Have you ever read the gospels and thought to yourself, “Gee, I wish you didn’t say that Jesus”. Several weeks ago my devotional reading was on Matthew 15:21-28 in which Jesus said things that if repeated in our day, would be considered scandalous and would have gone viral within minutes!
Jesus is in ‘unclean’ Gentile territory, outside of where most Jews lived. A desperate Canaanite mother comes to him, crying out to him. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly” (vs 22).
It’s an extraordinary address. She calls him Lord three times and gives Jesus the messianic title, ‘Lord, Son of David’. Peter would only make this confession in chapter 18! Jesus’ response: he ignores her! The disciples beg Jesus to send her away. Finally, Jesus speaks to her, telling her that his mission is to minister to the ‘lost sheep of Israel’ (vs24). Unfortunately, she is a gentile! What?
The woman upon hearing that blocks their path and kneels before Jesus. The Greek verb, ‘to kneel’ can also mean, ‘to worship’. She pleads once more, ‘Lord, help me!’ He rebuffs her again and tells her that if he helped her, it would akin to taking food from children (Israelites) and giving it to dogs! (her). Just imagine the headlines!
What’s going on? This is not the Jesus we know and worship! Don’t panic. All is not what it seems. To understand the story, keep in mind the following:
· Jesus had previously helped Gentiles (See Mark 5 & Matthew 8)
· It was by design that Jesus was where the woman was.
· This story is bracketed by Jesus healing all who were sick and feeding the hungry in compassion.
That being the case, it seems to me Jesus was trying to do two things. First, he was reinforcing to the disciples the point that God’s salvation purpose is inclusive of the ‘unclean’ Gentiles (read Luke 4:24-26). I think as Jesus uttered the ‘offensive and insensitive’ statements to the woman, he was looking at the disciples as if to say to them, “I’m putting into words your lowly opinions and attitudes toward this gentile woman but I’m not anything like that. I’ve come to seek and save the least, the last and the lost”.
Second, he was teaching the woman and disciples about persistent faith (read Luke 18:1-8) Despite being met with silence from Jesus, she kneels before him, “Lord, help me”. Have we not felt that way when we’ve prayed? “Why are you silent and absent?”
Great faith, i.e. small faith in a great God, does not give up but persists even when God does not seem to be responding to our prayers; when we do not get the answers we want. And when God answers our prayer, it has nothing to do with our worthiness but His trustworthiness revealed in Christ.
“Dear woman”, Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted”. And her daughter was instantly healed!
Following Jesus,
Mark
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