Matthew 15:21-39

Jesus Performs Miracles and Teaches Us about Prejudice

22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed."

23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us."

24 But He answered and said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

26 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

27 But she said, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

28 Then Jesus said to her, "O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed at once.

Healing Crowds

29 Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there.

30 And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them.

31 So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Four Thousand Fed

32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."

33 The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?"

34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish."

35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground;

36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

The Healing Ministry - Introducing Prejudice

Yes, even in the Bible, among the twelve disciples of Christ, there was prejudice. The woman mentioned in the first passage, because of her heritage, was considered a mortal enemy of the Jews (Remember Exodus and the land of Canaan?)

What about the Disciples? They were annoyed by the woman's constant nagging. But, you might say, she was vying for attention to save her daughter. Wouldn't any of us do the same in this situation? Of course we would.

Even so, the disciples were so "busy" with "important" matters of taking care of the administrative end of Jesus' ministry including organizing, providing food and maintaining order and listening to the service that they showed no compassion for the woman or her daughter.

How about the Christian church today? It's sometimes easy to become apathetic towards people who are not like us, especially when we are "busy" doing "church" but God says that we are to make His Word known to all people, including those we feel uncomfortable around.

Almost every day, God presents us with opportunities to share the good news about Jesus Christ with fellow humans no matter what their background, views or nationality.

I know this is easier said than done but remember, with God, all things are possible.

Love In Christ

- Bob

Matthew 22:41-46 - Who is the Christ? Jesus Asks the Pharisees - Those who don't know Him and even some people who do all ask the same question of who is Jesus Christ. The Pharisees asked and Scripture tells us the answer in this lesson.

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