Matthew 15:21-28
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
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 suffering terribly from demon-possession.”
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 their
dogs.”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she said,
“but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And
her daughter was healed from that very hour.
As I looked at this scripture, I
told my husband, “this is going to be a hard one because I have never quite
understood this passage.” It seemed to
me that Jesus was somewhat standoffish to this poor lady that was calling on
His name. I could not figure that out
because I thought He came for all of us.
As I prayed about it and was actually writing another potential blog
when a scripture came to mind and a light came on. That scripture can be found in Romans 1: 16 – 17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the
power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew,
then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a] just as it is written: “The righteous will live
by faith.”
Hebrews
9:11 – 27
11 When
Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is
to say, not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and
calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood,
having obtained eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a
heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that
they are outwardly clean. 14 How
much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead
to death,[b] so that we may serve the
living God!
15 For this reason Christ
is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free
from the sins committed under the first covenant.
All of this to say, that Jesus did
not come to change the law but to fulfill the law. Jesus came first to the Jew, His chosen
people, the ones that He made a covenant with through Abraham. When they did not listen to Him and receive
Him, He went next to those who had faith.
Those like the Canaanite woman found in Matthew 15. I always felt bad for this woman who came to
the feet of Jesus begging for Him to help her.
He first ignored her, then He told her she wasn’t one of his children,
even comparing her to a dog. But she had
faith, she recognized the Lord and knew that He had the power to save her
child. He saw her faith and He healed her
child.
Yes, He did come for all of us and
our passage today is there to teach us that we need to place our faith in
Him. We need to call Him Master and we
need to fall at His feet. We can come to
Him with our burdens but we first need to recognize who we are coming to, we
need to recognize that He is our High Priest, our intercessors to the throne of
Grace.
Jesus our High Priest our intercessor,
our Savior. He came to offer His
sacrifice once and for all for us.
Through Him we are made perfect, the one who was without sin came to be
the One and only sacrificial lamb for us.
Because of Him both Jews and Gentiles can come to His throne. As you seek Him today, remember who He is and
find Him through seeking Him with all our hearts.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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