“O woman, your faith is great”
[Matthew 15:21-28]
Last week, I read a book titled “Freedom from Financial Fear." I was drawn to this book because of its intriguing title, and also because it was written by Pastor James Kennedy, the creator of the evangelistic track "Evangelism Explosion." One of the key points emphasized by Pastor Kennedy in the book was to "trust in God's promises." Among the numerous promises in the Bible, he focused on Malachi 3:8-10. The highlighted Bible verses state: "Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." The promise conveyed in these verses is that if we bring our full tithe to God, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings until there is no more need. Pastor Kennedy encourages believers to trust in this promise and faithfully tithe to God. However, the reality is that many Christians do not tithe for various reasons. Pastor Kennedy explains, "Tithing is not a matter of finance; it is a matter of faith." This statement suggests that the reason we may not tithe is not due to a lack of financial resources but rather a lack of genuine belief in God's promise found in Malachi 3:10. What are your thoughts on Pastor Kennedy's statement?
Do you think your faith and mine are strong or weak? As I continued to meditate on the Gospel of Matthew, I had a moment when I became more aware of how small my own faith is. This realization came while contemplating Matthew 14:22-33, the passage where Peter, walking on water, starts to sink after seeing the wind and Jesus says to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" What are your thoughts on Jesus' words here? Do you believe that Peter had "little faith"? Would you, like Peter, obey Jesus' command to come out of the boat and walk on water if you were in the same situation? Yet, despite any doubts, Peter did step out of the boat and walked on water for a moment. How incredible is that act of faith? Nevertheless, Jesus said to Peter, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" So, how would you describe our faith in the eyes of the Lord? Even the short-lived walk on water by Peter, considered "little faith" by Jesus, makes me wonder: would our faith, often filled with doubt like Thomas, be considered great in the eyes of the Lord?
In today's passage, Matthew 15:21-28, we see a woman whom Jesus acknowledges as having great faith. Look at verse 28: "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 mentions that this woman with great faith is a Canaanite woman (v. 22). Additionally, Mark 7:25-26 provides more details about her: "But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth." According to Mark, this woman with great faith is identified as a Gentile, specifically a Syrophoenician. Moreover, Mark notes that she is a woman with a daughter possessed by an unclean spirit. Reflecting on this woman, considered a Gentile, I would like to draw two lessons on what it means to have great faith.
First, those with great faith are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Lord and the Christ.
Look at Mark 7:24-25 - "And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet." The Bible mentions that Jesus arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon from there, referring to the land of Gennesaret in the northwest of Galilee (Mt. 14:34). We know that Pharisees and scribes had come to Jesus from Jerusalem while he was there (15:1). They criticized Jesus and his disciples for not washing their hands before eating, pointing out that they were violating the tradition of the elders (v. 2). Jesus rebuked them for worshiping God in vain, stating that their hearts were far from God, even though they honored Him with their lips (v. 8). After addressing them, Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. However, Mark says that when Jesus entered a house there, he did not want anyone to know but could not be hidden (Mk. 7:24). It seems a bit peculiar, doesn't it? Why did Jesus go to a house in the region of Tyre, trying not to be noticed? Although we may not understand the reason for Jesus hiding, one thing is clear: a woman with a daughter possessed by an unclean spirit heard about Jesus and immediately came to him (v. 25). We don't know how this Canaanite woman heard about Jesus or how she found the house where Jesus was staying in the region of Tyre. However, what is certain is that she came to Jesus. Moreover, she came to Jesus immediately upon hearing about him. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, the region of Tyre where Jesus and the Canaanite woman met was an area attached to Galilee's north side, inhabited by Gentiles who had been hostile to the Jews (Park). So, could this Canaanite woman, as a Gentile, have been an enemy of Jesus, like the other Gentiles in the area? Or, at least, should she have been an enemy of Jesus like the surrounding Gentiles? However, how did she come to Jesus immediately upon hearing about him? The reason is that this Canaanite woman did not consider Jesus merely as a Jewish person like other Gentiles did. She believed and knew (recognized) Jesus as the Lord, a descendant of King David. Look at Matthew 15:22: "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.'" Notice that this Gentile woman referred to Jesus as "Lord" (vv. 22, 25). She not only called Jesus Lord but also addressed him as the Son of David. From this, we can see that she believed in Jesus as the Lord and the Christ (Messiah). With this faith, she came to Jesus.
Last week, I read a Christian newspaper that introduced three types of Christians among current American Christians, one of which is cultural Christians. When thinking about the Canaanite woman in today's passage, I wondered if she would have come to Jesus immediately upon hearing about him if she were a cultural Christian. The reason for this thought was that if she were a cultural Christian, she might not have come to Jesus, an enemy Jew culturally, upon hearing about him. One might consider, "Even though culturally, our Gentile people are enemies of those Jews, maybe I should go and see if this Jewish Jesus can possibly heal my beloved daughter possessed by a demon." If the Canaanite woman had approached Jesus with such an attitude, she wouldn't have addressed Jesus as the "Son of David." Moreover, if she had approached Jesus in that way, Jesus wouldn't have praised her faith, and her daughter would not have been healed. Isn't that right? So, what kind of Christian are you? Are you truly a Christian who believes that Jesus is your Lord and Christ, having the assurance of salvation?
Second, those with great faith are those who earnestly plead with the Lord.
