Seeds for 10/04/2023 - Matthew 15:21-28
Scripture: Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to Him and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Observation: Silence can be inviting or chilling, calming or anxious. We wonder what Jesus’ silence meant to the Canaanite woman who was crying out for mercy for her demon-possessed daughter. We know what it meant to the disciples—discomfort, anxiety even. They insist that He send her away, “for she keeps crying out to us.” It’s more than they can stand.
Jesus’ answer is uncomfortable, but let’s take a look.
Jesus’ reply concerns definition and clarity on His mission and its parameters. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, sent to bring the lost of Israel back to their God. Matthew has already established that the woman is a Canaanite. That places her outside of the mission parameters.
Undeterred, she continues to beg for His help. One thinks of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18 about the persistent widow, pleading her case to the judge again and again until he relents and answers her plea. Jesus wasn’t comparing Himself or His Father to the unjust judge; He was lifting up the widow as a model for persistence in prayer, even when that prayer’s answer is not immediately forthcoming. The Canaanite woman embodies that sort of persistence here.
Jesus’ reply is jagged yet again: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” The Jews are the children. The Gentiles are the dogs. The bread is the life-giving, hope-restoring, saving Gospel. Tough words.
Yet the woman deftly answers Jesus, agreeing with His premise, then adding: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She sees in His answer a pathway for His blessing to reach her just the same.
For her persistence and vision, Jesus commends her and grants her request!
Here’s a bottom line. Jesus has enough tolerance for other people’s discomfort to transform them. He creates a space for the woman to wrestle with Him, not unlike Jacob wrestling the angel until he insists upon and receives a blessing from the Lord. Pressing until she demonstrates spiritual insight is not cruel, it is empowering and in the end, healing.
I don’t know exactly how to tell when God is saying no and when God is creating a space for me to wrestle with Him. I doubt there’s a formula. But it is empowering to know that ultimately, Jesus honors dogged, persistent faith.
Application:
When have you wrestled with God and recognized the need to persevere?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, grow my perseverance in prayer and my trust not only in your power but also in your purpose for me. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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