Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 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.”
But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 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.
— Matthew 15:21-28 NKJV. Parallel account in Mark 7:24-30
Years ago, I learned two concepts that I try to apply as I read the Bible. The first is to always keep in mind context. The second is basically, “it can’t mean to you, what it didn’t mean to them”. In other words, our modern sensibilities can’t read into or draw from the narrative anything other than what the original audience would have understood. For many, this is one of those passages of Scripture that is very easy to misinterpret without first having a solid perspective of Jesus.
Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man. His human side would have understood and comprehended the bias of the people He lived among. But being God, He also would have known the plans ordained from the beginning. Throughout the Old Testament, in many of the promises spoken by the Prophets, God reveals a plan that involves all nations, not just the Jewish people. In Isaiah 56:6-8, God promises “all foreigners who join themselves to the Lord…I will bring them to the Holy Mountain…their offerings will be accepted on my altar…I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
Nothing Jesus did/does is random. Jesus walked over 40 miles from Galilee to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He was in this place, talking to this woman because He chose to be in Gentile lands. In the verse directly after this encounter, Jesus is on his way out of town. Just like the Samaritan woman at the well, He went there to meet her.
The Gospels are full of stories in which Jesus knows words before they are spoken. He continually calls out the pious, superficial faith of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes He encounters. He even tells Peter exactly where to catch a specific fish with coins in its mouth to pay the temple tax. He is not surprised or perplexed by this woman’s words. Before she meets Him, He knows her.
In Scripture, we are told very little about this woman. We know only that she is of Canaanite/Syrophoenician heritage and we know her daughter is possessed by a demon. She is desperate and at her wit's end. She comes pleading. She comes broken. She comes humble. She has no reason to believe in Jesus, yet she does.
It is highly plausible that stories of Jesus’ miracles and healings had reached those in Tyre and Sidon. In her desperation, it appears she had clung to these stories. When she heard Jesus was in town, she ran to find Him. Her hope was in Him.
At this point in His ministry, Jesus has encountered many Jews with little or no faith in Him. Yet, this gentile woman pleads, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David.” In this one simple phrase, she affirms that her petition is to the Christ, the Lord, the long-awaited Messiah. She recognizes his deity and submits to his authority. In Matthew 12 and again in chapter 16, the Pharisees demand a sign from Jesus to prove He is the Messiah. She doesn’t need a sign. Paul tells us that faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17). She had heard and she believed.
As the woman continues to bear the pain of her soul to Jesus, the apostles beg Him to take care and send her away. It doesn’t seem to be out of compassion that they ask Jesus to do this but that they may be relieved from listening to her cries. As far as we know, Jesus doesn’t acknowledge her but just makes a general statement that is more directed towards the apostles.
Her pain and her tenacity push her to violate all proper customs of the times. She doesn’t wait to be called to Jesus, she comes and falls at the feet of Jesus. She first pleaded in words for mercy. Now she pleads in her humble posture as she worships Him on her knees. Her actions and her words show her humility and brokenness. All pretense is gone. At this moment, her heart is laid bare at His feet. “Lord, help me.”
It is now that Jesus speaks to her. He is very deliberate in His word choice. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The word he uses for “dog” is translated “little dog” or “lap dog.” Sometimes strong words, hyperbole and parabolic speech are used by Jesus to make a point. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:29, He says to gouge out your eye out if it causes you to sin. In Matthew 19, he tells a rich young man, “if you want to be perfect, sell all that you have.” Neither of these are meant to be taken literally. Jesus pushes people to examine their hearts in order to see who or what has their allegiance.
Not only does she show no signs of being offended by His words, she agrees with Him. Depending on which version you read, the beginning of verse 27 is translated, “Yes, Lord” or “Truth, Lord”. The woman picks up on His nuance and understands the deeper meaning of what He is saying. He is correct and she agrees with His evaluation of her. She is an unclean woman of gentile descent. She acknowledges that she has no rights at all before Christ. But she also seems to understand there is more bread available than just what has been handed to the children. Any crumb, any portion of Jesus, would be more than enough to satisfy her. He is the good Master who will provide.
I find it utterly amazing that Matthew places this interaction with the Canaanite woman in between two other stories of Jesus and bread. The first occurs before while Jesus is still in Jewish territory. Jesus feeds more than 5,000 people with 12 baskets of leftover pieces of bread, all from a small boy’s lunch. The second miraculous feeding is for a group of mostly Gentile people. Jesus feeds more than 4,000 people with 7 loaves and a few fish, yet there are 7 full baskets of leftover bread. In both accounts, Matthew tells us “they all ate and were satisfied” (Matt 15:37). These miracles were done as a sign, a testimony of God’s plan. In John’s Gospel after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus says “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry”. Unlike the Jews that reject Jesus as the bread in John 6, the Canaanite mother is happy to be satisfied with just a crumb of this life-giving bread.
In the end, her humility and persistence is rewarded as Jesus says in verse 28, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. In my mind’s eye, I see Jesus with an enormous grin on His face as he commends her faith. It is said that she is the only person ever in Scripture to receive this kind of commendation of faith from Jesus.
This woman in her humble faith came to partake of the bread of life. Her faith was genuine. Her words and her actions aligned with God’s heart in such magnificent faith that Christ was overjoyed.
Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on each of us. Open our eyes, our ears and our hearts so that we may humbly come before you and lay our lives at your feet. You promise that if we ask, seek and knock that you will answer. Help us to fill up on you, the Bread of Life, so that our souls will be eternally satisfied. Amen
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalms 51:1
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