21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. (Matthew 15:21-22 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Observe here, the constant employment of our Saviour, He went about doing good, from place to place. In the borders of Tyre and Sidon he finds a faithful woman of the race of the Canaanites, who becomes an humble supplicant to Christ, while the Jews neglected so great a salvation. Yea, she not only speaks, but cries unto him. Were we duly affected with our spiritual wants, we could speak to God in no other language than that of cries and tears; nothing but cries can pierce heaven.
Observe, 2. Though all Israel could not example the faith of this Canaanite, yet was her daughter tormented with a devil.
Learn, that neither truth, nor strength of faith; can secure us either against Satan’s inward temptations, or outward vexations; and consequently, the worst of bodily afflictions are no sufficient proof of divine displeaure.
Observe, 3. The daughter did not come to Christ for herself, but the mother for her. Perhaps the child was not sensible of its own misery, but the good mother feels both the child’s sorrow, and her own.
True goodness teaches us to appropriate the afflictions of others to ourselves; it causes us to bear their griefs, and to sympathize with them in their sorrows.