21 Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”
24 Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”
25 Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said. “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owners’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that very moment.
Read Matthew 15:21-28 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Every time I read this passage, I am awed by the level of faith that this woman from Canaan had. First, Jesus ignores her, then He dismisses her, and finally He outright insults her. Apparently, Jesus never received the memo that it is not politically correct to discriminate based on gender and ethnicity.
However, what we might see on the surface as hostility or cruelty might actually be a multi-layered example for the disciples about how God responds to persistence based on His timing. It is only when we dig below the surface and look at themes in this passage that we begin to understand a little more about God’s character.
How many times have you prayed and not received a response?
If you’re like me, it has been a number of times. Perhaps, the only response we will acknowledge receiving is a yes, where God is clearly saying “no” or “not yet”. When we realize that our request is not being granted, what do we do then? Do we give up, or do we persist?
If we persist in prayer, how long do we pray, either not receiving a response, or not acknowledging the “no” or “not yet” that we are being given?
Again, I know in my life, it is much easier to simply give up and not persist very long in the prayer, however, when I read about this Canaanite woman, I am inspired to persist longer. It seems as though this persistence has the ability to change God’s mind, but not right away.
If we keep persisting, things might get tougher before they get better. By continuing to press her request, the woman faced a direct challenge – a challenge that was both humbling and humiliating. When we commit to persist in prayer, challenges will often come before our answer does. Jesus openly challenges this woman’s request, at least in my mind, not only to test her resolve, and not only to show the disciples how easy it is to get caught up in social discriminating, but to share with the disciples and all of us who read about this event how God sometimes responds to our requests. What often feels like a “no” might simply be a “not yet” or an opportunity to test/develop/grow our character.
Which leads me to the big idea: Resistance creates character and it is meant to strengthen our faith.
When life is easy and the answers always seem to be turning up in our favor, our character is not developed or strengthened. It is only when challenges come that we really know what we are made of.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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