Are You Desperate Enough?

They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit. Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy. Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.” Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.” He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well. Matthew 15:22-28

We all know that Jesus was called to the Jews and the gentiles. We know that he even sought out those that were not Jews to come to him (i.e. the woman at the well John 4). So why in this instance was Jesus not only making this woman go through humiliation, but making her demand her daughters healing? Why did he choose to treat her so curt, and dismiss her, literally calling her a dog!? If you heard that there was a minister who could make your dream of healing or financial breakthrough, that he could lay hands on you and you would become pregnant, or heal your marriage, would you go? Now, if He called you a dog, and said you were not worthy of his time, would you become offended and walk away, or would you care?

This woman did not care. She did not have time to be offended, she did not have time to think “why does he make me go through more than others do?”. She did not have time to feel sorry for herself, or decide that He should come to her. I mean after all he went to the centurion’s home when his daughter was sick, right? No, she did not care. She did not even care at that moment whether he was nice, or liked her, only that she knew He was her only hope to heal her daughter. She had one purpose in her mind and that was pursuing the healer until she got her breakthrough no matter what it took.

So why? Didn’t he know she deserved her daughter’s healing? Didn’t He know she had the faith? Was it not enough that she had come to him in such a humble manner? Who knows? I can make some guesses. Maybe she had lived a life feeling inferior to Jews, and he wanted her to push past that and decide for herself that she was indeed good enough. Maybe there was someone in the crowd that day who had not reached for their healing because of that, and her response made them realize they deserved it, too. Maybe he was trying to teach the disciples a lesson. How many times did they try to shoo people away from Jesus. Maybe he wanted them to see that they were bothered by someone who had greater faith than they did.

What is my point? This woman could have easily walked away, and with good reason, angry and offended. But she stayed, and got her healing. My Bishop says that sometimes “God will offend the flesh to reveal the heart”. Sure, she was probably hurt by his comment, but not enough to not press forward. We can not always understand why God does things differently for others than he does for us. The timing, the healing, the fulfillment of our dreams; it is different for everyone. However, if we allow ourselves to become offended and bitter because he does not do it the way we think He ought to, or when he ought to, then we may very well miss out all together.