Matthew 15:21-ff A Worshipping Heart

The woman in our text was faced with a personal crisis, her daughter was demonized. We are not told how that happened and it serves no useful purpose to speculate. She was past asking ";Why"; and past playing the "blame game," or so it seems. What she wants now is a solution and she turns to Jesus.

I'm sure the enemy of her soul (and ours) would have prevented her from coming to Jesus if he could. "The master is too busy, don't bother him with this, it is your daughter's own fault anyway," and on and on. It seems that even some of Jesus' disciples were put off by her. They were upset by her tenacity and the spectacle she was making by constantly crying out. Like them, we are often more concerned with our own "comfort" than the opportunity for others to meet Jesus. What a shame to hold someone at arms length, perhaps even to rebuke them, in their need to get to Jesus feet.

It is interesting that the text does not name as "worship" her pursuit or persistence. Only when she came near him the text says "She came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me." It is not possible to worship 'from afar'. As in our devotion from Matthew 14:29-33 this is the word "proskuneo" meaning to "kiss like a dog". I don't mean to intimate, of course, that she literally "licked" with her tongue. The word is indicative of the kind of enthusiasm and devotion so evident in a pet dog to its master. Reflect on the difference between a dog and a cat. They respond quite differently to their owners. Dogs are very expressive. Cats may purr and rub against your leg, but that's about as much as you get. Dogs are easily trained because they are "anxious to please their master". Not so the cat. Cats are about as independent as they get.

The use of the word "proskuneo" as a descriptive term for worship reveals the heart attitude of the worshipper. How is it with you? Are you excited to be in the presence of Jesus? Do you look forward to both formal and informal times of worship or is it merely a "routine" you must go through each week? Are you really more excited about getting home to watch the game on TV, or to spend time with family? If so, ask the Holy Spirit to help you change your heart to that of a true worshipper. Let us all be committed to worship Jesus "in spirit and in truth".

"Holy Spirit, come to us and make us genuine worshippers. Grant that we move past the common experiences to genuine and fresh enthusiasm about being in the presence of Jesus. We pray in His name."

Bob