The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Great faith” it comes from the Greek Word “megale pistis” which means “great, exceptional faith.”
A foreign woman refuses to take no for an answer, and Jesus praises her for it. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Matthew 15.
Scribes and Pharisees confront Jesus over His disciples not following the traditional ritual of washing hands before eating. Jesus turns the accusation back on them, pointing out how they use their own man-made traditions to get around God’s actual commandments. He explains to the crowd that it is not what enters a person’s mouth that defiles them, but “those things which proceed out of the mouth,” since evil thoughts, murder, and deceit come from the heart.
Traveling into the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman cries out to Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus initially seems to deflect, saying He was sent only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and even uses a difficult comparison about not giving children’s bread to dogs. The woman persists humbly, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Jesus responds with remarkable praise. “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” The Greek phrase for great faith here is “megale pistis.” Her daughter is healed instantly.
Jesus continues healing great multitudes near the Sea of Galilee, and, moved with compassion again, feeds another large crowd, this time about four thousand men besides women and children, using seven loaves and a few small fish, with seven baskets of leftovers remaining.
This Canaanite woman had every reason to be turned away, wrong nationality, wrong background, asking a Jewish rabbi for help. But her humble persistence moved Jesus to call her faith great, greater than He had found among His own people. Faith like hers refuses to let a hard first answer be the final word.
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