Day 28 | The Gentile’s Daughter
Read Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus delivering a Gentile’s daughter from demonic oppression is one of the many miracles found in Matthew’s gospel. The purpose of this writing is to demonstrate Christ’s concern for every type of person, not only the Jewish people but the Gentiles too. In this passage, a Canaanite woman begs for mercy as her daughter was suffering from demon-possession. Jesus finally answered her by saying, in other words, that God wanted the Jews (the children) to present the message of salvation (the bread) to the rest of the world by offering them the first opportunity to accept Him as Messiah. The woman replied by agreeing with Him. She was fine taking second place just as long as she could receive God’s blessing for her daughter. Jesus granted her request because she had great faith and recognized Jesus’ authority as the Creator. Jesus used this opportunity to teach us that faith is available to all people.
There were a lot of cultural reasons Jesus “shouldn’t” have had this interaction. Tyre and Sidon were seen by the Jews as hedonistic cities, ancient equivalents of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Gentiles, non-Jewish people, were people that Jews just didn’t interact with. Canaanites, like this woman, were seen as especially common and lowly. They were pagans who didn’t have a relationship with the true God. He did this with a purpose, to show that even those who are on the fringes of “acceptable” culture can be reached for His kingdom.
In every one of our lives, there are certain kinds of people that we’re more comfortable with than others. If you’re a creative type, you feel more at home with the art community. If you’re a business type, you’ll feel the same about other business types. What Jesus tears down here is the idea that it’s okay to only talk with people we’re comfortable around. This woman did not fit into any group Jesus was in, yet He still commended her on her faith and healed her daughter. Shouldn’t we extend the same grace to those we aren’t comfortable with?
Pray for 10 minutes