The word of Jesus’ arrival had spread. One woman came to Jesus on behalf of her little girl who was possessed by an evil spirit. The woman fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to release her child from the demon’s control. This woman was a gentile. Jesus explained in a parable that his ministry was first to his own family, the Jews. He would not take away from them to perform miracles for a Gentile.
Unlike many of Jesus’ Jewish listeners, this woman understood Jesus’ parable. Her answer was wise, for she explained to Jesus, by extending his parable, that the children who love the pets often drop crumbs to them. Not all the Jews accepted Jesus, while some Gentiles chose to follow him. Why couldn’t she have some of those “leftovers” that the Jews didn’t “eat”? She adroitly pointed out that such “dogs” ate with (not after) the children. She did not ask for the entire meal, just for a few crumbs—or one crumb in particular—one miracle of healing for her daughter.
Jesus was moved by the faith of the woman. He granted her request because of her humility and persistence. Her request had been made in faith that Jesus could perform the healing. His words had been meant to test her, and she had passed the test. She understood Christ’s lordship and that, as a Gentile, she had no right to request mercy from Jesus. She also willingly accepted his conditions. On that basis, Jesus healed the woman’s daughter. With his words, the demon left the little girl.
Next, we read about a deaf and mute man. Several of this man’s friends brought him to Jesus; they had faith that Jesus could heal him. Jesus wanted to heal this man, but again he wasn’t looking for crowd acclaim in his healings. Thus, he took the man to a private place so they could be away from the crowd. Jesus intended to deal with the man on a personal level—not use him as an advertisement of healing power.
Jesus looked upward to God (the source of his power) and sighed. The sigh was probably in sympathy for the suffering man. In any case, the healing took place. Jesus commanded that the man’s ears and mouth be opened. Immediately upon Jesus’ speaking the word, the deaf man could hear perfectly and speak plainly. Even though the miracle had been done in private, its results were obvious to the waiting crowd. The man, formerly deaf and barely able to talk, suddenly could hear and speak. Jesus asked the people not to talk about this healing because he didn’t want to be seen simply as a miracle worker. He didn’t want the people to miss his real message. But the people simply could not keep quiet, and spread the news.
We then read that as Jesus was continuing His ministry of teaching and healing, another great crown had gathered around Him. In this episode, the crowd had been following Jesus for three days, listening to his teaching and observing his miracles. Whatever supplies they had brought along were depleted, so most of them had nothing left to eat. Jesus was concerned about sending them away hungry. Although the disciples had seen Jesus feed five thousand people, they had no idea what Jesus would do in this situation.
As before, the crowd was in the wilderness, and the disciples asked the obvious question about how they were going to find enough food in such a place. Jesus had already found the resources in a previous remote place for an even larger crowd, and in this instance, when the disciples checked with the crowd, seven loaves were found. Yet the disciples were completely perplexed. Like the disciples, we often forget God’s provision for us in the past.
Jesus took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God for the provision he was about to give. He broke apart the loaves and the disciples passed them out as before. A few small fish were found and after blessing them, Jesus ordered that these too should be distributed. As had happened before, each person in the crowd ate and was filled. The seven loaves and few fish multiplied so that even the scraps were more than they had begun with.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Once again, I am so grateful for the persistence of the gentile mother who sought healing for her daughter. Lord, build that same kind of persistence and tenacity and doggedness into my life and Sharon's life and into our kids lives and into the people of COV. Give us a heart to keep on keeping on. Give us a desire to stay the course, regardless of the trials and storms of life that come our way.
And lord build our faith. I love those disciples, but I am blown away by how quickly they forget. I am perplexed by the shallowness of their faith and belief. Lord, give me spiritual eyes to see the great things you have planned for COV and a persistence to keep working and praying and teaching/preaching and training until You bust loose a season of growth.
"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!"
Habakkuk 2:3 (LB)
"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building." 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NIV)
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