Canaanite woman

Matthew 15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Over here we see about a Canaanite woman. The history of the non-Jewish woman is recorded in these passages. When we read Matthew 15:22-2, it clearly tells the story of a non-Jewish Canaanite woman. The woman is pleading to Jesus to deliver her daughter from the demon. During those times, Jews will not give much importance to women and they will not permit them to talk.
But this woman boldly pleaded with Jesus for deliverance from the devil's struggle. She is seen boldly offering her prayers to Jesus, who was not respected by the Jews. We see Jesus not only respected her who was not respected but also praised her by answering her request. The request of this canaanite woman pleased the Lord and which is the reason why he appreciates her.
We can also look at the conversation between Jesus and the woman and meditate on the blessings that came from her courageous prayer.

1. Great Intercession

Matthew 15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

We can take the above passage as a prayer of the woman for her daughter. Even in our lives, if someone is down with sickness we go visit a doctor. But this woman did not go to doctors for healing when her daughter was sick but came to Jesus Christ. She offers a prayer of intercession for her daughter. We can learn from this woman the truth that we should go directly to Jesus for our children’s needs, instead of seeking help from those around us. Today, it is very important that we as parents should pray for our own children. There are so many things to pray for our own children. We need to have a burden concerning our children and pray for them. We cannot expect others to pray for our life and for our children. The Canaanite woman teaches us that we should be concerned and pray for our children. A mother's intercessory Prayer is Powerful. Today we all need to start praying for the lives of our children. The Lord will surely answer to our prayers.

This mother doesn't pray for her own problems, she just prays for her daughter's recovery. In Matthew 15:22 ..“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and
suffering terribly.” Although she is a Canaannite woman, she knew Jesus is the son of David. She knew only Jesus can deliver her daughter. She had a firm faith that only Jesus can save her daughter. She offers a prayer of Intercession. Even in our lives, we need to prioritize prayer. We need to have an understanding concerning Jesus just like the Canaanite woman who knew Jesus was the son of David. The Canaanite woman prays just as Abraham begged God to save Lot's family, and Jesus hears her prayer just as he heard Abraham's prayer for Lot from afar.
She is a gentile woman from Canaan who knows Jesus very well. She had a very good understanding of Jesus. When we come to Jesus with good wisdom like her and ask him, we will receive everything. We need to have a burden concerning our own children. Today, when we call out to Jesus to have mercy upon us, we will receive an answer to our prayers.

2. Great Delay

Matthew 15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” 15:23 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.” 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Firstly, we saw the woman offers a prayer of intercession and pleads for her daughter. But the Lord did not answer a word. The first time she prayed, Jesus did not say a word in response.
For her first request, she receives silence as an the answer (a test ). We see her proclaiming Jesus as 'the Son of David' as the one with authority, and we learn that she prayed in faith in an emergency. But imagine how bad she must have felt when Jesus did not respond to her prayer. Nevertheless, she kept praying to the Lord. We read in Matthew 15:25 'The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.' Here for the second time, she knelt before the Lord Jesus. This time it is written in the original language that she fell on her knees before Jesus and prayed. Now when shes requesting for the second time, Jesus speaks with her. The second time she prayed, Jesus said, "I was sent to the house of Israel, not for you." The Lord Jesus clarifies about his boundaries in the ministry that he has come for Jews. For her Second Request, we receives a Clarification of Mission ( a Boundary ) as an answer from Jesus Christ.

Even in our lives, we might not have received answers for our prayers. We would have almost given up on our prayers as things are getting delayed. But here we see the Canaanite woman has not yet stopped asking the Lord. We the children of God should not stop praying because the answer is delayed. In Matthew 15:23, we see there is a delay and in Matthew 15:24, there is a denial.
But the Canaanite woman did not give up and felt wearied seeing the denials and delays. She kept asking the Lord Jesus to deliver her daughter. Let us continue to pray without giving up in prayer even if we find ourselves in a situation of hopelessness and opposition.


3. Great Faith

Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Here we see Jesus acknowledges the faith of the Canaanite woman. Jesus commends her saying, Woman, your faith is great. We see Jesus kept quiet for her first request and then he denied her request for the second time. But now he commends her. We read in Matthew 15:26-27 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Here we see the Lord Jesus is trying her faith. The Lord refers the bread to a healing which can only be given to the Jews. We can imagine how bad she might have felt when she heard the response. But she immediately responds with a wise answer.

The third time she prays, she answers Jesus with wisdom and humility. This is the expectation of the Jesus that she should reflect faith and wisdom. She even responds with a revelation that Jesus came not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. This response of her earns an appreciation from the Lord. Let our prayers be not only of faith, but also of revelation and fulfillment of the expectation of Jesus. When we do so, the Lord will appreciate our faith is great.


4.Great Love

Matthew 15:21 'Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.'

From Jerusalem, the Lord journeys to Tyre and Sidon. The towns of Tyre and Sidon were 80 kilometers from Jerusalem, and Jesus made the journey just to meet this Canaanite woman. This shows how much Jesus loved this woman, and this shows the great love of Jesus. When we look at this woman's life, we can see that in the midst of the long delay in the answer to the prayer and the struggle, her steadfast faith shows that before all this the great love of Jesus has been revealed. The Lord Jesus not only came into this world for Jews but for everyone. The moment Jesus was born his path of cross began. He was suffering from all kinds of trails and challenges from people. Despite of all these struggles, the Lord loved the people. In John 3:16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.' Jesus has come in search of us and he loves us very much. We need to taste the love of Jesus. Today, we read and hear a lot about Jesus but we need to understand the love of Jesus. The love of the Lord is unchanging. Amen.