“And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.’ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, ‘Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’ And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ But she said, ‘Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.” Matthew 15:22-28
When I hear Jesus declaring someone’s faith to be great I want to know what made it so great because I want my faith to grow and be strong. God’s evaluation of what makes for great faith is so different than how mankind would judge it. From a human perspective, faith is usually considered great when it is accompanied by boldness, confidence, and assurance. Yet, it seems, that God is more impressed with humble, desperate faith.
The Canaanite woman did not just happen to see Jesus passing by and then remember that she had a need. No, she had to travel from her home to find him because she was desperate for his help. When she found him, she knew that she had no ground upon which to ask for blessing, since she was not a Jew. Therefore she cries out for undeserved mercy, acknowledging in the same breath that she, a non-Jew, is appealing to the son of David, the Jewish Messiah. I can’t imagine how hopeless she must have felt when Jesus did not answer her as she continually cried out to Him. Yet she persevered, continuing to crying out, even when it looked like she would not prevail, for the disciples began shunning her, asking Jesus to send her away.
When Jesus finally addresses her, it is not to grant her request. Instead He points out that she had no claim on Him, and that he was not beholden to listen to her. At least though, He was now looking at her, and so rather than turning away, she draws closer bowing down, demanding nothing, only begging for mercy with her cry of desperation, ‘ Lord help me’! Even so her desire is rejected, still her hope for help is held at bay. In fact, she is humiliated by being publicly put in her place as an undeserving dog, upon whom, bread should not be wasted.
At this point, should I have been in her place, I must sadly admit that I would likely have stood up, indignant, offended, rebuffed and excluded and have walked away in disgust. My internal appetite for equality, fairness, and self-respect would have turned me away.
But O the beauty and greatness of humble, desperate faith! Her desperate need kept her from walking away. Who else could she turn to, to find help for her daughter? Amazingly, in her humility, she was able to accept the reality that no human being, Jew or not, has any ground on which to approach the Lord. We have no right to mercy, we have no claim to demand help from the Lord. And so she agrees with Him and does not despise how she has been treated. By remarkable humble and desperate faith she cries out, not to be given her right, but just to find grace in the form of crumbs from the master’s table. Such humble, desperate faith prevails and receives at once its desire from the Lord.
O Lord, please grant me to have great, humble, desperate faith. Make me desperate so that I find no satisfaction in the things of the earth apart from Christ. And grant me grace to meet my every need in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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