“(Jesus) answered the Canaanite woman, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)
“A Jewish peasant boy came to the big town to participate in a synagogue service during the celebration of a biblical feast. He didn’t know how to pray. He could not even read the Hebrew letter ‘Alef.’ He only saw that everyone was traveling to the synagogues to participate in the holy prayers. He thought, “If everybody is going to town I must go too!”
He arrived at the town’s synagogue with his father and watched the congregants crying and singing together swaying to and fro. He turned to his father and asked, “Father, what is this all about?”
His father turned to him and said, “The Holy One blessed be He, sits enthroned in the heavens and we pray all year long to Him.”
The son responded, “Father, what am I to do since I do not know how to pray?”
His father quickly said to him condescendingly, “All you have to do is be quiet and listen to the other Jews praying. That is enough for you.”
“Father, if I don’t know what these people are saying how is being silent going to help me?” His father became unnerved and blurted out, “Listen, you should be quiet so no one will know you’re an ignorant peasant!”
The son stood still for a couple of minutes as his father and the rest of the congregation continued praying, and then the young boy stood up and spoke loudly.
“I am going to pray to God in the way I know best. I will whistle to God as I whistle to my flock of sheep.”
He began whistling the sweet calling as most shepherds know. His father was enraged but the boy continued whistling with all his might not caring what other people thought.”
Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus’ interactions were confined almost entirely to His own people, the Jews. In the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman, we see one of the few exceptions. What was the motivating, desperate character trait which so impressed Him to minister to a heathen steeped in paganism?
The Canaanites were part of the Syro-Phoenician Empire, linked with Antiochus Epiphenes in their persecution and slaughter of the Jewish people around two centuries earlier. It was inconceivable that Jesus would contemplate contact with such people!
Understanding this helps us appreciate the mind of the Jews toward the Canaanites. Yet, here was a descendent from this people group standing before Jesus desperate for help.
Maybe, it was a last ditch attempt that drove her to Him. Somehow, she recognised who He was (she referred to Him as Lord) and apprehended the fact that He loved her despite the ugly memories connected to her people; she dared to believe the impossible; a crack of light had opened for the Gentiles. Jesus was prepared to ‘defile’ Himself by associating with a pagan.
All eyes were upon Him. At first, He remained silent. Many times when God is quiet we wrongly take it as rejection. Jesus pondered her request as He always does with ours; His silence was active as He searched her heart.
This woman was driven by the utter desperation of a mother’s love for her daughter cruelly afflicted. When Jesus saw her faith, her torment, her unwillingness to take no for an answer, He did what He always does for those who earnestly seek Him. He meets our deepest needs, but on His terms not our own.
Jesus’ attention is actively raised towards those who are persistent in their wholehearted pursuit of Him. The Canaanite woman had everything stacked against her and all the disciples implored Him to send her away empty handed. All she had was active faith in Him driven by desperation, undeterred, but that was sufficient.
So too, with the story of the little Jewish peasant boy who despised his reputation compared with his desire to worship and serve God with every breath he had. He refused to be discouraged despite all the disadvantages, and his prayers rose above those present, gaining approval from the One who searches the depths and intents of our hearts.
