He's Got More! - Be Persistent for God's Blessings
- Michael Kientz
- Nov 3
- 3 min read
I just finished listening to a Bible Project podcast in their Wilderness series (“Jesus, the New Shepherd in the Wilderness”). They talked about the Gentile woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon (Matthew 15:21-28). She repeatedly pleaded for Jesus to have mercy on her, but Jesus did not acknowledge her. She was causing such a disruption that the disciples urged Him to send her away.
Jesus relented and told her that He was sent only to help the people of Israel. Her response was to come closer and worship Him (she knew Who she was talking to!) and plead that He would help her. Then, Jesus said something really offensive, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
This doesn’t fit my image of Jesus at all. Jesus is kind and compassionate and merciful, but He called this woman a dog (and dogs were not highly regarded in ancient Israel).
The woman refused to take offense, however, and rolled with the analogy, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their master’s table.”
Her response amazes me! She refused to take the bait of offense that Jesus dangled in front of her. She had a big goal - her daughter’s welfare - and she didn’t allow a smaller goal - preserving her dignity - to get in the way. Jesus was being prickly like a cactus, but she pressed in, ignoring the pain of His disrespect.
I imagine Jesus laughing at her chutzpah as He said, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted.”
On the podcast, Tim Mackie pointed out that the next two things Jesus did were to heal many Gentiles and then to feed 4,000 Gentile men (plus women and children). The text doesn’t explicitly say that they were Gentiles, but Tim says that the clue is that “they praised the God of Israel” (verse 31). If they had been Jewish, they likely wouldn’t have referred to Yahweh as the God of Israel; to them, He is the Most High God, the God of all.
Assuming Tim is correct about who this group was, it’s possible that all those people who were healed and fed owe the Gentile woman some gratitude. Jesus expanded His primary ministry beyond the Jewish people, and it might have been as a result of this woman’s great faith.
I love the faith and chutzpah of the Gentile woman! I think Jesus was testing her with His insult to see just how much faith she had, and she rose to the challenge! She acknowledged that Jesus’ “food” was for the Jews, but she said (in effect), “I believe you have more! You’ve got more than enough to feed the Jewish people. I’ll take the scraps.”
She believed in a Big God. Bigger than my view of God sometimes. She challenges me to come to God with my needs and press past the silence and the “no’s” and “not yet’s.” She helps me to recognize that these are sometimes a test of my faith and an invitation to doggedness (pun intended). Like the persistent widow in Luke 18:1-8, I should keep bringing my need to Jesus until He grants my request or makes it clear that “no” means “no.”
God sometimes asks us, “How bad do you want this? Are you willing to be bold about it, or will you give up at the first resistance you encounter?” These moments are training ground for expanding our faith. We've got to be persistent for God's blessings. He's got an abundance of them and loves to pass them out, but sometimes you’ve got to be as determined as a dog to get them.
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