In today's passage, Matthew 15:22, the Canaanite woman approached Jesus and cried out in this way: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." She passionately cried out to the Lord, pleading for mercy for her daughter, who suffered severely from demon possession. It seems that she didn't just cry out once; we can infer this from Matthew 15:23, where the disciples asked Jesus to send her away, saying, "For she is crying out after us." Especially when looking at the English translation, it becomes evident that she continued to cry out after the disciples made the request. Despite Jesus not answering her plea at first (v. 23), she continued to follow Jesus and persistently cried out. What was she so earnestly praying for? She continuously pleaded with Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter (Mk. 7:26).
If Jesus does not respond to your earnest prayers and remains silent, would you continue to offer the same prayer to the Lord? The psalmist in Psalms 22:2 expressed a similar plea: "O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest." Is this only the psalmist's prayer, or is it not also your prayer and mine? Even when we earnestly pray, if there is no response from God, we still continue to cry out to Him. I believe it's not easy to persistently offer the same prayer without possessing a strong faith. Without a robust faith, it's challenging to humbly accept God's silence. Especially when, despite our fervent supplications, God remains silent, we may feel that He has hidden His face from us and moved away (35:22). At such times, we can pray as the psalmist did in Psalms 83:1: "O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God."
Why do you think Jesus did not respond even though the Canaanite woman continuously cried out to Him? The silence of the Lord was to discern whether her faith was genuine (Park). What lesson does this teach us? When our prayers seem unanswered, when it seems like God is silent, we need to examine our faith. Looking back, we should reflect on whether our faith is earnest, whether we are passionately seeking the Lord. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." When our prayers seem unanswered, and it feels like the Lord is silent, we need to turn back and examine our faith. Do we truly have an earnest faith, and are we passionately seeking the Lord? The Canaanite woman continuously cried out to Jesus, saying, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon" (Mt. 15:22). Even though Jesus did not respond to her at first, she kept on crying out. This woman's continuous crying out prompted the disciples to ask Jesus to send her away (v. 23). At that moment, Jesus told them, "... I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (v. 24).
Why did Jesus speak to His disciples in this way? Was it truly the case that Jesus received the mission only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel? Perhaps upon hearing Jesus' words, His disciples might have thought, "Ah, Jesus received the mission only for the people of Israel. Our Lord did not come for other nations (Gentiles)." Regardless of whether they had such thoughts or not, the crucial point is understanding who Jesus referred to as the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The answer lies more in a spiritual perspective rather than a nationalistic view of the Jewish people—specifically, the chosen people of God (Jere. 50:6). If Jesus came solely for the Jewish people from a nationalistic standpoint, why did the resurrected Jesus appoint Paul, a Gentile apostle? Additionally, when we examine Jesus' famous prayer in John 17, we see that He prayed not for the "world" but for those given to Him by God, the Father's people (Jn. 17:9). Therefore, when Jesus said to His disciples, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," it means that Jesus received His mission from God the Father exclusively for His people. The reason Jesus spoke this way was to test the faith of the Canaanite woman (Park). He wanted to examine whether her faith truly believed in Him as the Lord and the Christ. At that moment, the Canaanite woman came and worshipped Jesus, pleading, "Lord, help me" (Mt. 15:25). Here, "worshipped" in the original Greek means 'to bow down,' signifying a humble posture of a worshipper. In other words, the Canaanite woman humbly prostrated herself before Jesus, acknowledging Him as her Lord and the Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus responded to her plea by saying, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs" (v. 26). What does this mean? In this context, "children" from a Jewish perspective refers exclusively to Jews, and "dogs" refer to Gentiles. Therefore, Jesus was saying that it is not appropriate to give the blessings of the kingdom (such as healing) meant for God's children, the Jews, to Gentiles (Park). Here again, Jesus was testing the faith of the Canaanite woman. If she lacked faith, she might have resented Jesus and walked away (Park). However, she responded by saying, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table" (v. 27). How do you perceive the words of this Canaanite woman? When I think about her words, I am reminded of pigeons scavenging for food under a table when dining outside or dogs roaming around medical mission tables in the Philippines. Seeing those dogs looking malnourished, it seemed like they were struggling to eat. The Canaanite woman recognized herself as a Gentile, akin to a dog, and she acknowledged Jesus as her "Master" (Lord). In the midst of this, she expressed her plea for Jesus to show compassion to her as well, even if it's just the crumbs of the blessings of the kingdom (v. 22). How humbly and earnestly she approached the Lord, asking for the smallest portion of His grace. How humble and earnest she was in pleading with the Lord. What did Jesus say in response to her? "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed" (v. 28). He commended her great faith, and from that moment, her daughter was healed.
What is the fervent prayer title that you are earnestly praying to the Lord right now? What is the prayer that you continue to cry out to God with a sense of urgency? Are you fervently praying for your loved one to recover quickly from an illness? Perhaps you are continuously calling on the Lord for a beloved family member who is at a crossroads between life and death? Even if it's not now, have you ever prayed so desperately before? As you know, there will be times in the future when we all need to pray so earnestly. At that time, let us hope that, like the Canaanite woman in today's passage, we will receive an answer to our fervent prayers not only because of our desperate supplications but also because of our humble and fervent prayers with great faith in Jesus Christ. May we, in Jesus' name, receive not only the answer to our earnest wishes but also the praise from the Lord saying, "your faith is great" (v.28).