Matthew 15:26-31: a reflection

26But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. 29Jesus departed from there and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up on the mountain and sat there. 30Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, 31so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.

When a Canaanite woman, an outsider, begs Jesus to heal her daughter, his initial reply seems to put her off: It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But the woman is not deterred. With remarkable humility and persistence, she accepts the lowly place and presses her request anyway: Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. And Jesus, moved, commends her: Woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire. Her daughter was healed that hour.

Notice the two qualities in her faith: persistence and humility. She would not be put off; she pressed her request even when the answer seemed discouraging. And she did so humbly, not demanding her rights or taking offense, but accepting the lowly place, asking only for crumbs. This combination, a persistence that would not give up joined to a humility that made no claims, is the faith Jesus calls great. She kept asking, and she asked humbly, and Jesus honored it.

That is a model for our own praying and asking of God. We are prone either to give up too easily when the answer seems slow or discouraging, or to come demanding, taking offense if not immediately answered. This woman shows a better way: to persist, refusing to give up, and to persist humbly, making no claims, content to receive even crumbs of grace. When you bring your needs to God and the answer seems slow, do not give up, and do not come demanding. Persist, as she persisted, humbly, as she was humble. The faith Jesus calls great is one that keeps asking and asks in humility. Bring your requests to him with that same persistent, humble faith.

Lord Jesus, the Canaanite woman would not be put off, but pressed her request with humble persistence, accepting the lowly place and asking only for crumbs, and you commended her: great is your faith. Give me that same faith. When I bring my needs to you and the answer seems slow or discouraging, keep me from giving up too easily, and from coming to you demanding, taking offense if not immediately answered. Teach me to persist, refusing to give up, and to persist humbly, making no claims, content to receive even crumbs of your grace. Let the faith you call great be mine: a faith that keeps asking, and asks in humility. Hear my requests, and grow in me a persistent, humble faith like hers.