Ask, Seek, Knock – Persistence in Faith
This is where this particular story ends. We don’t know what the disciples were thinking. Did Jesus remind them of what He previously taught? In chapter 7, Matthew wrote about one of the lessons Jesus taught, the only other time in this gospel when Jesus mentioned dogs. He said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs,” and then in the very next paragraph, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Here, from one they never would have expected, the disciples saw this kind of faith lived out. They got a living lesson on asking, seeking, and knocking. They saw great faith embodied, a faith that didn’t quit with asking, a faith that wasn’t ashamed to seek diligently after Jesus, a faith that wasn’t afraid to keep knocking even in the face of no response.
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Questions for you and me!
Do we have a faith that won’t quit, or do we have a faith that gives up when we don’t see a quick response? The disciples left that place after having seen a faith that wouldn’t quit, a faith they imitated as they spread the gospel later on in the face of persecution. The tradition of the church tells us nearly every disciple died a martyr’s death for his or her faith in Christ. Could it be that the great faith they carried until death was learned from the Canaanite woman? May God grant us such faith, a faith so great that it won’t give up even in the face of uncertainty, a faith so great that it seeks Jesus Christ relentlessly, a faith so great that it believes God’s blessings are too big for one nation, a faith so great that it never quits. May God grant us the faith of a woman who had nowhere else to turn except to worship at Jesus’ feet.
[1] Wisdom of Solomon 12:10-11