Cultivating Great Faith

Matthew 15:21–31 KJV 1900

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 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. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 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. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

Caregivers need care.

The woman asked for mercy for herself

The woman asked for mercy for herself

Obstructions Develop Faith

Jesus challenged this woman’s faith through three escalating instances of dismissal.

He ignored her

He ignored her

misogyny and elitism: women were typically ignored

He excluded her

by only addressing the disciples, he highlighted the message that they knew only too well, that the Messianic mission extended only as far as their own people.

He insulted her

overt discrimination: he was challenging her claim to the children’s bread when she was a dog. Why should the blessings of God’s people be shared with heathens? Again, this was a common sentiment of the place and time; Jesus was confronting it.

Imagine the discomfort by this point, as the logical conclusion of their bias is worked out in front of their eyes, and on this desperate and tenacious woman. Jesus has called out the lunacy of the propensities they have to limit God and exclude others from him.

Jesus is confronting his disciples as much as he is addressing the woman; in treating the woman as he does, he is illuminating the barriers that they have inherited and prepares them to see that what their culture thinks is not what he thinks. His healing is for everyone!

Jesus assumed the prejudices of his time, and in doing so he utterly repudiated them to his disciples, showing them that the faith he was looking for is if anything more evident in those who we would be likely to exclude. He further proved that he would defy any barrier to respond to the faith of anyone’s heart.

Persistence Strengthens Faith

Each slight only made the woman lean in further and insist even more.

Don’t let bias dissuade you from pressing toward your promise!

The woman insisted on receiving what she came for, even in the face of humiliation.

Faith applauded

in the end, Jesus awarded the woman with her request, and showcased to his disciples and all that the faith this woman demonstrated was greater than anything he had seen in among the preferred one.

Faith multiplied

this woman’s faith inspired multitudes to come and place the same faith in the same God.

As Christians, we can easily adopt the thinking of our own times.

As seekers, be persistent. We may not understand why God sems to ignore us or even insult us. But he has a larger purpose, and he does ultimately care - more than we could ever imagine. Don’t be put off by these things. Keep praying, and keep believing.

Illustration from Pilgrim’s Progress, Fourth Stage, could be incorporated here, although I am not prepared to employ it for this first teaching /2020. Apollyon assaults with every dissuasion to our faith; yet God is using that opposition to teach us to stand within it.