BREAD IS IN THE RED

Matthew 15:28- Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire."

Taking a look at the "red" letters in the Bible this morning. There are some Bible's who have the words of Jesus written in Red. John Wimber used to day, " The Bread Is In The Red." What he meant was that you could study just the red portion of Scripture from now until your life is finished and you still would only be scratching the surface of the wisdom, love, mercy and grace of God. Now back to the teaching. Take a look one more time at the verse above.

Jesus is on the move.
A Canaanite woman comes into contact with Jesus.
Desperate.
Funny what you will do when you are desperate.
Funny what you will do when it concerns your children and you are desperate.
When it is about our kids, we loose some of our pride especially when we have run out of answers.
Desperation.

The woman cries out, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!"
I have often wondered where her husband was.
I take it since he isn't mentioned, then he must not be in the picture.
It may be that this woman was even a woman of low stature.
She may have given birth to her daughter out of wedlock. We're not told

She continues to cry to Jesus that her daughter is demonized.
It's not a disease.
It's not a financial matter.
It is a spiritual matter.
Her daughter is under the control and influence of a demon. Demons never mean well or cause you prosper. They have one goal: to destroy you. So the daughter's safety is in question.

Verse 24
Jesus answers her and tells her he was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Not Canaan.

Notice what happens:
Scripture says she came and worshipped him.
She didn't take worship lessons.
She didn't draw from her temple experiences.
She did what was in her heart. Probably falling down at his feet
Here is desperation at work.

She begs him, "Lord, help me!"

Jesus responds in a way that we find harsh.
"It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

This woman was not going to give up. "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters table."

Her heart cries out, "I'm not asking for it all, just a crumb from your table Lord for even that is better than any banquet the world could offer."
How many times do I turn my nose up at the little things God is offering to me? I pray not that much, but I fear that I have. It wasn't what I wanted, or it didn't come in the way I wanted it to so I rejected it. God help me to see the error of my ways.

Jesus comments on her faith and tells her that her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Help me to learn today.....

mb