January 23: Of The Desperate, not the Deserving

Genesis 46:1-47:31

Matthew 15:1-28

Psalm 19:1-14

Proverbs 4:14-19

Tyre and Sidon, two cities north of Israel.  Not Jewish - gentile.  Sinful cities - so much so, Jesus uses them to make a point about the Jewish cities that rejected him.  Tyre and Sidon - for the Son of Man offering salvation, not the place one would expect to find the deserving.  

And it appears Jesus didn't.  The first reported encounter is with a Canaanite woman whose daughter is possessed by demons, and who wants Jesus to heal her.  She is UNdeserving - Jesus pretty much makes that clear: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel", as it seems He is about to take his disciples' suggestion and send her away. 

But it turns out, while she wasn't deserving, she was something else: desperate.  She was pleading in her daughter's behalf, and she wasn't about to take no for an answer.  So when Jesus seems to cut her down even further, comparing her to a dog, she doesn't get angry or indignant.  She humbles herself, accepts his description, and says even the dogs are worthy of the scraps from the Master's table.  

We know the rest of the story - Jesus is astounded at the faith that is manifest in her desperation, and heals her daughter.  But is that the end?  Because I think the story doesn't close with a statement, it closes with questions.  

Those of us who are sinners, do we understand, as did this woman, that we are undeserving?  

Those of us who are parents, how well do we know our children?  Do we know them as well as this woman, who recognized her daughter was ill, was possessed?  Do we know what earthly influences possess our children?

And those of us who are parents, how much do we love our children?  Do we love them as much as this woman, desperately enough to set aside pride and plead for them before God?

Father, the world seeks to possess our children and keep them from You.  Worse, we are sinners and undeserving to come before You to seek Your help.  See in our undeserving selves such desperation of faith as you saw in the Canaanite woman, and break the world's possession of these children we love.  In Jesus's name we pray.