February 2, 2024

Matthew 15:21-28 (HCSB)
A Gentile Mother’s Faith
21 When Jesus left there,  He withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon.  22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out,  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon.” 23 Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples  approached Him and urged Him, “Send her away because she cries out after us.” 24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came, knelt before Him, and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!” 28 Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was cured.

Pastor HD Jones
Nothing breaks my heart more than to see a mommy hurting over their child.  There have been a couple of times when ladies from our church have come to the alter crying out to God on behalf of their child.  While we struggle with understanding why God allows bad things to happen to our precious children, we never have to wonder if He cares. The way Jesus seems to ignore the mom and then the way He address her seems contradictory to His nature.     Here Jesus is teaching His disciples that our cultural labels and taboos will not be a part of the Kingdom of God.  While He pushed back at her this woman was persistent and Jesus granted her request.  This was so much different than the encounters Jesus had with the religious leaders of the Jewish people who would eagerly call the Gentiles dogs.  Those that should have known God’s Messiah best rejected Him and the ones farthest away seemed to realize Jesus was their only hope.  I wonder what cultural bias we might have that keeps us from pointing “those people” to Jesus?