About 430 years before Moses delivered God’s message to Pharaoh:
“Let my people go!” – Isaac’s sons sold their brother Joseph into
slavery in Egypt. You probably know the story by heart. It is a story of
cold-blooded treachery that makes us cringe. It is such a powerful
story that Prime Video is working on a dramatic series based on it.
But the story has a happy ending: God used the brothers’ scheme to
deliver countless people in Egypt and the surrounding regions from
starvation – including Joseph and his extended family.
Joseph’s God-given ability to interpret dreams enabled him to
persuade Pharaoh to store up food supplies during seven years of
bumper crops – so that the people would not starve during the seven
years of famine that would follow.
During those lean years, his father and brothers and their families –
about 70 family members in all – relocated to Egypt because of the
plentiful food there. Joseph graciously provided for their needs. He
even forgave them for their betrayal.
It could be said that Joseph provided “a great deliverance” for his
brothers in two ways – not just one. Or as Joseph told his brothers:
"Do not be distressed... it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of
you." Instead of punishing his brothers – he reinterpreted their
diabolical behavior as God’s plan for saving countless fellow Israelites.
So the story of Joseph was a foreshadowing of Jesus – who came to
bring the greatest deliverance of all. Jesus – who was also betrayed
and abandoned by those who should have stood by Him.
So it should not surprise us that Jesus reached out to help people who
were on the margins of society in His day. Including this Canaanite
woman – a Gentile – an untouchable – who had a demon-possessed
daughter, to make matters worse. As a single Jewish man, just talking
to this woman would have started the rumor mill churning.
For multiple reasons: Jews avoided contact with Gentiles. Unmarried
men did not talk to married women.
But Jesus was more concerned about the condition of her demon-
possessed daughter that He was about His reputation – although
He did make it a point to tell her that He had been sent to save the lost
sheep of Israel, not Gentiles and their possessed children – not
“to feed the children’s food to the dogs”, as He put it.
But she was not letting Jesus off the hook: “Yes, Lord, but even the
dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” Because of her
persistence and her faith that He could help her daughter, Jesus cast
out the demon at that moment – without ever touching or even seeing
the woman’s daughter.
Mark’s account of the Gospel tells the same story – with some more
details. He says the woman was from Syrian-Phoenicia – which now
includes parts of northern Israel, western Syria, and much of Lebanon.
The significance of that should be noted. Jesus did what would be the
equivalent of an online doctor visit today. A remote healing. Or maybe
we could call it a “virtual exorcism.” Which, by the way, is no longer
called an exorcism. The trendy term for it is “Deliverance Ministry.”
Sounds a whole lot less Hollywood.
Nevertheless – in both of these familiar Bible stories, we see our
Triune God at work, delivering God’s people from bad situations –
and restoring what was broken. For the Israelites – it was deliverance
from starvation during a widespread famine – and later, their captivity
as slaves – which, after a 40-year journey – became new life and
freedom in the Promised Land
For the possessed girl – it was deliverance from captivity to the
destructive influence of a demon – who took orders from Satan
himself. Jesus turned that desperate situation into freedom to live in
keeping with God’s perfect will for her life. At least, we assume that
the mother and daughter became followers of Jesus – although
Matthew doesn’t mention those two again.
So what does a great deliverance look like – compared to a modest
deliverance or a mediocre deliverance? Is it just getting out of a bad
situation, or is it something deeper?
I would say that a great deliverance is much more – it is a deliverance
that restores what was broken or damaged. Like Joseph’s restored
relationship with his brothers – and the crossing of deeply ingrained
ethnic and religious boundaries to show compassion for a person in
need.
Joseph recognized this – in spite of his brothers’ scheming – and
(after making them sweat a good bit) revealed himself to his brothers.
He re-interpreted their treachery and his suffering as God's plan of
salvation by saying: “What you intended for evil, God intended for
good.”
Deliverance allows us to look past people’s malicious behavior and see
God’s purposes. This is not to say that God endorses or causes evil
actions, but He most assuredly can bring redemption out of them or in
spite of them.
Where we see this most vividly is in the crucifixion of Jesus: what the
enemies of Jesus obviously intended for evil, God repurposed for good
– which is why we call the day of Jesus’s crucifixion “Good Friday.”
It was the greatest day of deliverance – EVER!
For it is on Calvary that we see most clearly that a great deliverance
is NOT about escaping hardship. Rather, it is about God’s working
through hardship and God’s presence in our brokenness. It’s about
restoring relationships and transforming hearts.
On Calvary, even one of the two hard-bitten thieves was able to see
Jesus for who He was. And that thief was granted salvation that very
day.
A great deliverance comes when we surrender our hearts and lives
to Jesus Christ. He restores our broken relationship with His Father,
and sends the Holy Spirit to give us power to live renewed lives.
And He can even restore our broken relationships with others.
But – and this is the hard part - we do have to let go of our bitterness
as Joseph did – or ask God to deliver us from our bitterness – so that
we can share His love without hesitation or reservation. In other
words, we may need our own “great deliverance” from our resentment
or prejudice or concern about what others might think.
And we can have it – if we are willing to let go of our own self-interest
and seek Jesus’s will above everytying else..
No one is beyond the reach of God's grace or power to deliver –
so let’s share the story of Jesus and His saving death and resurrection
every chance we get – praying that God will send another great
deliverance. Amen.