Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in
suffering, persist in prayer
Given below is an incident appearing in the bible in the gospels
of Mathew and Mark which I considered a little strange at the first read but
soon was guided to realize the truth that was hidden in between the lines.
Matthew-15:21-28
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and
urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of
Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!"
she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and
toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your
request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The same incident can be
again found in Mark 7:24-30. At first you might wonder why Jesus answered this
woman in such a rude manner. In the book of Mathew we see that when the woman
begged and pleaded Jesus to heal her daughter the first time, he just plainly
ignores her. As the woman kept pleading Jesus told his disciples who were by
now fed up with the woman’s constant pleading and who were asking Jesus to just
get rid of her by granting her request, very loudly so that the woman can hear
him that he had come only to the lost sheep of Israel (which was I think a
deliberate bluff to test the woman). But
this did not deter the woman who still kept asking Jesus to heal her
daughter. Jesus then told her something
really unimaginable to us Christian’s. He called her and her people Dogs and
said he is not willing to oblige the woman.
Let me pause here for a
moment and draw your attention to another incident in the bible. In John
Chapter 4 meets the Samaritan women. The Samaritans were considered to be
sinners in those days and the Jews used to keep away from them. But Jesus spoke
to that woman and blessed her, stayed with her people and healed and saved many
of them. If Jesus did indeed do this, why
do you think Jesus treated the Cannanite woman who was as much a gentile as the
Samaritan woman in the manner in which he did? Jesus came for the lost and here
was a woman who was lost. Jesus loved the gentiles which was evident from John Chapter
4. Then why did Jesus speak to her to way he did.
Well the ways of the Lord
are indeed marvelous and beyond our human understanding (Isaiah 55:8). In this
current situation I think the answer is found in the next few lines in that
chapter in the book of Mathew. The woman replied to Jesus telling that even
dogs get their due share from the master table. You see the woman was more that
confident in the love of Jesus and his ability to heal her daughter. I am sure
she had been observing Jesus, the way he healed people, the way he preached and
the way he had a loving heart. She had faith that Jesus CAN heal her daughter
and he WILL heal her daughter and hence kept on persisting. Jesus on the other hand
knew of her faith very well and I guess wanted to test her faith and see the
extent of patience she has. And finally, when she saw that the woman’s faith
was for real despite his rude remarks, he grants her wish and heals her
daughter
Jesus always wanted to heal
her daughter, but he was testing her and that too using really harsh words. But
the woman simply did not give up. She was confident in Jesus and hence kept
persisting.
In Romans 12V12, Paul has a
similar advise to the church at Rome. He asks them to be happy with hope and rejoice
in times of sufferings. He then tells them the same thing what the Cannanite
woman did in practice i.e being persisting in our prayers. In Luke Chap 18,
Jesus tells us the story of the persistant widow who goes to a judge for
justice and keep persisting till she gets it. The judge despite being corrupt
heard the woman just to get rid of her. Jesus then said that if a judge who is
so corrupt gave that widow the justice she was seeking how much more will God our
father who loves us will listen to those who persistently ask him for justice
or for that matter anything.
So I guess God is really
teaching us to keep praying and praying and praying till the Lord decides that
the time is right for our prayers to be answered. So lets keep praying. Lets be
praying people and not people who say prayers (Acts 9:11). And as we do this,
lets as the Psalmist says in Psalm 27vv 14 “Rely on the Lord, Be Strong, Take
Heart and Wait for the Lord”.
