Scripture:
Matthew 15:21-28 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
A Gentile Mother's Faith
21 When Jesus left there, (A) He withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. (B) 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, [a] "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon." (C)
23 Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples (D) approached Him and urged Him, "Send her away because she cries out after us." [b]
24 He replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (E)
25 But she came, knelt before Him, and said, "Lord, help me!"
26 He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to their dogs." (F)
27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table!"
28 Then Jesus replied to her, "Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want." And from that moment [c] her daughter was cured. (G)
Footnotes:
Matthew 15:22 Other mss read and cried out to Him
Matthew 15:23 Lit she is yelling behind us or after us
Matthew 15:28 Lit hour
Cross references:
Matthew 15:21 : Mk 7:24-30;
Matthew 15:21 : Mt 11:21; Mk 7:24;
Matthew 15:22 : Gn 10:15;, 19; Jdg 1:30-33; Mt 4:24; 9:27;
Matthew 15:23 : Mt 10:1; 26:56; Mk 3:7; 16:20; Lk 6:13; Jn 12:16;
Matthew 15:24 : Mt 10:6;, 23; Jn 4:22; Rm 15:8;
Matthew 15:26 : Ex 22:31; 2Kg 9:10; Mt 8:2; Php 3:2;
Matthew 15:28 : Mt 9:22; 17:18; Jn 4:52-53;
Reflection:
Do you ever feel "put-off" by the Lord? This passage describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman puts Jesus on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the woman to awaken faith in her. What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles were excluded from God's covenant and favor with Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. Matthew 7:6 records the expression: do not give dogs what is holy. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith -- "even the dogs eat the crumbs". Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with faith -- whether Jew or Gentile -- was refused his help. Do you seek Jesus with expectant faith?
Prayer For The Day:
Lord, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and pursue you with indomitable persistence as this woman did. Increase my faith in your saving power and deliver me for all evil and harm.
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