In the Bible, there are 4 sections or books that document Jesus' life on Earth: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And there are parts of those 4 Gospel books that I've always had trouble with because either it doesn't make sense to me or it doesn't jive with my image of Jesus. Today, in my reading of the Bible, I got to one of those parts... Matthew 15:21-28.
The story: Jesus and his disciples (his followers) were walking along when this non-Jewish woman comes out and begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. But Jesus just ignores her. She's obviously very loud and persistent because Jesus' disciples get real annoyed. Jesus then says to his disciples, "Look, I'm here only for Jews. She's not one so I can't help her." The woman decides to kick it up a notch and starts worshipping Jesus while begging him to play exorcist. Jesus finally answers her directly but says, "Not only am I not supposed to help non-Jews, but it's not good to help non-Jews because to do so would be like 'taking the children's bread and throwing it to the little dogs.'" To which the woman responds, "But as a little dog, can I get some scraps?" And bam, Jesus heals the woman's daughter.
My problem with this story was Jesus' seemingly complete indifference to the needy woman. This just doesn't jive with my image of a compassionate, loving Jesus. I mean, he called this woman a "little dog." But because she persisted, her daughter was healed. And this is what never made sense to me... why? Why did Jesus seemingly change from ignoring her to healing her daughter?
It was obvious from reading the story that she felt a need for Jesus. She begged him. It was also obvious from reading the story that she recognized Jesus as God. She worshipped him. But this wasn't enough. And this troubled me. After going to church, joining fellowships, joining Bible studies, etc., I learned that the one thing God wants, the one thing God desires is our worship. But this wasn't enough for this woman.
She had to deny herself to put worth on her worship. The normal response to being called a "little dog" would be a slap to the face/punch to the belly and a quick "Jerk!" But she didn't.
How is God telling me to deny myself? And how am I responding? God help me to not call you a "jerk" when you're telling me how I'm supposed to deny myself.
Matthew 16:24