“Woman, you have great faith.”
This is one of the most incredible of all of Jesus’ encounters recorded in the Scripture. This woman comes to Jesus with a genuine need. She is coming on behalf of someone else (her daughter) and not herself. She is coming like so many before her who received their request. But she is different. She is not an Israelite. She is a Gentile. Jesus’ reply to her entreaty is almost shocking.
At first He doesn’t even acknowledge her presence. The Bible says that He did not answer her a word. This doesn’t stop her. She is so persistent that the disciples can’t take it anymore and they… well, they don’t exactly take up her cause. They ask Him to send her away. “I’m only sent to the lost sheep of Israel,” Jesus says. That doesn’t stop her. Then the ultimate insult. Jesus says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
What would you have done in her place? “You certainly aren’t the loving merciful God I’ve heard about.” Most of us cut and run over far less. We aren’t desperate enough or we aren’t strong enough, or both. Her reply was probably one of the high points of Jesus’ sojourn among humanity. And for one of only two times Jesus commends someone for having great faith.
Many are taught these days to have faith for so many things, but few are taught to have great faith. Faith in the face of offense? That’s great faith.
1 comment:
What do you think motivated this woman's "great faith"? I wonder if it was her "great need"? Could it be we do not experience great faith because we have not truly walked in great need? Oh, we have needs, no doubt. But are they great enough to drive us to great faith? Sometimes I think we hedge our bets and bring to Jesus only the needs we are reasonably certain He will/can care for. That is not faith. To know great faith, maybe we need to express our greatest need.
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