Aug 6
Submitted by on as 2023


 

Mathew 15:21-28   (Also in Mark 7:24-30)


 (21) Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. (22) And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. (23) But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. (24) But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (25) Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. (26) But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. (27) And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. (28) Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.


 Here's another example of the different ways Jesus treats circumstances when they are brought to them. The one thing we have learned so far in learning about Jesus’ miracles is there is no set pattern, ritual, motions, or anything that gets a miracle to be performed. I have heard that "if I just pray enough God will answer”, "If I keep reading these verses, then my problem will go away” etc.  Praying a reading should always be on the forefront, but they are not what actually manifests God’s power. It is how we tap into it to understand, to bring our relationship more closely and intimate with God. But if that was the case, we would see Jesus do those things every time before performing a miracle.

 

  Notice the choice of words the woman uses with Jesus, she asks to have mercy on herself. She could have easily approached Him and said have mercy on my daughter. Before she could even ask for deliverance for her daughter, she needed to be humbled in the eyes of the Lord. Even though she already knows Jesus can do great things, she needs to be right with the Lord herself. We can assume she was making a scene with he disciples wanting to get rid of her. Plus, not being a Jew, the disciples were dismissing her to not be a bother with them.

 

 Jesus is now going to say some things, though worded a little different in Mark, they both have the same conveyance. Jesus says he is not sent but to the lost sheep of Israel. That would be the gentiles, for Jews are God’s chosen and they themselves are rejecting Jesus and who he is. The gentiles are the lost sheep.  She then does a simple request. " Help me”  before we go further I want to back up a little. When she first approached Jesus, she called Him Lord, the Son of David. Remember a few weeks ago Jesus told the disciples how to pray. The first things was to recognize God and who He is. That is exactly what this woman did. Back to where we were, be fore she asks for help, the Bible says she worshipped Him.

 

 Ok so this next text gets a little indifferent on how you view things. "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs” Back in that time non-Jewish (Gentiles) were considered lower class (dogs) and were often referred to that way. In other words, what the Jews deemed for them was not for her. We can almost say that what Jesus says is very discriminatory, but we have to understand, He talks in a fashion that "THEY’ understand. But note, she did not take offense to that. She simply replied, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” She understood exactly what Jesus was stating. But because of her humility and acceptance of her circumstances, and yet she still approached Jesus on behalf of her Daughter, Jesus told her that "GREAT IS HER FAITH be it unto thee, even as though wilt.

 

It was her faith, her great faith that made her daughter whole. We are not talking about great in the sense of big, large quantities, but faith with zero doubt. Jesus is the redemption of all things, but we have a part to play in it. We have to have GREAT FAITH.

 

We may find ourselves not worthy of God, goodness. Maybe we are in a point of our lives where we feel like we need to be treated like dogs. God’s mercy and love is for all of us, no matter what state we are in. (Romans 3:23)


Here so me good reading for you.

1 Peter 5:6   Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time

Hebrews 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Proverbs 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

Psalm 123:3  Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.


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COMMENTS


[ posted by Cindy, 08/07/2023 12:11 PM ]

This is another great story of great faith!
I have a little different perspective on the dog comment.
Yes, the Gentiles were called dogs by the Jews.  They were considered unclean and dirty (spiritually) because they still believed in idols, didn't use the same religious practices, etc. as the Jews did.  And yes, it was prob just a slang term used like the homeless and roaming dogs on the streets back then.
They probably only survived because of scraps from the kinder folks.
Anyways,  what if Jesus is spiritually meaning.... I can't take the spiritual food from my children
( the Jews) to give to a Gentile ( who doesn't believe)... Because she responds that even the master,  or head of the household  would throw crumbs to the dog.    Is she saying, if you are the Master ( the Messiah) would you spare a crumb (of your  healing power) to me for my daughter? 
This woman is crying and begging Jesus so much the the disciples want her to just go away and get out of their way.  She would not take no for an answer (the lack of a response from Jesus).  This is a Mother's love for her daughter!  She humbles herself at Jesus' feet. She risks the public denial and embarrassment of being turned away and told no.  After all, she is an unbeliever, a Gentile. 
Yet this Gentile woman calls Him the 'Son of David', begs for mercy of herself, asks for healing of her daughter...She did not believe what the Jewish people believed, yet there she was, she went to Him as fast as she could.  Remember the Centurion soldier ( another Gentile and not believing  in Jewish religion) also asking for help.   They had seen or heard probably first hand about Jesus. Would risk everything to ask Him for help. Think about that!!! 
She knew He was the answer. 
When do we get to that point when we know God is the answer? 
When is the last time we cried out to God like that? Is our faith that great?
In Psalms David cries to God in prayers.  He was desperate at times in his prayers. 
Are we that desperate?   
The Gentile woman needed Jesus to fight her daughter's battle.   Just like when we pray for our children, our family and friends...  We have to have Jesus on our side. Working with us and for us. I wonder what she thought after her daughter was healed and her own religious ideas.  We don't know if she brought others to the Jewish beliefs after that miracle.   But, I have to think she definitely never looked at her old beliefs again the same way after that day at Jesus' feet. ❤️

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