Vol. 19.08.46
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Then Jesus went
thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of
Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on
me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But
he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying,
Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take
the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even
as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour....Mathew 15:21-28
Then Jesus went
thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of
Canaan came out of the same coasts, and Cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on
me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil... Mathew 15:21-22
This passage
pictures a woman crying; Lord Jesus, have mercy on me because of her daughter.
She said, Lord have mercy on me, because my daughter is sick. In other words, I
need mercy for my daughter, I am standing pleading mercy on behalf of my
daughter who is not here. It shows the story of a desperate mother crying out
loud publicly on the master for help, tendering her request with a voice of
cry, not minding the massive crowd, she pressed on the Lord. She did not need
help for herself, but she was standing in for her daughter.
WHY THE CRY?
My daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil.. Other simpler translations put it as; I need
your mercy, for my daughter is demon possessed and is suffering terribly.
Holman
Christian Standard Bible: I need your mercy because my daughter is cruelly
tormented by a demon.
In all these
versions, we see the cruelty of a demon spirit on its subject; this is a spirit
that has no good side on its victim. To be possessed is to be owned and
completely under the influence and control of a force and here, it was a demonic
spirit. So her torture was without mercy and the only rescue she knew was to
come to Jesus, she must have been told that Jesus freely heals the sick and
that demons humble themselves and cry out before him. So she cried Lord have
mercy on me. It was unfortunate she met the unexpected side of Jesus.
But he answered
her not a word and his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away;
for she crieth after us... Verse 23
HE ANSWERED HER
NOT A WORD
Jesus answered
her not a word. In modern day English, it would be said as 'But Jesus ignored or
snubbed her' or Jesus gave her no attention. I am yet to see a man who loves to
be ignored, it has been said that the clearest way to show someone is not
important is to ignore him. It's humiliating, it's ridiculous and a way to
disdain another. No one loves to swallow his pride when ignored except one who
has truly overcome his flesh; man will rather choose to endure his affliction
than to go to a man who is known to ignore others. It could have been better if
she came in the secret, she could have quietly walked away, but she came in the
presence of the crowd in the city with his disciples around, meanwhile an
average woman would be shy penetrating such a number of men. So everybody saw
Jesus ignore her, she cried, Jesus heard but he gave no answer, this was enough
reason for her to pick offense at the master, pick her things and walk away. I thought he was merciful, I
thought he was said to be compassionate to all, this was supposed to be her
words, but she was not grieved, instead, she kept moving. The remembrance of a
daughter who was grievously tormented by a demon kept her going. To whom will I
take her? It is better to suffer humiliation here in the presence of all these
men and have my daughter freed from torment. When there is no alternative, we
cling to the only available option, when you see people who have no one to help
them, no relation in high positions of power, they make God their only help. So
she pressed on, she persisted, she cried even more. No one persists on a thing
without a focus on either what he stands to gain or loose falling out; Jesus
enduring the pain and despising the shame was because He knew there was a joy
set ahead of Him. In wrestling or boxing
competition, in championship tournaments, the belt is always shown to them and
kept where they both can see it, so in the face of blood, you see men resilient
and some will choose to die on the ring holding on rather than throwing in the
towel. This woman's passion was for her daughter, she had seen enough of her
pain, so she had made up her mind to give it all it takes.
But he answered
her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away;
for she crieth after us... Verse 23
SEND HER AWAY!
Here came the
disciples doing what they are known to do... Send this woman away, she is
constituting nuisance here crying after us, they did not want noise at all,
nobody should disturb our Jesus. I have heard people call me and say, Please I
don't want to disturb you oh, kindly pray for me, some when you minister to
them, they see it as a big favour you have rendered to them failing to realize
every anointed man is carrying oil for the people, no man is anointed for
himself and it is in acting out the purpose for the anointing you make glad the
one who puts the anointing there. Jesus
of Nazareth was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power to go about doing
good, healing the sick, which is the purpose for the anointing. So when Jesus
sees the sick, He remembers, these are the people I am anointed for, He
cheerfully ministers to them but the disciples did not see it so, they never
wanted their master stressed so they
love to shield Him away from people who needed His help.
They brought
Children to Him that He might lay his hands on them for blessing and
impartation but they rebuked those parents until Jesus interrupted them. Let
them come, he said.. Matthew 19: 13.
And when it was
evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the
time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages,
and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus
said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.. Mathew 14:15-16
Send them away,
let them go and buy for themselves victuals, in other words, let every man go
find a way to survive, but Jesus said, no, let me minister to their needs also,
hunger is important a need as spiritual needs too. Jesus is not only concerned
about our spiritual problems, but He wants to meet our physical needs too, He
desires to see us live fine too.
FOR SHE CRIETH
AFTER US!
