The Canaanite Woman’s Faith
By SinfulRose
@SinfulRose (3527)
Davao, Philippines
September 15, 2010 9:12am CST
I don't want to start a war with my own religion and am not against the beliefs of other people, it's just that the following are just what came into my thoughts after reading the passage in the bible.
I was bored and went over the bible again, picking random things to read and such. Then I came to this passage entitle "The Canaanite Woman's Faith". Now, thinking about it, I never really grasped the meaning of this story ever since I first heard about it in church. When I tried to ask my parents about it, they too had a bit of a difficulty telling me the answer that I am looking for. And that was way back in the past.
Now, I do not mean to offend people here on any race or on any religion. I just want to have a clear understanding of this passage. God knows how many people misunderstood the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and changed religions because of it.
At first, what I noticed is that Jesus ignored the woman calling him. My thought's first comment: "Jesus, that's rude." He did not speak any word to the woman. The said woman is talking to him and he is not even paying attention to her. My thought's comment, "Hey, wouldn't that like be speaking to a brick wall?" Then, His followers must have been irritated on the persistence of the woman's call and pleaded Him to send her away. Thoughts on the matter: "What do they want Jesus do?" But then, Jesus told them, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel". My interpretation: "Sheep is equals to men. House of Israel is not equals to Canaanite. In other words, 'Hey! Isn't that what a racist would say?'" Thinking about it, Jesus is not known to be someone who chooses the people who he will save. So why the hurtful statement?
Then there was the statement where there is the "children" and "dogs". "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs. My thought's comment: "What the heck? What are they talking about? I cannot understand a thing. Hey, Jesus, I can't seem to follow. It seems like an insult to me." And then there is the answer of the woman, "even the dogs eat the crumbs that the children drop".
One thing is for sure, if the story have gone farther, I might have had a nose bleed trying to understand what it all means. I asked God to help me with this, and one of the solutions he gave me is to ask the MyLotters since that's the first thing that came to mind. So, all thoughts and ideas are open. Please help this sinful believer understand a bit about God's good news.
6 responses
@bobbee99 (5)
• United States
15 Sep 10
I appreciate that you are so thoughtful and want to understand God's word. By the way, I am a Catholic too, so you understand where I am coming from.
If you look at the words just before this, you will see that Jesus is telling people that it is not their race, nor their religious practices that "make God's commandments void" nor what they eat that makes them holy. So, in that context, it is obvious that Jesus does not really mean to insult this woman because of her race.
What Jesus does with us when He makes us holy is to humble us first. In order to really love Jesus, we must empty ourselves. If we remain self-centered, we hold on to our worldly attachments and won't want to follow Christ. As St. John the Baptist said "He must increase and I must decrease."
Jesus wants, right from the start, to give this woman the great privilege of healing her daughter. Jesus tested her, to show us that she was worthy of praise. Despite those stinging words, she had faith. Despite our adversities, we too are called to have faith. Jesus knew this woman's heart. I believe He spoke to her in a way that seems unkind to show us this woman's great faith, and that she showed herself worthy to be praised by Jesus, and her virtue to be recorded in Sacred Scripture to be an example for Christians throughout time. This woman's faith and humility is to be an example to you and me.
Jesus lays her low, but then raises her up. He does the same with us sometimes. We can have very difficult trials, and we wonder why God allows it. But if we have faith in spite of it all, Jesus will reward us and say to us as to her "Great is thy faith" and He will bless us in this life an bring us to happiness with Him in the next.
1 person likes this
@SinfulRose (3527)
• Davao, Philippines
15 Sep 10
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. That sheds some light to my dim understanding!
@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Sep 10
You replied almost exactly as I was going to!
Jesus tested the woman so that she would know that she was not entitled to a healing of her daughter, just like none of us are entitled to anything from Him. He only gives because of His great love and mercy, not because He is obligated to. He is much more concerned with out spiritual condition than with our physical condition and often uses the physical to heal the spiritual. We don't even know that we need this kind of healing, as the woman didn't know, until it happens.
