Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Bible Text: “Woman, great is your faith; let it be done to you as you wish” Matthew 15. 21-28

The reason why Jesus has ignored the plea of the Canaanite woman is that she is a gentile. She belongs to a tribe that worships Baal and they have many other gods, a polytheist so to speak. It is interesting to recall that the miracles are intently for the confirmation of faith. There must be first an initial faith before Jesus would perform miracle. He wanted that every recipient of miracle should have a change of heart and draws herself closer to God. Jesus had challenged the woman by humiliating her to test whether she has at least the seed of faith; it is not fair to give the children’s food to the dogs. Miracles are for the children of God.

Acid test can make the best out of us. Being ignored by Jesus did not discourage her but had elicited a classic faith from her. She responded to Jesus in total humility, even the dogs eat the crumbs the fall from the master’s table. This woman became a child of God because of her exceptional faith and humility. She did not only receive what she was begging from Jesus but she became an icon of true faith.

We have to allow God to work in us in His own time. This is faith. We just keep knocking on God’s gate unceasingly. He will surely open it for us perhaps not right away, not even tomorrow and may not be after several days. God is always working surprisingly. It is when we do not expect that we receive. This is blessing. God wants us to know that miracles are not compensation because we deserved it; it is truly God’s grace to us. It is a gift of God to us. It is when we recognized that we are unworthy of God’s gift that we will realize God’s goodness to us. When we believe that God is so good to us, we will surely do the same to love people around us unconditionally.