The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (Matt 15:21-31 Devotional)

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Matt 15:21-31

There are a few things we can learn from the Canaanite Woman about experiencing God’s blessing

1. She knows who Jesus is

She cried “Lord, Son of David”. Without knowing the significance of it, she proclaimed 2 important titles of Jesus. He is Lord! He’s the one who reigns over everything. He gives and He takes away. Secondly, she cried “Son of David” which refers to the Messiah being the offspring of David. All the Jews would know this prophecy and longed for the Messiah to come. But how did this gentile woman know? We probably can only take guess but one thing we do know is that it is superstition to expect an unknown god to bless us. As you are asking for a blessing, I encourage you to get to know the Giver first.

2. She is persistent

We often notice very much the pain of the demon-possessed daughter, but what about the pain of the mom? It’s unbearable to watch your children suffer. Every parent would willingly suffer for their children. She’s desperate and she knows only Jesus could help her. She would not give up. Even when Jesus seemingly rejected her, she persisted.

3. She is humble

She doesn’t mind getting the crumbs. The blessing and healing power of the Lord, Son of David is limitless. Even the crumbs are more than enough. It’s also not about getting more or fewer blessings from God here. It’s about being humble and submitting to HOW God wants to extend His mercy on us.

4. She has faith

Last but not least, faith is of course the key to unlocking God’s blessing. Jesus praised her for her great faith and granted her request. Jesus also teaches that we can move mountains with faith as small as a mustard seed. So, do we need great faith or mustard-seed-sized faith? That’s not the point. The point is who we have faith in. Whatever size of faith you have, when you put that on God, great things will happen.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, Thank you for the blessings You have given us and those You will give us. Have mercy on us. Help us to know You more and more as we experience You more and more. Amen!

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