A Morsel

Matthew 15

The Syrophoenician Woman

21 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

Have you ever desperately needed something from God but your prayers fell on deaf ears?  The verses above are an excellent example of how we should respond when there is no reply from heaven. 

Every parent can identify with this woman.  She probably didn’t fully understand what was wrong with her child but knew things weren’t right.  She heard of the miracles Jesus had performed and after learning He would be near, went to Him for help.  However, after pleading for mercy she was ignored.  Then those with Jesus asked Him to make her go away.  She believed Jesus was her only hope.  She had no where else to go and she might be turned away. 

Ignoring people and telling them that they are a dog doesn’t sound like the Jesus we learn about in Sunday school.  What was Jesus doing?  What is the point?  Similar to what I mention in my entry about prayer, I believe Jesus was testing her to see if she was serious.  God tests our faith to see if we truly believe.  We need to be persistent in our petitions to God.  We are to ask until it is given.  We must seek until we find.  We must knock until the door is opened.  To continue knocking demonstrates our faith.  It shows we believe God will answer. 

Another thing I notice with this story is the woman’s humbleness. She was put down by Jesus when he said he shouldn’t take food for the children and give it to the dogs.  She didn’t get indignant.  She didn’t become angry.  Instead, she realized she was in no position to argue and still get what she wanted.  The well being of her daughter was paramount.  Therefore, she accepted a subservient position and remained at Jesus’ feet with her petition.  She would accept crumbs.  A morsel from the God of the universe is better than a feast from the world. 

God wants us to seek Him.  We should let nothing stand in the way of seeking Him and His kingdom.  Let nothing be above our requests of Him.  He wants to answer our prayers.  He is honored by your prayers.  He is the Lord of our lives and we need to take every need to Him and let Him be Lord over all.