Matthew 15:28

New King James Version

Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

For Meditation

She was a Canaanite and a woman. However, she did not allow ethnicity and gender to stand in her way to push for what she needed. Unlike many people who hold up such conditions as excuses, the Canaanite woman went to Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, pleading for her demon-possessed daughter. Now, that was bold and remarkable!

She lifted her petition to Jesus, the only person she had convinced herself could help her (22). If only we can see Him as all that heaven is and the source of our needs! Her faith was not docile but willful and active. Jesus met her with a cold shower that could have dampened her determination (23), but she was ready for any testing of her resilience. The disciples did not make it any easier. They frowned at her and urged the Master to send her away.

“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus said (24).

Has any situation tested your endurance before? Has heaven ever tried your faith this way? But our woman would not take a “No” for an answer. She pushed her case further. Throwing herself at the feet of Jesus, she pleaded for mercy (25), but the testing did not relent.

“It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs,” Jesus said.

How would you have responded? What would you have done? But with the coolness of a cucumber, the poor woman came out determined and resistant.

“Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Can heaven close up to such faith? Could the compassionate heart of Jesus refuse such a plea?

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter received the grace of God that set her free from her demonic affliction.

Such is the faith that receives.

It disregards all social and ethnic boundaries. It is bold, active, resilient, and persistent. Faith that receives stands tall against offenses with excellent deflective skills and savvy. It is wise and insightful. Heaven affirms such trust reposed in the King of kings and Lord of lords—Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is the lesson from the Canaanite woman for our walk with Jesus today and always.