The Canaanite Woman

I’ve long been intrigued by the healing story in Matthew 15:21-28 – where the Canaanite woman pursues Jesus and his disciples, wanting healing for her daughter who is possessed with a devil. I just love her exchange with Jesus! How sharp and quick she was to respond in the way she did! And thereby she won the healing she wanted for her daughter.

Several things struck me about this story as I read it this week:

o She was bold – she asked for what she wanted. Here she was, a woman, and from a non-Hebrew culture (The Hebrews were actually supposed to wipe out the Canaanites when they were brought to the Promised Land – so not a lot of great feelings between these groups!), pretty low on the scale to get any sort of notice, much less to ask a favor of someone so important.
o She loved – she must have loved her daughter so dearly, enabling her to put herself in this position of begging for help

o She was perceptive – she recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. Note that she addressed him right up front as the “son of David” – one of the ways the Messiah is referred to. She’d probably seen his healing work, or at least heard about it and this meant Christ to her.

o She was so persistent – to the point of driving Jesus’ disciples crazy! They wanted him to get rid of her, likely by giving in and giving her what she wanted. And she kept asking, and was rewarded for this persistence.
o She was clever – she picked up on an opening Jesus gave her when he did respond to her pleas. He said “it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to the dogs.” Yes, she was the dog; she understood the inference. Probably wasn’t the first time she’d been referred to in this way. But she also got that he wasn’t referring to stray dogs, those that roam the streets looking for scraps. No, he was referring to the household dogs. Some Bible translations use “little dogs” or “household dogs.” So pets, animals that already had a place in the household, though lower than the family members (well, people family members as some of us look at our pets as our children!). It was the custom of the time to wipe one’s hands on bread while eating – no napkins – and to let these pieces of bread drop on the floor for such household pets to scavenge. So she perceived that this was the image Jesus was describing, and latched onto it and responded in a way that indicated her apprehension: “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.”

o She had faith – she believed what Jesus could do for her daughter. This strengthened her persistence. This Jesus must have perceived easily – based on her persistence and her willingness to place herself in this type of situation where she was unwelcome, unwanted, another Pariah. And she was rewarded for this faith. Her daughter was healed.

She’s a good reminder on how to pursue a healing. So I think I am going to be checking myself more regularly – am I being persistent, importunate in my prayers? Here are a couple of thoughts from Science and Health about persistence and its importance in working out our salvation:

400:18

By lifting thought above error, or disease, and contending persistently for truth, you destroy error.

462:13

Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every statement, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way is pointed out; but self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life.