Bible In A Year | Read: Matthew 15
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 23 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.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Matthew 15:21-28
The Pharisees continue with their rule-following, and Jesus opposes them strongly. The Pharisees are concerned with the appearance of goodness, while Jesus is concerned with the heart. He makes an observation that is kind of gross. People put good things into their bodies, but what comes out is nasty. It is the same with behavior; people have a tendency to do wrong things even when they have been well-taught, like the Pharisees. He also has an interesting interaction with a woman who is not Jewish. She believes in Jesus and wants her daughter to be released from demon possession. Jesus resists, but she persists. That’s quite a contrast to the Pharisees! The Pharisees knew the Bible well, but missed Jesus. The non-Jewish woman had not been taught the Bible, but believed in him.
Our backgrounds don’t matter; it’s what we do with Jesus! Some people have all the advantages and still don’t find the truth; some don’t have any advantage and find it. It seems more likely that those who have been taught the truth would find it, but it doesn’t always work that way.
Think about the woman from today’s reading…..Silence.
How do we respond when God is silent?
The disciples assumed silence meant disapproval – or at least indifference. So they told the woman to go away – Jesus does not have time for you.
The woman saw silence as a barrier she had to push through. So she kept asking.
Jesus revealed silence was a way to draw out faith. Great faith.
When God is silent, do we listen to voices that question our right to hear from God, speak doubt, speak opposition – do we press in to God? It depends on whether we believe God will hear and answer our prayers or not. If we do, we press in. If we do not, then God’s silence exposes our limited level of faith. Note – faith is not defined by the type of answer God gives (sometimes the answer is no!), but rather whether we press in to get an answer from God when He is silent.
Silence.
How do you respond?
Prayer
Father, I am an impatient person. I struggle with waiting. I question whether You are listening at times. How long before I see that my faith is not defined by the answers I get, but defined instead by my willingness to press in when I face difficulties – or silence? My belief, that You are a good God who will release good things to His children – even if it takes time for You to answer? So today I willingly wait. Today I just press in. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Action Step
What is God showing me? What am I going to do about it?
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