“Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” (Matthew 15:21-28)

This incident is something that we are sometimes sceptical about when we read about. We know that Jesus is a loving God. But why was he so uncourteous to the Canaanite woman, rejecting her plea more than once? Let us see what we can learn from the Canaanite woman. The Canaanite woman represents those who are not Jews. Back then, the Jews were separated from the Gentiles by the law. Ephesians says there is a wall between the Jews and Gentiles. The Jews also look at the Gentiles like they are unclean, and that is why they are known as Gentiles. I encourage brothers and sisters not to call unbelievers “Gentiles”; I like to call them “friends who have not believed” (未信主的人).

The Scriptures made reference to a king after David whose throne would be eternal, but Solomon was only king for 40 years, how could it be for eternity? David and his peers knew that this referred to the Messiah. This Canaanite woman knew this too. She had faith—she believed that Jesus was the Messiah and the king of heaven, as well as His faithfulness and love. If she did not believe in the love of God, she would not have persevered in her prayer. Today, we persevere to pray because we too believe in the faithfulness and love of God. God’s faithfulness means that He will hear my prayers. God’s love is that He will have mercy on me unto the end. And that was why the Canaanite woman called out, Son of David, have mercy on me!

The disciples then asked Jesus to send the Canaanite woman away. They did not understand why Jesus was acting this way to her. And so Jesus said to her that He was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Jesus’s words were indeed according to the Old Testament Scriptures, since He came to save the descendants of Abraham. This incident with the Canaanite woman was a change. Prior to Him meeting the Canaanite woman, Jesus reached out to the Jews only. Yet she kept persevering, even after Jesus rejected the Canaanite woman. The “bread” that Jesus mentions refers to the gospel of salvation that was meant to be for the Israelites, and the “dogs” refers to those who are unclean. And the Canaanite woman responded that “even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” What this meant was that if the Israelites did not accept the gospel, that the Gentiles—as undeserving as they were—would be able to accept it. She had a lot of faith.

Today, we are also like the Canaanite woman. We too need faith to believe in Christ. What can we learn from the Canaanite woman?

Our prayers need to be established on faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

We must believe that there is God. If we do not believe that there is God, we would not be sitting here in church. Additionally, we must also believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him. We must believe that God will definitely hear our prayers, because the God we believe in is faithful; the promises He has given in the Bible, He will fulfil; the God we believe in is loving; even though I am weak, He is merciful and compassionate and He will forgive me.

If in our lives now we are meeting with tests and training, let us not have any doubt towards God’s compassion and faith. Doubt cuts us off from God and the devil delights when we doubt. We must believe that God will listen to us. This must be the spirit of our prayers.