They must have
said, who is this woman making noise behind us? Please send her away. I am glad
it is not in their power to send men away. They still must take approval from
him, send her away, they must have waited for Jesus to say go and they will
complete the away, Jesus never says go away. Oh Hallelujah! For whoever comes
to him, whoever it may be, he shall by no means cast away John 6:37. I love NIV translation of the scripture; ‘I
will not drive away’. If Jesus does not drive you away, no man can.
But he answered
and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel... Verse 24
You are not
relevant to my ministry, you are not a partaker and beneficiary of my ministry,
that was Jesus' first word to a woman
who had gone through a lot to gain his attention as she got a rejection, but
look at her reaction below;
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me... Verse 25
SHE CAME AND
WORSHIPPED HIM!
Who taught a
Canaanite the act of worship? Who taught her the mystery of worship? Who taught
her what lies at the feet of Christ? You can not worship a man standing
shoulder to shoulder with Him, she definitely was at his feet. Who taught her
no one comes kneeling at his feet condemned rises not justified? Friends, there
is mercy at the feet of Jesus, the same place Mary knelt and his brother
Lazarus was called out of death, the Gadarene mad man knelt there and he was
emptied of his demons.
The woman
caught in adultery found his knees and she rose up justified, the leper who
pleaded, Lord, If thou be willing, make me clean, bowed there and left
cleansed. (Read more about people who harnessed the mercy at Jesus' feet. Matthew
9:18-19, Matthew 18:26-27).
Worship at
Jesus feet was a way of drawing His compassion. It actually takes brokenness
and humility to bow at His feet, the knees of men who are genuinely broken and
humble are never too far from the ground. God's compassion is provoked when men
bow at his feet. Every true benevolent act is a product of genuine compassion. She
came and, knelt saying Lord, help me… Verse 25.
LORD, HELP ME
The acknowledgement
of Jesus as Lord; it is one thing to know Jesus, it is another to acknowledge Him
as Lord. Knowing Jesus is good but there is more; there is another experience
of coming under His Lordship, to have taken Him as Lord and you, his subject.
With this, I began to see why she was not offended at His every disposition
because the Lord should do what He likes and pleases Him with his subject. Either
he grants her request or not, either He is friendly or unfriendly.
But He answered
and said, it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs... Verse 26
DO NOT GIVE A
CHILD'S BREAD TO A DOG
Haa!!! Jesus
isn't this too much? Why liken this woman to a dog? Could Jesus not have looked
for other friendly adjectives to liken her to? Jesus must be sure of what He
meant by calling her a dog.
What is a dog?
Let's see Biblical illustration of a Dog
·
Dog as evil workers: Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,
beware of the concision. Philippians 3:2.
Dog as illustration of Sodomite prostitution, lust, immorality, sexual sins and
perversions, Woredome. Deuteronomy 23:18
·
Dog illustrating Backsliding: Proverbs 26: 11-
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
·
A dog does not only return to his vomit, but it also feeds on
others mess. They are unclean beasts, there is an African proverb that says a
Sheep that keeps company with a dog will eat faeces. This is very true,
sometimes ago on my way to church, I got to place and perceived human faeces in
that environment, shortly after, I saw two dogs around spying the land until
they located it and cleaned it off, then I remembered, dogs are unclean animals.
It was dogs that leaked off Lazarus sores. It must be a big stinking sore other
animals saw and ran but dogs leaked it. Luke 16:21
·
They illustrate impurity, unholiness and defilement: Matthew 7: 6. Give not that which is holy unto the
dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under
their feet, and turn again and rend you. Don't give what is holy and
precious to dogs, because they will trample it under their feet, meaning, they
will make mess of it, disvalue it, this must be Jesus' reason for refusing her.
First, Jesus’
mission was first to the people of the covenant, i.e., the Jews, who were
awaiting the Messiah. He had made it clear that He is sent to the lost sheep of
Israel, So the mission to the gentiles was not granted until the Ascension,
when Our Lord said, “Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all the nations” Mathew 28:18-20. Nevertheless, He already
had shown His openness to the gentiles, like curing the centurion’s serving boy
(Mathew
8:5-13). So here Jesus was making it known with the nature of a Dog
explained above that as a Gentile, healing would make her return to her vomit,
she would return to her sin, but this woman did not allow this to put her away.
It is an insult
to be likened with a dog, I have tried to compare this woman to every other
woman I know, an average woman would have taken her scarf and walk away, even
prostitutes hate to be addressed as whores, but she endured the insult, she
rather choose to bear the insult for her child to be well. Mothers, how long
can you stand in prayer for your family? Desperate women go at the expense of
their life, they give up the sleep, give up the comfort and give it whatever it
takes in righteousness. Many destinies are ruined today because mothers could
not go the extra miles, if there is anything I am grateful to God for today,
apart from my salvation and relationship with Jesus, it is a praying mother He
gave me, mothers who will neither eat nor drink until what they are believing
God for on their children becomes a reality. You hear their voice overnight; a
good way to know a devout woman in prayer is that you hear her voice overnight,
she keeps vigil, she can watch at night while the children sleep, she holds
them in prayer. This woman, though a Canaanite and a Gentile but played out an
example of a real mother for all to learn from today, still she stayed and
said, yes Lord, call me a dog, I don't mind, let my child just be well.
