“Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be
it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from
that very hour.”–Matthew 15:28.
I have frequently spoken to you concerning the faith of this Canaanitish
woman, of the way in which Christ tried it, and of the manner in which,
at length, he honoured it, and granted all that the suppliant sought. The
story is so full of meaning, that one might turn it this way, and that way,
and the other way, and always see jewels in it. But I am not going to use
it with only one aim, namely, to encourage those who have faith enough
to seek Jesus, but have not yet, to their joy and peace, been quite able to
find him.
This woman had come to her last word. I do not see what more she could
have said. When Christ had likened her to a dog, she had consented to it,
and said, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their masters’ table.” She had come to her last word, and now Christ
gives her his best word. It is his way, sometimes, to make us wait till we
are completely exhausted, and can say and do no more; then he comes in
with the fulness of his divine power, and gives to us what we have
importunately sought at his hands. Our extremity is his opportunity.
I. The first remark which I shall make, and enlarge upon, is that FAITH
ALONE CAN KEEP A SOUL SEEKING AFTER CHRIST UNDER DISCOURAGEMENT. Other
causes may send us a certain distance along the road, but only faith will
bring us to the goal of assured rest.
That which made this woman seek the Saviour was, first of all, parental
love. She loved her daughter. She longed to have the devil cast out of
her, that her daughter might not be so grievously vexed. That started her
going, and carried her some way towards the blessing; but she would
have stopped short of the boon she desired if she had relied upon natural
love alone.
Her earnestness also to a large extent urged her forward. When she
desired healing for her daughter, she meant what she said. When she
cried, “Have mercy upon me, O Lord, thou Son of David!” it was with a
shrill and piteous voice. She could not bear to be refused. Nobody ever
came to Christ who pleaded more from the heart than did this poor
Canaanite. She was not an idle repeater of forms of prayer. Her prayer
leaped, red-hot, from her soul–”Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of
David!” But her earnestness alone would not have upheld her under the
ordeal through which she was called to pass. It would have given way if
she had not had the believing conviction that Christ could heal her
daughter, and that he would do so.
Her humility also helped her greatly. Had she been a proud woman, she
would have stood upon her dignity when she was called a dog; but
humility came to her help, and she did not resent even the harsh word
the Lord used, but still pleaded for her poor child. Now, parental love
and earnestness and humility are good things, but they are not enough to
enable a soul to cling to Christ, and never let him go. Something more is
needed.
This Canaanite woman was a very sensible woman, wise and prudent.
She knew how to turn the hard words of Christ into arguments in her
own favour. She would not be put back. If he had not answered her, she
would have pleaded with him again. When he did answer her, and say
that it was not meet to give the children’s bread to dogs, she found even
in that dry bone some little marrow on which to feed her heart. But wise
as she was, and prudent as she was, she would not have held out to the
end, and obtained the blessing she desired for her daughter, if it had not
been for her faith.
We may be quite sure that the one thing specially noteworthy in this
woman’s case was her faith, first, because we have Christ’s word for it.
He said unto her, “O woman, great is thy faith!” He did not say, “Great is
thy love to thy child;” nor, “Great is thy earnestness;” nor, “Great is thy
importunity;” but he put his finger on the power that had urged her
forward, and he said, “O woman, great is thy faith!” And not in this case
alone did Christ trace the blessing to faith, but in nearly every instance
where a suppliant obtained favour from him, faith was the medium of
securing the mercy. Faith is mightier than all other available forces.
Besides this, we know that faith supports the other graces. If other graces
can help a soul to plead with Christ, they all owe their power to faith. If
it had not been for the faith which she had to support it, parental love
would not have helped this woman much. If it had not been for faith, she
would not have been earnest and importunate. Faith hangs on to Christ
in the dark, it holds to a silent Christ, it holds to a refusing Christ, it
holds to a rebuking Christ, and it will not let him go. Faith is the great
holdfast that hooks a soul on to the Saviour.
Faith is thus powerful because of its effects. Faith enlightens, enlivens
and strengthens. It is written of some of old that “They looked unto him,
and were lightened.” Faith shed a light upon many things, and lets us see
that even if Christ has a frown on his face, he has love in his heart. Faith
looks right into the heart of Christ, and helps us to perceive that he
cannot mean anything but mercy to a seeking soul. Faith also enlivens,
and when the heart begins to faint, faith brings its smelling bottle, and
revives it. David said, “I had fainted, unless I had believed.” Believing is
the cure for fainting, and you must do one of two things, either believe or
faint. Faith is thus a great help to one who is seeking Christ, because it
both enlightens and enlivens the soul. Faith also strengthens. It makes
the lame take the prey. Beloved, it is because faith thus enlightens and
enlivens and strengthens, that it is the grace most useful to a soul that is
seeking to lay hold upon Christ, and yet cannot get a comfortable look at
his blessed face.
Moreover, faith lays hold on Christ. It is like the Greek Antisthenes, who
went to a philosopher to learn; but he was a dull scholar, and the
philosopher bade him go away. The next time the class met, Antisthenes
returned, and the philosopher thereupon sent for a man with a club to
drive the stupid scholar away; but he was overcome by his scholar; for
Antisthenes said, “There is no club that was ever made that is heavy
enough to drive me away from you. Here I mean to stay, and learn
whatever you can teach me.” Oh, may we have a faith like that, a faith
that will say to Christ, “I will not go away from thee. I can but perish if
I stay with thee, and if I go from thee, I must perish; therefore I will
abide with thee evermore, and learn all thou wilt teach me”! Faith is like
the Greek in the days of Xerxes, who seized the boat with his right hand.
When they chopped off the right hand, he seized it with the left hand;
when they cut off the left hand, he laid hold of the boat with his teeth,
and did not let go until they severed his head from his body. Soul, if thou
canst lay hold of Christ with thy right hand, or with thy left hand, it will
be well with thee. Cling to Christ, and say to him with that holy boldness
that is the result of faith, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.”
Faith, then, holds on to Christ.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
