Faith without Fear
She cried out, but Jesus didn’t say a word – complete silence. At this point, the disciples (and many of us) get a little uncomfortable. They shuffle their feet a little, finally speak up and say, “Jesus, umm…maybe You could just heal her daughter and she would leave us alone. You know, it’s actually embarrassing us to see her acting like this, and You know what people will say seeing her following us around.” To this Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” How do you think they would have responded? Would they have been as shocked as we are that Jesus said this? Or would they have been thinking this: “Well, yeah Jesus…we don’t like Canaanites either, but she’s driving us crazy.” We then see something more about her faith. Not only does she have faith without shame, but her faith was without fear. She was not afraid of Jesus or the disciples. She threw herself down at Jesus’ feet in total worship. With nothing to lose, she showed a relentless dependence on Jesus. Without shame and without fear, she fell at Jesus’ feet and asked again, “Lord, help me.” Is this the kind of utter devotion we have, or are we afraid to pray and ask God something because we might be told no? This woman didn’t let Jesus’ lack of response stop her.
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Faith that Won’t Quit
On top of a faith without shame or fear, she showed a faith without stopping, a faith that wouldn’t quit. As she bowed down at Jesus’ feet, He told her something very strange. He said, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Everyone there knew what Jesus meant, the disciples and the woman. He was saying in effect: It isn’t good to take the blessing meant for Israel and give it to the Gentiles. Who do we stand with when we hear this? Do we stand with the disciples, who probably agreed and said, “Jesus has a point; we should take care of our own,” or do we find ourselves at Jesus’ feet with the woman saying, “Jesus, master, as always You’re right, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall off the master’s table.” In other words, on her face in worship at the feet of Jesus the woman said, “Lord, I know Your blessings are for the entire world. I know Your blessing is so great that I’ll gladly take the leftovers and be satisfied.” At this final response from the woman whose faith won’t quit, I can see the scene. Jesus’ serious face broke into a smile; He reached down, grabs her by the hands, helped her off her feet, looked her in the eye and said, “Great is your faith woman, your daughter is healed!”