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. (Matthew 15:21-28)
Here we see that the Lord Jesus went to Tire and Sidon. Tire and Sidon were the territories of the Gentiles. A Canaanite woman came to ask Him because her daughter was possessed by a demon. Apparently she had heard about the Lord Jesus. But Jesus ignored her. Because the Lord Jesus came to preach the gospel to the Israelites first, he said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Israelites are the people of God, the children of God, they considered Gentile as dogs. The Canaanite woman replied, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” The Canaanite woman replied that the domestic dog belongs to the owner, was also loved by its owner and ate the crumbs that fell from the owner’s table. The Lord Jesus praised her for her great faith and immediately healed her daughter. In the Bible, the Lord Jesus only praised two people for their great faith. The other was a centurion. The centurion believed that the Lord Jesus could heal his servant with just one word. Here we see the persistence of the Canaanite woman and her refusal to give up. At first her request was rejected by the Lord, but she did not give up and continued to ask until the Lord granted her request. There are other passages in the Bible that talk about the need to keep asking in prayer. For example, the parable of the unrighteous judge, it is about a widow who went to the unrighteous judge for justices, she continue asking until her request was granted. The parable of a friend at midnight, it is about a friend who wanted to borrow bread at midnight and knocks on the door until the door is opened. We should ask until we receive, seek until we find, and knock until the door is opened. This includes asking for the Lord’s presence, asking for the Holy Spirit, asking for the Lord’s healing, etc.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
