5 October MATTHEW 15

Are you persistent?

Matthew 15:21-28(MSG) From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.” Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.” Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.” Then the woman came back to Jesus, dropped to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.” He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.

What an amazing story about a woman who knows precisely what she wants. She wanted her daughter to be healed from an afflicted evil spirit. Then furthermore, we see her persistence; she did not stop until she received what she wanted from Jesus.

Jesus’s conversation gives the impression that Jesus was unwilling to answer her request because she was a Canaanite. What is clear is that the woman was not going to give up, but keep pleading, even from her Canaanite background, so that Christ recognized her great faith.

At first, Jesus was silent; the Message translation says Jesus ignored her, no doubt to see if she would persevere - and she did, following Him down the street crying out. The disciples said: “Now she is bothering us; would you please take care of her, She’s driving us crazy.”

Why did the disciples want to send her away? They could have sent her away because she was a nuisance. Or they could mean, send her away by healing her, because she won’t go away. This last interpretation makes the best sense because Jesus answered her: He said, “It’s not right to take the bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.”

This woman would not be put off, and so knelt before Him and begged. Jesus reminds her that she is a Canaanite and not a Jew. In the short saying, the Jews are the children, and the Gentiles are the dogs. The children get fed first.

But the woman’s answer is marvelous: even the dogs eat the crumbs that the children drop. She takes on the role of a dog to Israel.; she may not be able to sit down at the table and eat with Jesus and the children, but she should be allowed to pick up some of the crumbs they drop. She wants some of the mercy of God, His saving grace to all people.

This woman, irrespective of her background, the fact that she was ignored, and pushed away, kept on believing, pushing until she received what she wanted.

How many times do we stop believing? We feel that there is no hope left. Let’s learn from this woman that all things are possible if we keep on knocking, seeking, and asking.

I conclude with James 5:16b(AMP) The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much .