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And behold, a woman of
Canaan came from that region and
cried out to Him, saying, “Have
mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is severely demonpossessed.”
But He answered her
not a word.
Long after you or I would have
given up, the Canaanite woman who
came to Jesus on behalf of her
daughter, persisted. She persisted
and Jesus persisted as well, by not
answering her. In fact, Jesus
persisted to the point that His
disciples were scandalized. “Why
won’t Jesus help her”, they thought
to themselves. “He always helps.”
And so they interceded on her
behalf. “Send her away” they told
Jesus. Sounds kind of cruel, unless
you understand that “send her
away” meant, “Help her; give her
what she’s asking for. Release her
daughter from the demon.”
But Jesus ups the anti. “I wasn’t
sent to help the Gentiles, only Jews,”
he told them. She heard what He
said, and yet she persisted. Kneeling
before Him, she cried again, “Lord,
help me,” and at that point He calls
her a dog. Speaking for myself, and
perhaps I speak for you, too, at this
point I would have given up, cursed
Him or sulked away. But she doesn’t
do that. She agrees with Jesus. “Yes,
indeed. That’s what I am; a dog. But
even dogs eat scraps that fall from
their master’s table.” And with those
words she traps Jesus in the kind of
trap He loves to be caught in. “O
woman, great is your faith!” Jesus
exclaims.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demonpossessed.” But He answered her not a word.
Long after you or I would have given up, the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, persisted. She persisted and Jesus persisted as well, by not answering her. In fact, Jesus persisted to the point that His disciples were scandalized. “Why won’t Jesus help her”, they thought to themselves. “He always helps.” And so they interceded on her behalf. “Send her away” they told Jesus. Sounds kind of cruel, unless you understand that “send her away” meant, “Help her; give her what she’s asking for. Release her daughter from the demon.”
But Jesus ups the anti. “I wasn’t sent to help the Gentiles, only Jews,” he told them. She heard what He said, and yet she persisted. Kneeling before Him, she cried again, “Lord, help me,” and at that point He calls her a dog. Speaking for myself, and perhaps I speak for you, too, at this point I would have given up, cursed Him or sulked away. But she doesn’t do that. She agrees with Jesus. “Yes, indeed. That’s what I am; a dog. But even dogs eat scraps that fall from their master’s table.” And with those words she traps Jesus in the kind of trap He loves to be caught in. “O woman, great is your faith!” Jesus exclaims.
What is this faith that He commends? We have a clue in what she calls Him: “Son of David.” She knows who Jesus is. She’s heard of Him. She’s heard accounts of how many people Jesus has healed, how many Jesus has fed, made the lame to walk and the blind to see. Her confidence is in what she’s heard - “faith comes by hearing”, Paul later tells us, and by calling Him “Son of David,” she is also confessing faith in the promises made about that great Son of David who would reign forever and bring eternal peace.
So many times faith is maligned by the wisdom of the world. It is despised, counted as ridiculous, considered an undesirable remnant of a medieval world, called “blind” - blind faith. And if faith were blind, grounded in nothing but feelings, hopes and dreams, well it should be. But this Canaanite woman’s faith isn’t blind. It’s not irrational. It’s grounded in what she’s heard about Jesus. Faith is, in the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Her faith isn’t in what she hopes for — the healing of her daughter. Her faith is in Jesus; not an abstraction, an idea, a concept, a feeling, but a report, a message about who Jesus is.
What she’s experiencing in Jesus’ response is contrary to what she’s heard. But her faith, her confidence in what she’s heard about Jesus overrides what she’s currently experiencing. And perhaps, that’s the point behind this whole story. It’s a hard lesson, to learn patience, and humility, and confidence in the Word. It’s a hard thing to do when we hear one thing reported on in Scripture, and something else experienced in our lives. It’s easy to give into the reality of what we’re experiencing, rather than to cling tenaciously to Jesus’ Word and promise.
Today, faith has been re-defined to mean experiences, emotions, and ideas that dwell entirely in the realm of the subjective. And if that is what faith is, then that makes every kind of faith equally valid. Then, it doesn’t matter if it’s the faith of a Muslim or a Mormon or a Christian and that’s where many in the world are at - but that’s not what Biblical faith is about. For us as Christians, it’s not faith in faith but faith in the person and work and promises of Jesus. Faith is not irrational or blind. It begins with confidence in what has already been said and done. Faith in anything else may be wellintentioned and fervent, but it has a false and untrustworthy object.
The greatness of the Canaanite woman’s faith wasn’t an inner quality of persistence. You can, with great fervor, persist in trying to unlock a door with the wrong key and you’ll never get it unlocked, despite how persistent you are. Faith isn’t an eternal optimism, for you can be eternally optimistic that I can fix your car’s brakes, and all your optimistic faith will do is get you killed because I know nothing about the braking system in cars.
The greatness of the Canaanite woman’s faith was in the greatness of the object her faith. Her confidence was entirely in Christ Jesus, that He was, in fact, merciful. That mercy she had heard of was what she would not let go of.
You can have faith, strong, fervent faith that you will beat your cancer, get the job you want, have the child you’ve been longing for, or finally meet the woman of your dreams. But a strong faith is no guarantee that you’ll get these things, and neither is a failed outcome a sign of a lack of faith on your part.
No, as Christians our faith is entirely in one thing, what the woman asked for: Mercy. God’s kindness, pity, and rescue. And the ground of our faith is entirely on Christ Jesus, His death on the cross, His resurrection. What we are going to celebrate together on April 8th is testified to by many eyewitnesses. It’s credible. You aren’t a fool to believe it, but wise beyond measure. It’s the one thing above all other things that matters.
The Lord was merciful to the Canaanite woman and her daughter was healed instantly. But the greater mercy, even greater than physical healing was the fact that she trusted Jesus for her eternal mercy, for salvation, and in His great mercy, our dear Lord saved her for eternity.
So fret not that the world counts you a fool, for getting up and celebrating the Resurrection. Don’t let it bother you that the world would say, you’re not bright but a bigot. Know that the Lord remembers you when you are weak and lowly and despised. Great is your faith, because great is your Jesus. He has already shown you mercy the greatest mercy - He died for you, rose for you, called you to faith in His Son, washed you in Holy Baptism, repented you and forgives you, and will continue to do so even unto ages of ages.
A Blessed Easter,
Pastor Hodel
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