MATTHEW 15.21-28
O WOMAN, GREAT IS YOUR FAITH

The Lord Jesus has many times rebuked the disciples for their ‘little faith’ (Matthew 8.26; 14.31; 16.8). By contrast, there is one person to whom Jesus said, Great is your faith. And this person turns out to be a Gentile. We are told specifically that she is a Canaanite, a term which has inevitable OT associations with the pagan inhabitants of Palestine. You remember that they were to be exterminated by the Israelites because of their moral corruption. And yet, despite her background, Jesus said to her, O woman, great is your faith! But what was great about her faith? What does ‘great faith’ mean? This will be the topic of our lesson.
The story of Jesus’ encounter with this Canaanite woman is found in Matthew 15.21-28 (parallel passage: Mark 7.24-30).

Matthew 15.21. And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.”
23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”
26 And he answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.