The Canaanite Woman’s Faith
“21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23 But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ 24 He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27 She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed from that moment’” Matthew 15:21-28.
Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jewish people, but like all of Scripture, we can see it as Matthew writing to us. In the context of this scripture, the division is Jews and Gentiles, but in our context today it is American Christians and the others. We live in a society that today is pushing back against immigration, and yet we have no problem employing undocumented workers to work for wages below legal minimums and live in conditions fit only for animals. They, too, come from foreign lands, like the Canaanite woman from Tyre and Sidon, and find themselves described as inferior.
The only way to combat these stereotypes is to follow the example of Jesus and visit with those of other cultures either here or in their countries and meet them in the humanity they have. There is little doubt we can easily say something offensive based on the context we understand, even Jesus did it.
But these human beings may have plenty to teach us about faith and Christ and what an ecumenical, more inclusive Kingdom of God with diversity truly looks like. If one woman can change the mind of Jesus regarding Gentiles, imagine what a relationship with “the others” can do.
Jesus is not only the Savior for America, nor was Jesus only the Savior for the Jewish people. Jesus is the Savior for the entire world, so we should invite every person to join in the Kingdom of God and smash the ethnic boundaries that divide us.
We must also smash the inequality of genders in our society to this day. Women are paid considerably less than men, still viewed as inferior in most aspects of our society, and are told that kitchens and child-rearing are their offices. This story of the Canaanite woman is a reminder that women play as important and prominent a role in the Kingdom of God as men, and if a woman can change the focus of Christ for the better, they certainly are of equally high value in their humanity and their personhood as men.
Take note of the woman who brought Canaanites to equal footing with the Israelites, and do what you can to bring women to equal footing with men in our country and world.
Pray about this today. In what ways do you treat men and women differently? In what ways do you treat people of different races differently?
I love the closing verses, “28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed from that moment’”
Matthew 15:28.
Join me today and look in the mirror. Who do you see?
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28.
“So God created humanity in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them” Genesis 1:27.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.
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