O woman, great is your faith……

My dear sisters in Christ,

Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is our beloved father, Saviour, Redeemer, Messiah, Master and our Lord. Love Him with all your heart as your dear Father. Tremble and honour Him for He is our Lord.

Many times the word of God speaks to us in situations. Sometimes we feel a vacuum. The Lord is silent. No reply for our prayers. We feel a disconnect in the presence of God. It adds up to our misery. But as we all have experienced over these long years, God would definitely speak and act, in His time and as per His will in our lives. We have to simply stand in our faith. But even great Prophets could not stand the suspense and break out : “ O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will  not hear ?  ( Habakkuk 1:1). But as the story unfolds and we see our mighty God in action in our lives, we are overjoyed and have a feeling of remorse for our lack of faith during those testing times.

I was reminded of two women in Bible, how they acted differently when they had the privilege of seeing and interacting with Jesus Christ, who is God Himself in flesh.

We read about the Samaritan woman in the gospel of John, chapter four who was thrilled when Jesus told everything about her past…Jesus had an unusually  long conversation with this woman telling her several things  including who He is. It appears the only other time Jesus had such a long conversation with a person was the great Scholar Nicodemus. When Jesus talked about “ living water” that He would give her, she retorted: “ Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. ..( John 4:11) and further asked Jesus : “ Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well ?” (John 4:12). Finally Jesus identifies Himself as the Messiah: “ Jesus said to her , I who speak to you am He”. Even after the prolonged conversation hearing gospel from Jesus Himself, she could not comprehend fully as she told her people in the village : “ Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did !  Could this be Christ ? “ (John (4:29). It still ends with a question mark….. As we all know, God knows everyone and everything in their self. It was midday, an odd hour ,  when the Samaritan woman fearing abuse from other women of the village comes alone to draw water. The disciples had gone to get food. Jesus was waiting near the well. Nothing occurs by happenstance. Jesus came to see her and led her and the entire  samaritan village into redemption.

There is also the story of the Greek (syro-phoenician) woman as told in Mathew Chapter 15 and Mark Chapter 7. Jesus is in Tyre / Sidon ( gentile city like samaria above). Jesus entered a house and wanted no one to know it (Mark 7:24). Suddenly there was the cry of this woman : “ Have mercy on me, O Lord , Son of David” ( Mathew 15:22). She wants her daughter to be cured from a haunting evil spirit. She goes on asking but Jesus is silent. The disciples then tell Him to “send her away for she cries after us” (15:23). Jesus breaks His silence and responds that He has come only for the lost sheep (jews) of the house of Israel (15:24) . Then the woman falls down at His feet (worshipped) and begs for help. This time Jesus talks to her and reminds her that it is not fair to give bread meant for children to dogs. In the normal course, she must have given up and returned empty handed. But this woman of faith persisted: “ Yes, Lord, yet even little dogs eat the crumbs which falls from their Mater’s table”( 15: 27). This time Jesus himself marvels at her faith: “ O woman, great is your faith ! Let it to be to you as you desire” ( 15:28). That very moment her daughter is healed.

Many of the great learned  men of Israel of  those times rejected Jesus as their( long awaited ) Messiah which position continues even till today.  We see two remarkable things about this gentile woman : She knew and believed that Jesus is the Messiah. So she called Him Lord and Son of David (messianic prophecy). Despite being a gentile, she had already accepted Jesus as her Master ( 15 : 27). Jesus was overjoyed. He honored her with the title of “ great woman of faith”.  In a giant leap of faith, she looked only unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of faith. ( Hebrews12 :2).

Even though her name is not mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11 “Hall of fame for Faith” she has become immortal as she is mentioned wherever the Gospel is being preached. Theologians say that the phrase “ as you desire” ( Mathews 15:28) appears in the Greek version as “ keep on asking”. Her persistent faith was rewarded.

There are too many Champions of faith in Bible to quote who  came  from the world of  gentiles. The Canaanite woman, the centurion, Rahab, Ruth only to name a few…..And God rewarded them bountifully…Whatever blessing they asked or forgot to ask for, was showered on them in abundant measure. The ultimate truth appears to be that Jesus wants the “best of our faith” to come out in our lives as a testimony for many others to get saved and not because He is inert to our misery and pain. Remember the verse: “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe”( John 11:15). Who can be glad in the death of the loved one ?  When Lazarus was finally raised four days after his death by Jesus, it opened the eyes of all who witnessed and heard it. For He is the resurrection and life ( John 11:25).

The million dollar question is :

“Can we sustain in our faith, even when God is silent ?

Prayer : Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank you for all your guidance and blessings in our lives. Give us the faith the  canaanite woman  had on you:  simple, firm and persistent. Even as we long for the crumbs falling from the table, we know that You are our Master and our Lord. And our dear Father.

We ask this in Jesus name.

Amen.

God’s Love Missions family.