No Miracle for You
It can be rightly stated that Jesus loved doing miracles. He did a bunch of them. Each miracle was an opportunity for Jesus to glorify the Father, showing the love of God in a fallen world. Jesus certainly did not come into the world to perform miracles, His was a much greater calling. But signs and wonders were definitely a fringe benefit of being the Son of God.
It is important to note that signs and wonders, if allowed, will overshadow the true purpose of a calling. It is just human nature to focus on the flash and pow of things rather than the reason behind them. Jesus understood this. That is why He purposefully instructed recipients of His miracles to hold their tongues - “tell no one.” There were also occasions when it seemed that Jesus felt the timing of a miracle was not right. Consider the whole water into wine miracle at the wedding. That miracle appeared to be more about Moma saying so than Jesus actually wanting to perform it.
But there was one miracle that Jesus apparently had no intention of performing. Matthew talks about it in his gospel. After giving accounts of Jesus feeding 5000 people and walking on water, and right before he mentions Jesus’ miracle of feeding 4000 people, Matthew tells us about a woman with a problem. Now it was not uncommon for people in need to seek out Jesus. He was, after all, the miracle worker. Everybody knew that, in spite of Jesus’ admonition to keep it on the down low. But there was something a little different about this woman. She was not a Jew. She was Canaanite. Of course, we know that Jesus cared for a Canaanite just as much as He cared for a Jew. He died for all the people of the world. But it would seem from Matthew’s writings that Jesus had no interest at all in helping this woman.
The Canaanite woman, following Jesus, gives her plea, “Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is demon-possessed and suffers terribly.” From this statement we can understand:
The woman knew Jesus could help.
The woman knew who Jesus was even to the distinction of referencing His lineage.
The woman knew Jesus’ position, calling him Lord.
The woman’s daughter was in a bad way.
If we can understand this from the woman’s initial statement, we can be sure that Jesus was aware of these particulars as well. But Jesus did not answer her. Matthew states, “Jesus did not answer a word.” That is COLD!
As indicated before, it appears that Jesus was traveling in this passage, and it was not unlikely, albeit unmentioned, that a crowd was around him. At this point in His ministry Jesus was almost continually surrounded by people. Whether or not a crowd was around, the passage leaves no question that this Canaanite woman was the loudest of them all. We also understand that she was not going to take no answer for an answer. Finally, the disciples had had enough, no doubt after trying to shew the Canaanite away on their own. They came to Jesus with their own plea - Jesus, get her off our backs!
This got Jesus’ attention. He stops and says something that many following him may have wondered at, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” So Jesus, we were thinking maybe a simple - Go Away! - would work in this instance. That would not do for the Messiah. He needed to have the whole calling thing and lost sheep and such. But Jesus was setting something up here. He knew this woman possessed something that even the men he had selected as his closest disciples did not possess. Jesus begins to draw it out. Having gained access now, the woman knelt before Jesus and once again acknowledges His position and makes her plea, “Lord, help me!” Notice, no repeat of the problem. The woman understood that Jesus knew what was needed. She had His attention and she would not waste time telling Him what He already knew.
To her plea, Jesus replies with a dilemma, “It is not right to take children’s bread and give it to the dogs.” First statement: I was not sent to help you. Second statement: it would be unjust to take what I have and give it to those I was not sent to help. Jesus was not calling the woman a dog, but He was indeed making a distinction between her and those to whom He was sent. For her part, the woman did not take offense to Jesus’ words. She did not even reject His analogy. She owned it, and furthermore used it to correct Jesus. “Yes it is, Lord.” (Again acknowledging Jesus’ Lordship.) She continued, “Even the dogs can count on the crumbs from the master’s table.”
In one, simple statement, this Canaanite woman summarizes the entirety of the Bible. Of course we understand that God’s chosen people are of Israel. Yes it is clear that the Messiah is of Jewish descent. We know that Israel, both the land and the people, hold a special place in the Word of God. But, the blessings of God are not held up at Israel’s boundaries, and the Jew’s are not the only stiff-necked people who will see the salvation of God. It is as if the woman were saying, “Yes, Jesus. I know who You are, and I know who I am. While you may be here to minister to the children of Israel, You know better than I that Your salvation covers all people, including this Canaanite woman and her daughter.”
Matthew tells us that Jesus granted the woman’s request. The daughter was healed “at that moment.” But Matthew does not explain why Jesus healed the daughter. He does state that Jesus acknowledged the woman’s “great faith”, but he does not indicate that it was her faith that made the healing possible. With other miracles, Jesus left no doubt that it was the recipient’s faith in action that made the miracle possible. But in the case of the Canaanite woman, Jesus leaves a bit of mystery as to the cause of the healing. Of course Jesus performed the miracle, but why?
If you will, I would like to interject a little opinion here. I think that Jesus healed the daughter to show us, those around Him at that very moment all the way up to those around today, that the Canaanite woman was right. The Bread of Life was delivered to the Jews. But, just as His miracles were not exclusively for the Jews, so the Bread that came from heaven, Jesus Christ himself, would be shared beyond Israel and even to the uttermost parts of the earth. The blessed Messiah is for all and His salvation is to all. I think Jesus was smiling after that miracle!
Matthew 15:21-28