Nevertheless, She Persisted
The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. - Matthew 15:25-27
This woman stood up to Jesus and told him he was wrong. From other encounters when people tell Jesus he’s wrong, they don’t go so well. Think about…
There was that time when the crowd is pressing around Jesus and he asks, “Who touched me?” and his disciples say to him, “You see the people crowding against you and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’? (Mark 5:31) Jesus just ignores them and finds the woman who did so and heals her even more.
How about the time after Jesus tells his friends they will deny him and Peter jumps in to contradict him, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” Jesus pushes back against Peter: “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” (Matthew 26:33-34) Oof, that was direct!
Then there was that time when Jesus said he would be crucified and Peter “took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:22-23). Ouch!
So what do you expect to happen when this woman stands up to Jesus? Well, it turns out, she was right and Jesus backed down. That is completely wild, isn’t it?
It seems that there may be some key differences between her and the (male) disciples. In contrast to #1 above, she is not telling Jesus he’s crazy in a dismissive way - she is in fact quite aware he has the power to heal her daughter. And she certainly isn’t overstating (boasting?) in her pushback like Peter in #2. And in contrast to #3, she actually understands what Jesus is saying and she points out how, through a different lens, what he has does not rule out him healing her daughter.
This woman is badass. There’s really no other way to say it. And Jesus, impressed and perhaps enlightened (we’ll talk about that tomorrow), changes his mind. The scripture reports, "Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:28)
So when you disagree with how God is running the world, or perhaps how God is responding to your own personal crises, do you react more like Peter or more like this woman? First off, do you have the courage to speak your mind to God? Second off, can you do so with a clear understanding of what is best and without unhealthy self-interest?
Why not try that now?