Great Faith

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.”

Matthew 15:28a (ESV)

Did you know that Jesus only told two people in Scripture that they had great faith? And neither was one of the apostles.

Does that blow your mind as it did mine? I thought surely if Jesus was going to commend someone’s faith, it would definitely be one of the apostles. But once again, Jesus chooses the most unlikely people: a Roman centurion in Matthew 8 and the Canaanite woman from our Scripture today, both Gentiles.

I love this story of Jesus’s encounter with a Canaanite woman (If you have never read it, I would recommend reading Matthew 15:21-28 here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015:21-28&version=ESV).

In this story, a Canaanite mother follows Jesus and his disciples, begging Him to help free her daughter from the torment of a demon. Jesus’s responses initially sound as though He is not going to help her because she is a Gentile. But this is not the heart of Jesus. Instead, we get to witness a great teaching moment from Jesus for his disciples and a miraculous moment for this persistent mother. He tells her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” (Matthew 15:28a).

So what does this mean for you and me?

As women, we often feel undervalued and underestimated. Our busy lives can make us feel we can’t measure up, leading us to think we need to do one more thing.

But just like that Canaanite woman, we have an opportunity to be persistent in our faith despite our circumstances. We can place our faith in the only true hope found in Jesus.

My prayer for all of us is that Jesus will see our hearts and say, “O woman, great is your faith!”

Leslie L. Bowers