Walk Of Life Day 22, June 2022 – Thoughts From The Words Of Christ

Jesus Heals The Daughter Of A Syrophoenician Woman (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30)

This is a story of a Canaanite woman who pleaded on behalf of her daughter persistently and her faith brought healing of her demon possessed daughter.

Seek God With a Sincere Heart

• Now there was a Canaanite woman living in the region of Tyre and Sidon. Her daughter was ill due to demon possession. All her efforts had been futile to heal her daughter. She heard of a great healer in Israel, but they were not allowed to go there. Her hopeless condition made her to turn to God for answers.

God’s Love Reaches Out To You (Matthew 15:21)

• When you pray, God listens and in his time He will answer your prayers. Lord Jesus travelled nearly eighty kilometres from Gennesaret to the region of Tyre and Sidon as instructed by God. Normally, people would go in search of the Lord for deliverance but in the case of this Canaanite woman, He went to her in response to her prayers.

God Reveals Himself In Prayer (Matthew 15:22)

• More you spend time with God reading the Bible and in prayer, more you will understand him and his plans for your life. Since the Canaanite woman looked unto the Lord regularly for his mercy, she was able to identify Lord Jesus as Son of David referring him to be the Messiah. Not even the Jews nor the teachers of the Law were successful in doing so.

God’s Silence Is Not Rejection (Matthew15:23)

• Even though the woman was constantly pleading, Lord Jesus did not respond to her. Assuming that He did not like being bothered by this woman, the disciples wanted to send her away. But Lord Jesus used this opportunity to teach the disciples that meeting needs of the people is more important than who they are. For they were sent till now only to the Jews, but their future ministry would involve people of all race, caste and creed. And He expected to show true love of God to them.

God Has A Plan For You (Matthew15:24)

• Lord Jesus was sent by God to this Gentile region to give the message of repentance. When He said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, He did not mean to go against God’s plan. But the fact that a Gentile woman could recognize him as the Messiah amazed him even though it was for the salvation of the Jews He was sent for.

Worship God For Who Is He (Matthew15:25)

• Even after hearing so many discouraging words, the woman’s knowledge of Christ motivated her to put her hope in him. Unlike the disciples, she worshipped him even though she had met him for the first time.

God’s Love Same For Everyone (Matthew15:26)

• It was common practice for the Jews to use harsh words like dog for the Gentiles. Lord Jesus simply wanted to reflect the Jewish attitude who believed that only they are the chosen people and they alone deserved God’s blessings. He also wanted the disciples to see how different God’s attitude towards other people is.

Walk Humble Before God (Matthew15:27)

• Even though Lord Jesus seemed to sound rude, the woman accepted her low estate by saying, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” It was like the woman is saying that she does not want the portion belonging to the children but just the crumbs or the blessing they did not want. Ironically, by rejecting Lord Jesus as their Messiah, many Jews lost God’s blessing.

Great Faith Brings Great Blessing (Matthew 15:28)

• Because of the faith she had showed on behalf of her child, God healed her daughter immediately. This is the second person whose faith Lord Jesus was pleased with, first being the Centurion.

It does not matter who and where you are from or what you have done in the past. God loves you and He is ready to forgive and restore you. He welcomes you today with an outstretched arm to be heirs in God’s Kingdom through Jesus Christ. Would you not respond to his call?