A Long Walk! B - 3
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” 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.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Matthew 15:21-28 (NIV)
Jesus traveled nearly all the time throughout Judea and Galilee, to be with the Jewish people. But one day he decided to walk 50 miles to the coastline, towards the towns of Tyre and Sidon, towards “foreigners”. As you can imagine, a 50-mile hike took many days. Probably a week! Why would he give up so much time?
Well, there was a woman there whose daughter was very sick. She was a Greek woman, not an Israelite. And although she lived far from where Jesus spent his time, she had heard about him and wasted not a minute when she realized Jesus was in the neighborhood. She had no time for long theological discussions, no time for small talk, and no time in fact for the disciples. She was intensely bound and determined to take advantage of Jesus’ long walk and the window of opportunity available to her. And her persistence paid off tremendously!
Here’s some encouragement for you today. First, Jesus walked 50 miles and took several days, because a woman was hurting about a very sick daughter, both of whom were in deep need. He could have talked to thousands back in Galilee and performed some miracles, but this mom was hurting, and He just had to be with her.
Second, be sure to reread the above Scripture and this time notice carefully the punctuation used. The punctuation? Yes, because it will give you a world of information. The woman’s words twice ended in exclamation points. This indicates an almost frenzied, very determined level of wanting to talk with Jesus. Yet look at the disciples’ statement: it ends in a period. Their level of intensity was nowhere near the woman’s. To them, she was a bother, to Jesus, a dear woman. Finally, look at the end of the story: Jesus ended his answer also with an exclamation point. He saw not only her need, but her faith as well.
You might feel 50 miles and several days away from Jesus; you may feel unseen and almost unknown, far off the beaten path; you may think you’re an outsider and a foreigner and only have your perhaps modest faith going for you. But the truth is that a while ago, Jesus started a 50-mile hike to be with you, and He’s at your doorstep now!
Don’t ever underestimate the power of your prayer when you are in the same situation this woman was in, and when you likewise pray with passion, intensity and simple faith!
1) There is no other record of what happened on this trip. No healings, no sermons, no anything. At first reading, does such two-week round-2) trip for only one woman make sense to you?
2) Do you think Jesus would ever make that trip for you?
3) Could it really be that Jesus knew about this woman?
4) And if He did, how did He know about her?
5) Just how determined was that woman? Can you see yourself having as much motivation as you would ask for your own freedom and growth?
6) What social and religious barriers were in place which could have prevented this story, and its outcome, from ever happening?
7) When Jesus heard: “My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.”, what emotions might He have had?
8) It may seem that the words Jesus spoke at the beginning were rather harsh. But what was His goal? Did the woman grow in her faith as she proclaimed it?