Women of Note in the New Testament
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to understand the truth were without a knowledge of the needs of those
around them. No effort was made to help souls in darkness. The
partition wall which Jewish pride had erected shut even the disciples
from sympathy with the heathen world. But these barriers were to be
broken down.
Christ did not immediately reply to the woman’s request.... But
although Jesus did not reply, the woman did not lose faith. As He
passed on, as if not hearing her, she followed Him, continuing her
supplications.... The woman urged her case with increased earnestness,
bowing at Christ’s feet, and crying, “Lord, help me”.... The Saviour is
satisfied. He has tested her faith in Him. By His dealings with her, He
has shown that she who has been regarded as an outcast from Israel is
no longer an alien, but a child in God’s household. As a child it is her
privilege to share in the Father’s gifts. Christ now grants her request,
and finishes the lesson to the disciples. Turning to her with a look of
pity and love, He says, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee
even as thou wilt.” From that hour her daughter became whole. The
demon troubled her no more. The woman departed, acknowledging
her Saviour, and happy in the granting of her prayer.—
The Desire of
[66]
Ages, 399-402 (1898)
.
The Mother of James and John
This chapter is based on
Mark 10:35-41
.
James and John presented by their mother a petition requesting that
they might be permitted to occupy the highest positions of honor in
Christ’s kingdom. The Saviour answered, “Ye know not what ye ask.”
Mark 10:38
. How little do many of us understand the true import of
our prayers! Jesus knew the infinite sacrifice at which that glory must
be purchased, when He, “for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame.”
Hebrews 12:2
. That joy was to see
souls saved by His humiliation, His agony, and the shedding of His
blood.—
The Sanctified Life, 56 (1883)
.
Christ did not reprove John and James and their mother for offering
this request to sit upon His right hand and upon His left hand in the
kingdom. In presenting the principles of love that should actuate
them in their dealings one with another, He presents to the indignant