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GREAT FAITH WAITS ON GOD

This woman waited on God.  She did not give up.  And with this woman’s faith, Jesus was as if He had been beaten hands down, so to speak. He called her a dog, but she said: “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.” 

The good thing about the crumbs of a loaf of bread is that the same ingredients in the loaf that is served on the table, are the very ones also in the crumbs. So what this woman was actually saying is this: “Master Jesus, I don't care where you place me, as long as I can get a bit of that crumb.”

For you who are students, you might similarly speak like this lady and say, "I may not be the best in class, I may not be able to get the awards or privileges that are granted as a special honours or as acknowledgements of merit by this university, but I know that your word, Oh Lord, can do what it is supposed to do in my life. Wherever you place you place me oh, Lord, as long as I can partake of that living bread, I will be whole.”

The Bible tells us that in response, Jesus said to this Syrophoenician woman, "For this saying, go your way, the demon has gone out of your daughter."

When Matthew records that statement, he mentions that Jesus said, "I have not seen such great faith, no not in Israel!"

Jesus commends the faith of two Gentiles in the Bible. The first is the Centurion in Luke 7:2-9 who had a seek servant in his home. He was burdened by the sickness of his servant so he decided to intercede for his sick servant and brought his servants need for healing to the attention of Jesus. He sent a delegation of Jewish elders and requested Jesus to extend mercy and heal his servant. When Jesus heard about the urgent need of the centurion’s servant, he accepted to extend mercy and decided to go to the centurion’s home to heal his servant.  But when the centurion heard that Jesus was on his way coming to his home to heal his servant, he sent his friends to meet Jesus on the way and they came with a message from the centurion saying,

And the second of the two Gentiles whom Jesus commended for her faith is the Cyrophonecian woman whom we have been looking at in this message. In both cases, Jesus says about each of these people, "I have not seen such great faith in Israel!"

You will notice that this Cyrophenecian Gentile woman is not even named in the Bible.  You would say that that is an injustice done, but we know that the Holy Spirit is just. Our God is just. That woman can be you.  It can be your church. That place can fit your name. 

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