2024_10_02 Insight Post- Rusty Coram
This week’s reading- Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30
Our reading this week is tough and uncomfortable. On the surface, it appears that Jesus is prejudiced against the Gentile (non-Jewish) woman and insensitive to the plight of her child. However, whenever you encounter a difficult passage, it is important to view it in light of the rest of the Bible for better context. Many have jumped to poor conclusions by skipping this step. In this situation, something pretty amazing is revealed, and if Jesus had simply addressed the woman’s request immediately, it would have been missed.
Initially, Jesus seems to ignore the woman’s pleading for help for her daughter. As she continued to ask, Jesus’ disciples said, “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.” Matthew 15:23 Now without responding to His team, Jesus says to the woman “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.” Matthew 15:24
I think what is going on here, is a lesson for the disciples, this woman, and everyone else witnessing the exchange. Yes, Jesus came primarily to let the Israelites know that the Messiah had come. God had specially chosen the Jews to carry this message to the world. They had the historical context to show that Jesus was the promised one. But we also know that Jesus came so that all people could find forgiveness and hope. Matthew 28:19,20 In His exchange with the woman, Jesus was testing her faith, and she passed with flying colors! She pressed her request with perseverance, respect, and humility, and Jesus applauded her genuine faith. His disciples were eager to get rid of her, but Jesus, in His loving and deliberate way, has shown both His purpose in coming and His care for this faith-filled woman and her daughter.
Reading this has me thinking about my prayers and whether I sometimes give up too quickly when an answer isn’t immediate. It could be that God’s delay is to hone my attention, devotion, and humility.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7–8 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor