A Mothers Earnest Plea
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Lam 3:24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
It doesn’t say "The Lord is partly my portion," nor "The Lord is in my portion"; but He Himself makes up the sum total of my soul's inheritance. He is my portion!
Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”
This Canaanite women and she was apart of a race that went back 3000 BC she was from a place called Tyre and Sidon.
She was from a cultured race and a proud race. The first known alphabet comes from Canaanites working with Egyptians in the of the Sinai peninsula.
These were also people who were considered to be swore enemies of the Jewish people.
So you have this Canaanite women was was despised and even considered to be someone who is unclean coming to Jesus who was a Jewish male.
And in the Greek it says she was shouting and she kept on shouting saying Have Mercy on ME!! or take pity on me.
When she asked for mercy she wasn’t asking to merit a healing. But she was saying that she was unworthy.
She is saying that she was unworthy of a healing but she recognized Jesus Messiahship Jesus greatest.
She didn’t say have mercy on me son of Joseph. But Son of David recognizing His kingship and Messiahship.
This was a Messianic term. This took allot of humility. A level of selflessness. To go beyond the racial and political climate and to reach out to this Jewish Messiah.
She had come to accept Jesus as Messiah.
Theres no indication how possessed this mother’s daughter is but its clear that she is in very bad shape.
But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”
The fact that Jesus didn’t reply is unusual because He usually responds to any appeal for help.
Because this mother was a Canaanite and not a Jew his disciples thought her crying out was nothing but a nuisance.
You see a lack of empathy from the disciples.
The disciples just didn’t care. They just fell as though that she was just nagging.
She was just complaining about nonsense.
So they requested and asked Jesus to “ tell her to go away she is just complaining and its bothering us.”
But the women wasn’t shouting at them but at Jesus. Its sad they thought that they were important enough for her to be shouting at them.
They were arrogant at this point . The women isn’t shouting at you but at Jesus.
See the world isn’t longing for you to come and save the day. WE can have this complex.
Like I need to increase so that He can increase.
I need to increase my reach my personality my spirituality but actually you need to decrease so Jesus can increase.
See people aren’t looking for you they are looking for God. And if they think they are looking for you and once they find you they will realize thats not what I’m actually looking for.
I’m not looking for all my answers through a pope.
"God Sent It Anyway"
A poor elderly Christian woman was praying loudly every day, asking God to send her some groceries because she had no food. An atheist man who lived nearby got tired of hearing her prayers, so he decided to play a trick on her. He went out, bought a bunch of groceries, and put them on her doorstep. Then he rang the bell and hid around the corner.
When the woman opened the door and saw the food, she broke out in joyful praise, shouting, “Thank you, Lord! I knew You would provide!”
The atheist jumped out and said, “Ha! It wasn’t God who brought you those groceries, it was me! I bought them to prove to you that God doesn’t exist.”
Without missing a beat, the woman replied, “Well, praise the Lord! Not only did He send me groceries, He made the devil pay for them!”
They weren’t saying that Jesus shouldn’t do anything for her but they are saying give her what she wants and send her on her way.
Like Jesus is that dismissive. Jesus realizes the greatest need is not the healing but the relationship.
The reason why God doesn’t haphazardly give us our request is because its void of the person of Christ and its not relational.
Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”
This is a reference to the mission of Christ. Which is to the people of Israel.
But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”
Though this women heard what Jesus said she dismissed it and still continued her pleading with Him.
Not only was she pleading she is worshipping. She is bowed down before Him.
This could have had a adversarial tone to it. Like women did you just not hear what I said?
But for the sake of her daughter she didn’t take Jesus response as a final say. And this is adversarial it seems.
All she said as she is pleading is “Lord, help me!” One of the most powerful prayers one could ever utter.
Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
So first Jesus ignored her in verse 23, now he is comparing her to a dog.
In now language and in no time in history is being called a dog a compliment. In rabbinic tradition dog where considered to be violent and unclean.
Even in the NT. dogs were considered unclean.
Matt. 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Philippians 3:2 “Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.”
On the surface it seems harsh but He appeals to family life.
Like the children's bread is to be used for the children and not thrown to the dogs. Its an analogy
He said it is not right or fair to do so to give the bread to the dogs if the children haven’t eaten. Meaning its an injustice for that to be so.
Children are the helpless members of the family; senior members must see to it that their needs are met.
Barclay reminds us, “The tone and the look with which a thing is said make all the difference. Even a thing which seems hard can be said with a disarming smile.We can call a friend ‘an old villain’, or ‘a rascal’, with a smile and a tone which takes all the sting out of it and which fills it with affection. We can be quite sure that the smile on Jesus’ face and the compassion in his eyes robbed the words of all insult and bitterness”
If she was emotional and not really listening to what Jesus was saying. She would take it personal how dare you call me a dog.
Especially in our progressive society where everything is offensive. And any time you want to share truth you have to play a song and dance in order to communicate.
She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”
She replied with “Thats true, Lord” she agreed with Jesus said. She is saying how could anyone possibly disagree with it.
The needs of the children must be met, and care for the dogs must not interfere with this necessary duty.
Instead of getting so mixed up in the political correctness like what is Jesus saying.
“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.
