How did a Canaanite woman know about Jesus?
Since I met Jesus, or more appropriately, since Jesus met me, I have never asked Him for something that He did not answer.
I tell people this, but I know they do not believe me.
They look at me and conclude that I am just fibbing or boasting.
But I am in good company,
The psalmist says:
Ps 44:8
8 In God we boast all day long, and praise Your name forever. NKJV
It is not a vain boast.
I know the scriptures cannot be broken.
Jesus says:
Luke 11:9-10
9 I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. NKJV
I know if I ask, I will receive.
So, I don’t ask frivolously.
I ask for what I need, and for the needs of others.
The scripture says:
Phil 4:19-20
19 My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. NKJV
The Faith of Kunle Bolodeoku
That was the first miracle God did in my life.
He provided for a need,
But surprisingly, I was God’s riches in glory.
In 1994, 32 years ago, I came home from my video shops to find Kunle Bolodeoku sitting in his Mercedes Benz.
He rushed out to share a testimony with me.
He got a contract to do something, but then he found out that he had to bribe some people to get it.
He declined the contract, convinced that God would give him something better for which he would not have to pay any bribes.
God has done it, he declared triumphantly.
He showed me a letter asking him to supply newsprint for two sister magazines.
“All I need now is the ₦150,000 to fulfil the contract.”
But as God would have it, I had there-and-then exactly ₦150,000 in a Nulec case.
They were the takings from some of my video shops.
The Lord spoke to me:
“Femi, give him the money. He will pay you back.”
I did.
How did God marry my carrying ₦150,000 and Kunle’s requirement of ₦150,000?
How did God orchestrate my movement with Kunle’s movement?
That is the power of God.
I learnt certain things from this incident.
God controls everybody, including me, and He controls everything.
God supernaturally provides what we need when we walk in His righteousness.
And He uses men to provide.
God used me to provide for Kunle.
In that introductory stage, he instructed me to give.
Now increasingly, He does not have to tell me.
I automatically do what He wants me to do.
I don’t even have a choice in the matter.
That is what faith in God does.
It makes you a righteous instrument of God.
Overcoming Faith
The faith that has been delivered to us is the mighty power by which we overcome all obstacles and challenges.
1 John 5:4
4 Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. NKJV
Bible Reading:
Matt 15:21-28
21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”
24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. NKJV
At this stage, Jesus’ ministry was to the Jews exclusively.
Jesus sent out His disciples and charged them:
Matt 10:5-6
5 “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. NKJV
So, He answered and said to this woman:
Matt 15:24
24 “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
If You are only sent to the house of Israel, what are You doing in Tyre and Sidon?
On the one hand, He was running away from the Jews.
He needed rest from the avalanche of people coming to see Him.
Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities, so He was not well known there.
Inaugurating a Gentile Ministry
But there is another even more important reason.
He came there to inaugurate a Gentile ministry according to what the prophets foretold:
Isa 42:6-7
6 I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, 7 to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. NKJV
This became full-blown on His resurrection.
He told His disciples:
Acts 1:8
8 When the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” NKJV
Orderly Progression of the Gospel
There is a divine order to the preaching of the gospel.
The first shall be last and the last first.
Rom 11:30-32
30 As you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.
NKJV
The gospel is to be preached first to the Jews, who will reject it.
John 1:11
11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. NKJV
Rom 10:2-4
2 The Israelites have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. NKJV
Then it will be preached to the Gentiles, who will accept it.
Hos 1:10
10 In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ NKJV
Then it will be preached again to the Jews.
Jesus Came To Tyre and Sidon Because of a Canaanite Woman
But on a deeper level, because Jesus is the Uncaused cause of everything, He came to Tyre and Sidon to see a certain Canaanite woman of uncommon faith.
Acts 15:18
18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. NKJV.
This woman was a Canaanite, a Syco-Phoenician by birth.
But Canaanites were the people scheduled for destruction in the Old Testament.
They certainly did not belong to the commonwealth of Israel.
They were not included in the covenants of promise.
So, how did a Canaanite woman know about Jesus?
How did she know the Hebrew scriptures?
How did she know the scriptures say the Messiah will be a son of David?
She shouted:
Matt 15:22
22 “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” NKJV
Is the Messiah a Son of David?
Where in the scriptures does it say the Messiah would be the son of David?
Isa 11:1-5
11 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist. NKJV
Isa 11:10
10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” NKJV.
Jer 23:5-6
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. NKJV
CONTINUED.
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