Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 15:21-28 on biblegateway.com
Verse 21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Verse 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." Verse 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us." Verse 24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Verse 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." Verse 26He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Verse 27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Verse 28Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
Devotion
Is there anyone who hasn't felt the hurt that comes from being snubbed? Rejection is the
unkindest cut of all. In our reading, a woman with an agonizing family problem steps outside her religious comfort zone and comes toward Jesus with the cry, "Have mercy!" Her plea is met with—silence! If there is to be any answer at all, she will have to wait. And wait some more.
What christian hasn't experienced this? You pray, but wonder if anyone is listening. You get the feeling that few if any of your prayers go anywhere but up into thin air. You wonder why God seems to be hiding from you. The silence this woman met didn't snatch hope from her soul. She let her faith carry her past uncertainty, past silence, past rejection, past humiliation and right into those words of Jesus, "Great is your faith!" Her daughter’s inner torment found instant healing. God heard her cry, after all. Times of silence can let us know just how carefully God is listening.
Prayer
Gracious God, We ask that our courage not back up, nor let up, nor give up. Keep our faith grounded in your faithfulness. In the name of Jesus. Amen.