And she said,
Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters'
table.. Verse 27
TRUTH LORD!
I acknowledge
that Lord, you have spoken well, I admit that we are unworthy and so I am, but
still Lord, consider that even dogs, are fed from their master's table. That's
the language of an intercessor; they hold God and are not easily put off
neither do they give up cheaply, they know how to negotiate with God, give Him
reasons why he should shift His judgment in their favour and their language is
still in the book of law. She was pleading that even if I am not qualified,
mercy can qualify me. Oh! How I love the Canaanite woman.
The problem
with many believers is not that we don't pray, but we do not pray till the desired
result comes, we don't hold on till what we seek comes, God seeks men who will
press like Daniel, on their knees, who will not stop knocking the door of
heaven until God looks down into the matter.
All the days of
my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes. Job
14:14b
I will wait,
until... Meaning the only condition for leaving is that the change comes.
Quitting is bound on the manifestation of the change.
Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even
as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour... Verse 28
GREAT IS YOUR
FAITH!
Here is a
relationship between faith and persistence! Whatever a man believes on, he
persists on, that is why if a man gives up too quick, it is an indication he
never believed initially. She believed and held on, though it tarries but it
shall come, her faith drove her on. So going through all the phases discussed
above, her driving fuel was her faith
Be unto you as
you want... And her daughter was made whole. Her want was that the daughter be
made whole so she was. I want to tell you, you shall have what you want if you
faint not. If you can press a little further. When the woman got home, she saw
her baby in her right frame of mind, she saw what she fought for right in her
hands. If you don't faint, you will have what you are asking for, you will have
your joy restored, you will see that bad child change for good, you will see
that alcohol addicted man crawl back home saying Jesus, you will see that
difficult situation submitting to you again, only if you will not give up
praying.
A WOMAN AS AN
INTERCESSOR
Every woman is
wired to be an intercessor, it is their default state of operation, and anyone
who runs less of this has only fallen short of his designed mode. It is so
because a woman is made with compassion, this is key to effective intercession.
It is compassion that is burnt as fuel which keeps her going.
Can a woman
forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her
womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.. Isaiah 49:15
Can she forget a
child that sucked from her beast? The child she carried in her womb for months?
This shows the connection between sucking and stay of a child in the womb with the
compassion she has for her. Some ask, why do children love their mother more
than their fathers and it's like there is a natural bonding between them and
their mother than it is with their fathers? This seems to answer right.
No one can
stand in gap for another without compassion. When you see someone standing
steadfastly in prayer for another, that person is full of compassion for the
other person and that is what grips his heart and makes him see the need to
bring that person's need on himself. This compassion in women makes them a good
instrument of prayer and when you see men drop out on the child, it is because
fathers don't love stubborn children, they push them to their mother, they can
not go far accommodating them, their elastic limit to which they can contain
the child is easily exceeded, but women persist; I carried him in my womb, he
sucked from my breast, that are always their words. So when a Joseph was far
wanting, a Mary was busy looking at his son even during his trials, in the face
of terrible whips, this is where the tenacity of a woman is spelt. Although a
weak vessel, but strong holding on; the
whips did not make her turn back, they must have persuaded her to avoid seeing
the bloody and brutal scene of her suffering son, till the point of mother
behold your son, Jesus handed her over
to John. Uncle Joseph must have said, I don't know where Mary brought this
wonder Holy Ghost conceived boy from, he gave up and glued to his carpentry.
Then after his resurrection, While Joseph said, he is not a kid, when he
resurrects, he will come home, Mary with other woman were at his tomb, despite
the morning cold severe enough that Peter warmed himself with fire three nights
before, the cold was not enough to stop her, she stood up early and went for
him; my son should have risen. Many times, you see a woman switch into tears in
prayer under the influence of compassion. It is their wiring, when the tears
flow, allow it. God sees it. It touches him too
God has put it
there for a reason, let's channel that compassion over our children and profit
them. That child that is wayward does not need spanking as much as he needs
prayer, that baby that is dull headed can as well be prayed for. Many elderly
women today learnt to pray for their children late after they had shapened
their life with curses and vain words, but a wise woman learns early to calve
out the future she desires for her child with her words in prayer.
God still looks
for the Canaanite kind of women today, when your child enters God's purpose
early and all is well with him, you will rest. Pray now so you can rest later.
God bless you
NB: the description of dogs is on the general basis and for biblical references only and not as a disdain to the animal or their owners
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