An Elder Speaks

A Woman of Much Faith
By Ronald Thompkins
August 6, 2006

Matthew 15:21 And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.
27 But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour. (ASV)

The above passage of scripture depicts a powerful lesson from Christ during his earthly ministry. On one of the first journeys of Christ out of the immediate surroundings of Jerusalem to Tyre and Sidon to appreciate how far these sojourns were they were 35 and 60 miles, respectively.

The Bible does not reveal why/ Christ ventured this far at this time. Biblical speculation is it could have been to avoid Herod, who may have thought Christ was John the Baptist reincarnated, or to avoid the scribes and Pharisees who was pressing Him on every side, because He had exposed their hypocrisy.

It is of significance interest this woman from the region of Canaan had sought out Christ to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Here is man attempting to bring salvation to the Jews who for the most part not only did not have faith that He was in fact the Messiah, but were set on ridding themselves of Him.

This woman obviously had heard of His ability to heal, as well as His lineage to the seed of David (v.22). As she made her appeal to Christ, noticed He initially ignored her, while the Apostles asked Him to send her away.

In verse 25 the Savior retorts that He came to minister unto the Jews (House of Israel).

In the next verse in a way only a mother could understand she asks Christ to help her. By God’s design mothers have the capacity to take on the hurt and pain being experienced by their children. Accordingly, the mother asks Christ to help her (she has taken on the daughter’s suffering).

The dialogue between Christ and the woman in the verses 26 and 27 gives an example of taking bread from the children (of Israel) and giving to dogs (the Gentiles). But the woman’s faith remains strong for she says even the dogs (the Gentiles) should be allowed to eat (minister unto) the crumbs.

In the 28th verse Christ acknowledges the mother’s resounding faith, and at the same moment the woman’s daughter was now healed.

How often have we of the Body of Christ had obstacles stand in our way, and simply succumb to the first encounter of resistance or test of our faith? Let us not be like the House of Israel-being the ones chosen by God as His sons and daughters and having those not in the family exercise more faith than us.

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