The Signs of the Times
September 9, 1897
The Woman of Canaan
“Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.” Here Jesus hoped to find the rest and quiet that his human nature needed. Tyre and Sidon were not like Jerusalem, where every one knew of Christ's wonderful works; nor like Galilee, where multitudes followed him daily. He hoped that where his work was not so widely known he might find retirement. But this was not his only purpose in taking this journey. ST September 9, 1897, par. 1
“Behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” The people of this district were of the old Canaanite race. They were idolaters, and were despised and hated by the Jews. To this class belonged the woman who now came to Jesus. She was a heathen, and was therefore excluded from the advantages which the Jews daily enjoyed. ST September 9, 1897, par. 2
This woman had heard of a wonderful prophet, who, it was reported, healed all manner of diseases. As she heard of his power, hope sprang up in her heart. Inspired by a mother's love, she determined to present her daughter's case to him. It was her resolute purpose to bring her affliction to Jesus. He must heal her child. She had sought help from the heathen gods, but had obtained no relief. And at times she was tempted to think, What can this Jewish Teacher do for me? But the word had come, He heals all manner of diseases, whether those who come to him for help are rich or poor, and she determined not to lose her only hope. ST September 9, 1897, par. 3
Christ knew this woman's situation. He knew that she was longing to see him, and he placed himself in her path. By ministering to her sorrow, he could give a living representation of the lesson he designed to teach. For this he had brought his disciples into this region. He desired them to see the ignorance existing in cities and villages close to Judea. Those who had been given every opportunity to understand the truth, were without a knowledge of the needs of those around them. No effort was made to help those in darkness. ST September 9, 1897, par. 4
The Jews thought themselves superior to any other people because they were the descendants of Abraham. No others, they thought, had a right to the promises or the love of God. They had been specially blessed by the Lord, but it was that they might in their turn be a blessing to others. But this they had lost sight of. In their pride and self-sufficiency they built a wall between themselves and the surrounding nations. But with all their advantages, the Jewish priests and rulers were ignorant of the Scriptures. They failed to see their true import. They stood in important and responsible positions, as the leading men of the nation, but they were in need of understanding the first principles of pure and undefiled religion. They should have been willing to minister to those around them, but they passed by on the other side, unheeding their wants. ST September 9, 1897, par. 5
Christ did not immediately reply to the woman's request. He received the importunities of this representative of a despised race in the same manner as the Jews would have done. In this he designed that his disciples should be impressed with the cold and heartless manner in which the Jews would treat such a case, as evinced by his reception of the woman, and the compassionate manner in which he would have them deal with such distress, as manifested by his subsequent granting of her petition. ST September 9, 1897, par. 6
But, altho Jesus did not reply, the woman did not lose faith. As he passed on, as if not hearing her, she followed him, continuing her supplications. Annoyed by her importunities, the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their Master treated her with indifference, and they therefore supposed that the prejudice of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to him. But it was a pitying Saviour to whom the woman made her plea, and in answer to the request of the disciples, Jesus said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Altho this answer was in accordance with the prejudice of the Jews, it was an implied rebuke to the disciples, which they afterwards understood as reminding them of what he had often told them,—that he came to the world to save all who would accept him. ST September 9, 1897, par. 7
The woman urged her case with increased earnestness, bowing at Christ's feet, and crying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus, still apparently rejecting her entreaties, according to the unfeeling prejudice of the Jews, answered, “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.” This was virtually asserting that it was not just to lavish the blessings brought to the favored people of God upon strangers and aliens from Israel. This answer would have utterly discouraged a less earnest seeker; but the woman saw that her opportunity had come. Beneath the apparent refusal of Jesus, she saw a compassion that he could not hide. “Truth, Lord,” she answered; “yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ST September 9, 1897, par. 8
Jesus had just departed from his field of labor because the scribes and Pharisees were seeking to take his life. They murmured and complained, they manifested unbelief and bitterness, and refused the salvation so freely offered them. Here Christ meets one of an unfortunate and despised race, that has not been favored with the light of God's Word; yet she yields at once to the divine influence of Christ, and has implicit faith in his ability to grant the favor she asks. She begs for the crumbs that fall from the Master's table. If she may have the privileges of a dog, she is willing to be regarded as a dog. She has no national or religious prejudice or pride to influence her course, and she immediately acknowledges Jesus as the Redeemer, and as being able to do all that she asks of him. ST September 9, 1897, par. 9
The Saviour is satisfied. He has tested her confidence in him, and he now grants her request, and finishes the lesson to the disciples. Turning to her with a look of pity and love, he says, “O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” From that hour her daughter became whole. The demon troubled her no more. The woman departed, acknowledging her Saviour, and happy in the granting of her prayer. ST September 9, 1897, par. 10
This was the only miracle that Jesus wrought while on this journey. It was for the performance of this act that he went unto the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He wished to relieve the afflicted woman, and at the same time to leave an example in his work of mercy toward one of a despised people, for the benefit of his disciples when he should no longer be with them. He wished to lead them from their Jewish exclusiveness to be interested in working for others besides their own people. ST September 9, 1897, par. 11
This act opened the minds of the disciples more fully to the labor that lay before them among the Gentiles. They saw a wide field of usefulness outside of Judea. They saw souls bearing sorrows unknown to those more highly favored. Among those whom they had been taught to despise were souls longing for help from the mighty Healer, hungering for the light of truth, which had been so abundantly given to the Jews. ST September 9, 1897, par. 12
Afterward, when the Jews turned still more persistently from the disciples because they declared Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, and when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by the death of Christ, this lesson, and similar ones which pointed to a Gospel work unrestricted by custom or nationality, had a powerful influence upon the representatives of Christ in directing their labors. ST September 9, 1897, par. 13
Mrs. E. G. White