In The Word
Read: Matthew 15:21-39
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us!” 24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 Yet He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed at once.
Healing Crowds
29 Departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. 31 So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
Four Thousand Men Fed
32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in thisdesolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Here we see how focused our Lord was on His mission. Some may read this and say that it was somewhat rude of our Lord to reject this woman because she was a Gentile. Well, I would be very careful of judging the Son of God. He knew that He would minister to the Gentiles, but everything had to be done in order. Salvation was to come to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). However, because of the great passion of Christ and the faith of a persistent woman, her request was granted.
We see the multitudes brought to Christ for healing. Only through the power of God could these types of healings be granted. Christ’s compassion was in full view; He even was concerned about the great multitude’s hunger. His compassion and power went into gear to provide for them something to eat from some bread and a few small fish. Notice, there were seven large baskets left over. Wow! What amazing compassion and power.
We too must remain focused on the things God has called us to do, but we must also recognize, through the compassion given to us from Christ, when it’s time to step outside that calling to show kindness. Faith and persistence always move God, and they should move us too. We must continue to bring the multitudes to Christ to be healed and to have their needs met. His compassion and power is still here to be given to the people through you and me. May we have faith and persistence in calling out to God on the people’s behalf in the name of Yeshua. There is more than enough to go around.