Women of Faith: A Canaanite Woman (Mom)
“Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.” Matthew 15:28
Earlier, Jesus had been having a conversation with Jewish scribes and Pharisees in the city of Capernaum. These men had traveled northward from Jerusalem and were in the area when they noticed Jesus and his disciples had not washed their hands before eating bread. Angry at Jesus, they told him that his men had broken the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands first, before eating. Jesus reminded them of their hypocrisy which flowed from their evil hearts by pointing out to them their lack of care for their own parents for the sake of their “religion which opposed the Word of God!”
(See Matthew 15:1-20).
How refreshing it was for Jesus to leave Jewish territory and, for the first time, enter the land where the Canaanites lived; and, in doing so, to encounter a Greek (Gentile) woman of “great gutsy faith” who believed Jesus for the healing of her daughter’s severe (worst of the worst) demon-possession. (Read the full account in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30). [One thing to note when Jesus uses the word “dogs” in these passages, He’s not referring to the mean/lean scavenger dog of His day that roamed the streets; He’s referring to pet lap dogs that sat under the table waiting for food inside their master’s home]. Yes! Jesus came to His own first, the House of Israel, but He also came for the Gentiles as well! Are you practicing dead “religion” like the Jewish Pharisees, or fresh authentic faith in God like this Canaanite woman? A lot to think about on Mother’s Day!
Pastor Louie