Day 137

What would you be willing to do for someone that you loved? How far would you go? Would you be willing to break all of society’s protocols and seek the help of one that has been branded your enemy, if it meant the restoration of health for your child? Would you abase yourself and be willing to look like a beggar in front of those who looked down their noses because of your nationality? Today I want to talk about a mother’s persistence, wit, and determination that saved her little girl from the grip of death.

She is not given a name, just simply a title of where she hailed from, she is known as the Canaanite woman. The history of Israel and Canaan are less than desirable. And the Jews of the first century had done a magnificent job in promoting nationalistic ideas, so much so that every other nation was looked down on, especially one that served multiple gods. This story is found in Matthew chapter 15. And reading it upon first glance, one might find Jesus as a rude and insolent individual. However, it couldn’t be further from the case. Let’s talk about it.

Jesus was in a non-Jewish city when this happened: And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” Matthew 15:22. A lot is happening here. I am going to do my best to condense it. A woman who was not a Jew came crying out to Jesus asking Him to have mercy, calling Him Lord, and Son of David. Now all of these were Jewish ideologies. Especially the “Son of David” part. How would she know who He was? Because the “Son of David” phrase was used exclusively for the Messiah! Yet, she knew what to call Him. She doesn’t say “Master” or “Teacher” like the Jews called Him, she called Him by the anointed name of the Messiah (Luke 1:32; 2 Samuel 7, Jeremiah 23:5; Revelation 22:16). How interesting, that this woman a foreigner would be able to recognize who the Messiah was, before who the Messiah was sent!

The Jews may have missed Jesus’ true mission of the Messiah, but Jesus knew what He was anointed to do. He knew that there were countless others that were not of the Jewish faith that belonged to Him: I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” John 10:14-21.
There was a division among the Jews because Jesus was not what they expected. He did things that made people uncomfortable, like He loved everyone, and had compassion on those that others ignored on the fringes of society. And this Canaanite woman was on the furthest edges of those fringes. Primarily for being a Gentile, next for being a woman. What they did not know, was that before anything, she was a child of God, of whom the Father had sent the Messiah to love, heal, deliver, and save. And that is exactly what Jesus did.
Let’s continue with the story: But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” Matthew 15:23. First of all, no one, absolutely NO ONE was crying out after the disciples. The woman distinctively called out to Jesus, the Son of David. I find it interesting, that the disciples were annoyed with her, and acted like she needed them. To teach them a lesson, Jesus acted as they felt like He should: He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.” Matthew 15:24-28.

Do you see that interaction? Jesus acts like He’s not interested in helping this woman, as if her burden is not His problem. The disciples agree with His attitude, for it was the same one that they had against all foreign people. When Jesus compared her to a dog, she still called Him her Master. Did you see it? ““Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” He’s then is astonished at her faith. Most people would have given up and walked away, but her love for her daughter encircled her in humility and tenacity. This woman’s reaction to save her child trapped in the claws of the devil, was God’s reaction to save us. God humiliated Himself, and debased Himself, in order to descend on this planet and clothe Himself with sinful human flesh and blood, and live in limitations, all in order to save His children, trapped in the claws of the devil.

In Matthew chapter 12 Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah (41) what the Messiah, the Servant of God was to do: Behold My servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul has found delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.” Matthew 12:18. While no one thought that this woman and her problem was their concern, Jesus knew, that was what He was anointed to do. They wanted to send her away, even when they heard her desperate plea, her daughter was dying, unable to be loosed from demons. And the response of the church? Asking Jesus to tell her to go away, she’s bothering us. How many people have been begging for freedom from the enemy, trapped in his claws, and they are calling on Jesus for help, but we are in their way? We need to ask God every day to help us get out of the way and empty us of self and fill us with the Holy Spirit, so we can lead people to Jesus, and His love, not block them from His salvific power to lose them from the claws of the enemy, to heal them from their broken wounded spirits. Let’s be a catalyst for love and not a barrier to it.