and space, and God the Holy Spirit who constantly guides us, bestowing life and various gifts. If we speak of ethnicity or national borders, looking through God's history of redemption, how many races are there in the whole world? There are only two: Israelites and non-Israelites (Gentiles—the collective term for all non-Israelite nations).

Clearly, we ethnic Chinese belong to the Gentiles. Formerly, we did not know God; we had no prophets or apostles sent by God, no divine revelation, no Holy Bible, no correct sacrificial rites, no tabernacle, no temple, and so forth. Paul says: "You were once disobedient to God"—that is, having an attitude of disregard, apathy, contempt, and indifference toward God. Isn't that so? When we first heard the Gospel, who among us believed right away? Did we not judge it with an atheistic mindset, saying, "This is truly a step backward rather than progress; why talk about religion? What use is it? We would be better off doing something practical, like making good money."

Now that we have believed in the Lord, understand the truth, and possess a vibrant hope and faith—knowing the reality of future judgment, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal life—we must understand even more clearly God's method of saving humanity, especially the relationship between the Israelites and us. Christ is the Lord, given to all humanity; yet He came first as a Jew, seeking the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is God's own good and gracious will. In today's Gospel text, a Gentile woman—this Canaanite woman—seeks Jesus' help to heal her demon-possessed daughter. The words of the Lord Jesus sound very stern: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 15:24) Even when the disciples begged Jesus to answer her quickly and help her just this once so they could move on and get rid of this shouting, persistent Canaanite woman, the Lord Jesus continued, saying: "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." (Matt. 15:26)

We have preached on this Gospel passage before—specifically, on the same Sunday three years ago. Back then, we focused on how this woman, through faith, heard the message of the Lord's mercy rather than taking offense at His words. Today, we turn to another matter: how the mission of the Lord Jesus reaches all humanity. Paul clearly explains in today's Epistle text that as the apostle to the Gentiles, he makes much of his ministry in order to make his fellow Jews jealous and save some of them (Rom. 11:14). This is precisely what the Lord Jesus is doing in today's Gospel text. Among the Israelites, there was a measure of hardness of heart; they disobeyed the truth and opposed the Lord Jesus. Therefore, through the prayer of the Canaanite woman and by showing her mercy, the Lord Jesus used her faith to stir the Israelites, so that perhaps their hearts might also be moved to obey the Lord's word and be saved. The Lord Jesus could have simply healed the woman's daughter directly without such a difficult dialogue; yet He acted and spoke in this way for the Israelites to hear. Just as in Matthew chapter 8, where the Lord Jesus praised the faith of the Gentile centurion: "When Jesus heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, 'Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.'" (Matt. 8:10) And to the Canaanite woman today, the Lord Jesus says: "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." (Matt. 15:28)

In fact, this Canaanite woman—a Gentile—became a child of Israel through faith, no longer a dog under the master's table. For whoever trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusts in the Son of David, becomes a child of God and a true Israelite. You do not need to change your race, nationality, skin color, or status; simply through faith, you receive the status of an heir before God and become a legitimate Israelite. Galatians 3:7 says, "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." This does not mean that Gentile Christians have replaced Israel, for God has not rejected His people. Paul says: "As regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." (Rom. 11:28-29) Indeed, throughout all generations, there have been Jews who turned in faith to Jesus Christ. In St. Louis, there is a Jewish Christian church where they worship in Hebrew; they believe Jesus is the Christ, their Messiah, Savior, Yahweh, and the only true God. "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew." (Rom. 11:2) That is to say, God continues His work of mercy and salvation among both Israelites and Gentiles. "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all." (Rom. 11:32)

It is also the Apostle Paul who writes in Ephesians that Israelites and Gentiles are made one through faith in the crucified Jesus Christ, just as all humanity shares the same first ancestor, Adam. Do you understand the importance of this point? Whether you are an Israelite, an American, a European, white, black, or Chinese—and whether you believe in the Lord or not—we all originally share the same ancestor, Adam. Now, through the cross of Christ, God has "made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility... that he might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility." (Eph. 2:14, 16) Do we have a connection to the Israelites? Yes—not only by virtue of creation, but even more so through Christ and salvation. This mystery did not originate with the New Testament Christian Church; though, of course, through the Lord Jesus, it has been revealed with utmost clarity. Looking back further to today's Old Testament passage from Isaiah gives us a clear answer. Isaiah is the message given by the LORD through the prophet Isaiah to Israel, and God Himself says:

"And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant" (Isa. 56:6). Here, "the name of the LORD" refers to Jesus Christ, for "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (cf. Acts 4:12) And we know that the name Jesus means "Yahweh saves." As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are His servants, casting away idols to worship and serve the Lord alone. "You cannot serve two masters: either money or the Lord God." The Lord Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. If we gather regularly, hear the Lord's Word, and find rest through His Word and promises—receiving forgiveness of sins and life abundantly bestowed upon us—we are keeping the Sabbath and holding fast to His covenant, the New Covenant sealed with His own blood.

Thanks be to God. Our becoming a saved, chosen people who know the Lord Jesus Christ did not begin only when Jesus came; from the very beginning, this was God's will and plan. He wills to bring us to His holy mountain—that is, Christ's Church—and "make them joyful in my house of prayer... for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isa. 56:6-7) Did not the Lord Jesus quote this very verse when He cleansed the temple? At that time, the temple had been desecrated into a marketplace and a den of robbers. That the Lord's house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples is our blessing. Because of the name of the Lord Jesus, as we gather in His name, we have the authority to pray together to God for mercy, peace, healing, and comfort.

In today's Gospel text, the Lord Jesus also quotes the words of Isaiah from the Old Testament: "The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares..." (Isa. 56:8a). If we read only the Gospel text, we might not realize it, but those listening at the time were familiar with the Book of Isaiah; they knew the words the Lord Jesus had not yet finished speaking. In fact, this Gentile woman seized upon those unspoken words that followed: "I will gather still others to him besides those already gathered." (Isa. 56:8b) We too are a gathered and chosen people—to use Paul's metaphor, a "wild olive shoot by nature" grafted onto the cultivated tree (Rom. 11:17-19), becoming children of Abraham through faith, hewn from the rock—that is, coming from Christ the Rock—and becoming true Israelites. "And in this way all Israel will be saved"—meaning that not a single one of the elect will be left behind.

This is how God works: stirring both Israelites and Gentiles to spur one another on, so that more people may be saved and receive grace. "For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy." (Rom. 11:30-31) This is an incredible contrast. In other words, our salvation and election depend not at all on our obedience; on the contrary, God's mercy came to us precisely in our disobedience and in the disobedience of Israel. Our disobedience met with mercy, and Israel's disobedience likewise met with mercy. Ultimately, it is God doing it all: God has "consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all." (Rom. 11:32) Therefore, the Israelites should not be proud, and we Gentiles—or more specifically, we Chinese who believe in Jesus—should be even less proud. Instead, let us cherish this faith with a reverent and God-fearing heart, guarding ourselves against defilement and refusing to return to idolatry. For if God did not spare the unbelieving Israelites, how lightly would He treat our unbelief? May the Lord have mercy on us, allowing us to enjoy the rest of salvation and healing within His mysterious work, and enabling us to go forth with the Lord's own heart to proclaim His great love and salvation. In the name of Jesus. Amen.