Week 12 Day 3 Devotions
To Speak or Not to Speak
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps
crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 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 their dogs.” Matthew 15:23-26
There is no doubt that this story is one of the more difficult from the life of Jesus for us to understand and we must approach it with great humility. Scholars and Biblical commentators have differing views on how to interpret this story. Most agree that Jesus understood His mission as first and foremost to the Jewish people and so is reticent with this Canaanite woman.
Our context is ‘hindrances to holiness’ with specific thought today to Jesus’ teaching regarding ‘casting our pearls before swine.’ Jesus teaches us to consider who we should share the gospel with and who we shouldn't. Sometimes we must share and sometimes we must be silent, and making the right choice requires wisdom and guidance from above. Jesus really seemed to know when to speak and when to be quiet. We can perhaps understand some of His silences; for example when Jesus appears before Pilate
and also the chief priests and elders we are told: “But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.”(Matthew 27:14). So sometimes it is definitely better to keep quiet and in keeping quiet we could well be following the example set by Jesus. However, we have looked previously at something else Jesus taught us which is helpful in understanding this passage, namely: Mercy always triumphs over judgment!
While Jesus at first decides to be quiet and to ignore the woman, His mind is not made up and in keeping silent there is no doubt He is assessing the situation and is willing to change His mind if the context demands it. Perhaps, having first judged the situation as not worthy of His attention and deciding to remain silent, He prays, chooses to show love (charity) and breaks His silence. In applying Jesus teaching regarding casting our pearls before swine we too need to learn these things from Jesus.
Oh Lord, help me to learn from your perfect example
when to speak and went to be silent.
