The Great Faith of the Canaanite Woman - Matthew 15:21-28
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 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.”
23 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.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Reflection: Since faith is such an important word, probably the single most important word from the 16th century Protestant Reformation, we should look into what Jesus here calls "great faith". We have today the story of the Canaanite (Gentile) woman's great faith. Her daughter is possessed by a demon and suffers quite badly. So she comes to Jesus and earnestly pleads with him to heal her. Notice she calls him, "Lord, son of David". She is acknowledging that He is the Messiah, unlike many of the Jews who Jesus first came to. Jesus at first does not pay attention to her, reasoning that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel (the Jews).
One could either say he was being true to his calling, or one could reason he was only testing her faith to see how sincere it was. In either case she does not give up, but continues to plead in earnest for mercy. Jesus says it is not right to give the children's food to the dogs, again affirming his primary mission. But she wisely interjects that even the dogs get the food from their Master's table. Note she continues to call Jesus "master", which means Lord! It is then that Jesus declares her to be of great faith, and heals her daughter instantly, despite not being near her. Jesus shows he is lord, even over space and time.
So what made her faith so great? We can see her humility and persistence for sure, and it is driven by a deep sense that Jesus is really her Lord, and the only one who could truly help her. She is a woman, and a Canaanite, approaching a Jewish male rabbi. We can almost not fathom how much courage this took to approach Jesus let alone continue to pleas for his mercy, when he seemingly rejected her not once but twice. But her faith was unwavering because it was centered on Jesus and who he really was, the Messiah. Therefore she could not easily be offended because it was not about her, but about her daughter and the one who could heal her daughter who suffered horribly.
So where do you need great faith as we start another week together? Where is Jesus not answering your prayer yet? Where is your faith being tested? My faith gets tested when things get hard and are not as easy as I hoped. I somehow make the assumption Jesus wants me to have an easy life. But faith is only tested when we are challenged to see where Jesus really is in our present circumstances, and we need to be like the woman and cry out, "Lord have mercy on me!" Our faith is tested when we continue to sin and have to cry out, "Lord have mercy on me!" When we have to keep praying for that person who pushes our buttons, "Lord have mercy on me!" I think most importantly though despite her great trial, the Canaanite woman kept her eyes locked on the Messiah, her Lord. And Jesus says to her, "Woman you have great faith!"
Jesus we know faith is a gift from you. May we have great faith today, as we keep our eyes on you and trust you even if it means just getting a crumb off our Master's table, amen.
23 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.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Reflection: Since faith is such an important word, probably the single most important word from the 16th century Protestant Reformation, we should look into what Jesus here calls "great faith". We have today the story of the Canaanite (Gentile) woman's great faith. Her daughter is possessed by a demon and suffers quite badly. So she comes to Jesus and earnestly pleads with him to heal her. Notice she calls him, "Lord, son of David". She is acknowledging that He is the Messiah, unlike many of the Jews who Jesus first came to. Jesus at first does not pay attention to her, reasoning that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel (the Jews).
One could either say he was being true to his calling, or one could reason he was only testing her faith to see how sincere it was. In either case she does not give up, but continues to plead in earnest for mercy. Jesus says it is not right to give the children's food to the dogs, again affirming his primary mission. But she wisely interjects that even the dogs get the food from their Master's table. Note she continues to call Jesus "master", which means Lord! It is then that Jesus declares her to be of great faith, and heals her daughter instantly, despite not being near her. Jesus shows he is lord, even over space and time.
So what made her faith so great? We can see her humility and persistence for sure, and it is driven by a deep sense that Jesus is really her Lord, and the only one who could truly help her. She is a woman, and a Canaanite, approaching a Jewish male rabbi. We can almost not fathom how much courage this took to approach Jesus let alone continue to pleas for his mercy, when he seemingly rejected her not once but twice. But her faith was unwavering because it was centered on Jesus and who he really was, the Messiah. Therefore she could not easily be offended because it was not about her, but about her daughter and the one who could heal her daughter who suffered horribly.
So where do you need great faith as we start another week together? Where is Jesus not answering your prayer yet? Where is your faith being tested? My faith gets tested when things get hard and are not as easy as I hoped. I somehow make the assumption Jesus wants me to have an easy life. But faith is only tested when we are challenged to see where Jesus really is in our present circumstances, and we need to be like the woman and cry out, "Lord have mercy on me!" Our faith is tested when we continue to sin and have to cry out, "Lord have mercy on me!" When we have to keep praying for that person who pushes our buttons, "Lord have mercy on me!" I think most importantly though despite her great trial, the Canaanite woman kept her eyes locked on the Messiah, her Lord. And Jesus says to her, "Woman you have great faith!"
Jesus we know faith is a gift from you. May we have great faith today, as we keep our eyes on you and trust you even if it means just getting a crumb off our Master's table, amen.
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