Stubborn Faith

Stubborn Faith

The Mother Of A Demon-possessed Daughter

Read: Matthew 15:24-28

The Gentile woman who asked Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter must have been surprised when Jesus rebuffed her. Most people would have been hurt or offended or would have become angry and walked away. If I had been in her sandals centuries ago, I would immediately have said, “But Jesus, you healed this man’s daughter, this woman’s son, that blind person, and that deaf person. Why not my daughter?” Instead of giving up, the woman stubbornly continued to plead for Jesus’ help.

Scripture doesn’t explain why Jesus treated this woman so differently from his usual manner of responding to needy people. It is a difficult passage to understand. God had clearly given Jesus the mission of calling Israelites back to God (later, God sent apostles such as Paul to tell the Gentiles about God’s love). Throughout history, God demonstrated his faithful love and extraordinary patience to the world by how he treated the Jews.

Jesus was clearly focused on God’s purpose during his time in human history. Perhaps Jesus wanted to stretch the woman’s faith or reveal his disciples’ prejudice. Maybe he wanted to make the point to the people watching him that he knew that this woman was a Gentile and that God accepted all people who believed in him, not just the Jews.

Whatever the reason, this passage shows that at times we may feel as if God is rejecting us while meeting the needs of others. During those difficult times when God’s actions are confusing, we need to remind ourselves that God has a good plan for us. We need to have a stubborn faith that trusts that God always has a purpose and that he will answer us at the right time. Like the desperate mother who demonstrated stubborn faith so long ago, we may see our confusion suddenly turn to joy.

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great.”

Matthew 15:28