“She replied, ‘That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.’ ‘Dear woman,’ Jesus said to her, ‘your faith is great. Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was instantly healed.” (Matthew 15:27-28 NLT)
These closing verses of the discourse that took place between Jesus and a Gentile woman are some of the most disturbing verses to me in all the Bible. At first glance we’re tempted to believe Jesus is being callous and uncaring, but we too often forget that He knows everything, the beginning and ending of every scenario. His reluctance to heal this woman’s daughter wasn’t because he didn’t care, but so she could come to understand more fully with whom she was speaking.
My sense is, if Jesus had immediately healed the woman’s daughter, yes, of course, she would have gone away joyful and fulfilled but would have missed a vital element in the story. Verse 25 says: “But she came and worshiped Him, pleading again, ‘Lord, help me!’” Two critical things happened in that brief transaction: Jesus led her to confession that led to worship of Him as Lord. Those are the two critical elements in the transformation of any life. Had she simply settled for the healing of her daughter, she may have missed Jesus.
Until we realize who Jesus is, we’ll never open our heart to worship and adore Him as He alone deserves. We’re so quick to give our worship to lesser things, never stopping to realize He alone is worthy; He alone is the answer for every need we’ll ever have, now and for all eternity. Until we allow our tears to bathe His beautiful feet, we’ll never allow our hearts to understand who He is and who He longs to allow us to become; we’ll never see accomplished the dreams He has for us and those we have for ourselves and others.
John Stott reminds us of a defining truth when he writes: “Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if it is not softened by love.” No other story illustrates this truth more perfectly to me than the story of this Gentile woman and Jesus. She wasn’t hardened by the truth that Jesus came first as the Savior of the Jews and that allowed her heart to be softened by the love of her new Master and Lord.
What will it take to soften the hardness of our heart for the lost of this world whose lifestyles and ungodly attitudes drive us up a wall. Can we not see, as Jesus did, the hope that lies behind their neediness? Can we not, with the compassion of our Savior, lead them to His feet with kindness and patience as our Savior exhibited with us? Must we be so content in our own salvation that we have no room for the many others for whom the Savior died?
If not, might the hardness of our heart reveal more about us than them? Might the shallowness of our faith not raise the question as to whether we have faith at all? What kind of saving faith shuts the door that was opened to us? Dare we think we’re better than other desperate sinners? Unless and until we see ourselves on our knees at the feet of Jesus begging for the scraps of grace we need for our life, we’re not worthy to receive anything from Him.
And to think we’re above begging others to yield their life and allegiance to Jesus with every ounce of conviction we can muster is to think too highly of ourselves. We’re beggars showing other beggars where we found food. We must not ever content ourselves in knowing the source of our spiritual food without sharing our Source freely with others.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
