The pattern here seems to be children helping their parents, but in our culture it’s always been reversed: Parents helping children.
Jesus cast a demon out of a girl who wasn’t present, and we don’t have a record that He commanded it to come out. As far as we know, He simply said “your request is granted” and instantly the demon was expelled.
What was it about her faith that caused Jesus to act on her behalf? Great faith appears to please Jesus, right? So let’s be people of great faith. This woman’s faith was assessed as “great” because she didn’t quit asking when Jesus ignored her. She didn’t quit asking when the disciples became irate and asked her to leave. She didn’t quit asking when Jesus said “no”. This is incredible, really. Think about it.
This lady sees Jesus and begs Him to help her…Jesus ignores her. She keeps asking and pleading. Still, no response from Jesus.
The disciples don’t seem to be upset at all that Jesus isn’t helping her. I think they would have been okay with Jesus pushing her out of the way. That in itself amazes me. In fact, these same disciples soon identify the woman as a problem for the ministry. “She needs to go” becomes the common thought, and soon we have God’s chosen men pleading with God to kick this woman to the curb, even while she is pleading in his other ear for mercy….for someone else.
Are there lessons for us here?
Have there been times when we misidentified hurting people as “the problem”? Do you suppose there are people hanging around the church creating drama and turmoil, whom we wish would just “go away” so we can get on with the ministry? I wonder how many times we have felt that the person holding us back was actually the pathway forward.
It occurs to me that we don’t have any other records of miracles on that trip. I did some exploring on Google Earth today, looking over the route that Jesus might have taken. It doesn’t look to me like there is an easy way to get from Galilee to Tyre, and it’s about 60km or 37 miles. That’s at least two days in each direction in anybody’s book, especially since there are foothills of the mountain range between the two. It seems like an arduous trip to me. I wonder what prompted Jesus to make the journey? These two cities were at the extreme northern edge of Israel’s border, and were always occupied with other peoples long before the Jews. What I’m saying is this: If Jesus was only going to minister to Jews, then Tyre and Sidon (further north), two towns along the Mediterranean coast were unlikely places to go.
I wonder if Jesus made the trip specifically to meet this woman. I wonder what she did after Jesus left. Maybe Jesus went there because God identified this area as part of Israel, even though they hadn’t really occupied it.
Anyway, here’s where I think I’ll leave it for today:
Jesus goes out of his way to rescue people who don’t deserve it, and it seems their faith in him and their pleas for help motivate him to action. Yes, I do believe that we can change what God has planned to do. That in itself is an incredible thought, and a wonderful blessing and responsibility.
Loving Jesus,
PR