1 person likes this
@6precious102 (4043)
• United States
19 Sep 10
Just before this incident, Jesus had had to scold the Jewish leaders for putting more importance in their traditions than in what is important in God's eyes. The fact that Jesus, a Jewish man, would bother to talk to this Gentile woman at all would have been highly improbably because it was improper during that time period, but He did talk with her and, I think, tested her to see how far she'd go for the sake of her daughter. This woman pointed out that even the lowest are still worthy of some consideration. Besides agreeing with her, Jesus was also showing His followers that God is no respecter of persons and neither should we be. If there is someone who needs our help and we can help them, it doesn't matter what side of the track they come from, help them. It may appear as though Jesus was being rude to this woman, but He taught His followers a valuable lesson about faith, respect for others, and doing the right thing.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
15 Sep 10
Many teachings of the Roman Church run contrary to scripture. Jesus' first mission was to Jews, only when they rejected him did he start his second wider mission
all the best urban
@Gordano (795)
• United States
18 Sep 10
Many teachings of the Roman Church run contrary to scripture.
and the discussion is about verses from the scripture not about the Roman Church.
[i]Jesus' first mission was to Jews, only when they rejected him did he start his second wider mission
[/i]
there was no first and second mission, he came for the Jews and they rejected him as they used to do
he himself said: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" this was only his mission but some lies were interlined later saying that God so loved the world so He sent His son... while his son himself said to come for Israel not for the world, other people said that God came Himself as a man !!
it is quite known that non of the authors of the new testament are disciples of Jesus.
@gjabaigar (2200)
• Philippines
15 Sep 10
This was been discussed before, you should search mylot. It is about the snubbing, dogs, crumbs etc. and people like you understand as a racist issue.
You misunderstood and twisting some missed highlights so it become a racist issues, but the truth is, that is not the truth what's on your mind or what you want to point out as a racist issue. You have damn some important points!
You missed that Jesus still healed the child of that Gentile or that Canaanite Woman. That you think wrongly about Jesus snubbed that Gentile Woman. Jesus just telling the truth prior to the prophecy of his fellow Israelites, that He (Jesus) is the messiah the saviour of the Jews from the slavery of the Roman god Julius Ceasar.
At the time when Jesus met with that gentile woman, was the time when Jesus already preached and made miracles to His fellow Jews. Prioir to that Jesus and with His desciples are already a hot issue and popular to high Jewish priests or the pharasees that are loyal to their god Juliues Ceasar. To escape from being immediate persecuted by those pharasees, Jesus together with his desciples went to the outside skirts of Israel that's they met some Gentiles including that Woman from Canaan.
Even outside of the Israel or Jerusalem, Jesus is already popular with other Gentiles including the Canaanite Woman because some are already knew about the prophecy thru ages. After the woman said "even the dogs eat the crumbs that the children drop" Jesus healed her child afterward. Because Jesus felt that love and fatih of that woman eventhough she is not a Jewish.
After the resurection of Jesus Christ the evangelizations was not only intended for Jewish only but also for the others like Gentiles, Romans and so on throughout different races and kingdoms.
@SinfulRose (3527)
• Davao, Philippines
15 Sep 10
Did I twist it too much? Oh, well, maybe I did even though I didn't mean to... But anyways, yeah, it seems like I missed to point out that Jesus still healed the woman's child in the end... Thanks!
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
16 Sep 10
Healing is possible only through faith. Jesus ignored her to see if the woman has faith. He healed her only after he found faith in her. In every instance of healing Jesus used to say thy faith has healed you. All those things you mentioned Jesus said on a purpose, to heal her and not to belittle her.
1 person likes this
@formidexo (1351)
• Canada
16 Sep 10
The account is found in Matthew 15:21-28 / Mark 7:25-30.
What is the main point of this Bible account?
Is it not to show that bold persistence pays off? This woman was no ordinary stranger because she addressed Jesus as "Lord, son of David." She probably knew that she was asking something unusual when she asked Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus' mission was to minister to the Israelites and she was not one.
Yet, by her bold approach and persistence she realized that Jesus might be moved to help her if she persisted and persist she did and got was she asked for. Jesus commends her for her great faith. At times we may ask God what we don't deserve but by our faith and persistence we might receive what we ask for.
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