Matthew 15:21-28
Our Intensely Personal Savior

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession."

Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."

He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.

He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

New International Version

There are not many Gospel stories that sound as foreign and confusing to us as this one, since the social context of this interaction has blurred over the millennia. When we piece together the whole story of what probably happened in this very sparse passage, we get a strong glimpse of Jesus' sense of humor, and the deeply personal relationship he was able to establish so quickly with this woman. Let me break this passage apart as we go through it again:

... Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon ...

One key to this passage is noting that it did not happen in Israel! The region of Tyre and Sidon is in what today is Lebanon, and these two port cities on the Mediterranean Sea had been the hub of the earlier dominant Phoenician civilization. Under Roman rule, national boundaries that had once been fiercely protected were often largely ignored, so there was a significant Jewish population in the region, but Jesus' purpose in heading a couple of day's journey away from Galilee was for a renewal time.

The Jewish believers in this area would have felt isolated by the long distance from the religious center of their faith in Jerusalem. This probably saddened most of them, but it must have encouraged their faithfulness to the Truth to be removed from the politics of Jerusalem religion, for Jesus praises their sense of morality in Matthew 11:21 as he condemns those within the religious mainstream for their lack of recognition of and repentance from their sin.

... A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him ...

Given that Jesus was outside of Israel, it was no surprise that Gentile people were about, and a Gentile man would have felt more comfortable approaching Jesus in Lebanon than he would have in Galilee or Jerusalem. But this was a woman, and the social inappropriateness of a woman approaching a man applied to the whole region. Furthermore, she was a Canaanite woman, one of a nation that had been soundly defeated when Joshua and the Israelites had conquered the land of Canaan and made it a part of Israel, and ancient animosities lived on for centuries.

... crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! ...

Her statement would have surprised the disciples. Many people had called Jesus "Lord" and "Rabbi", as these terms were used to show honor to great and wise teachers. This foreign woman also used the term "Son of David," clearly and unequivocally calling Jesus the Messiah. Peter wouldn't declare his belief that Jesus was the Messiah until chapter 16!

... Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away," ...

What this says doesn't make much sense, but pay attention to what it doesn't say. First, it doesn't say that Jesus ignored her, only that Jesus did not answer her. I think Jesus probably did notice her, and she probably noticed that Jesus was listening, which encouraged her to keep following.

It also doesn't mention that the disciples sent her away, but we know from Matthew 19:13 that the disciples were eager to keep "unimportant" people away from Jesus. That tells me the disciples must have tried to criticize her and coerce her to leave them alone, but when Jesus kept looking at her, she would have ignoreed the disciples' challenges. The disciples had no other choice but to tell Jesus to stop encouraging her, which I think is what they did in this verse.

... He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." ...

As usual, Jesus turned his disciples' request around on them, and with a twinkle in His eyes and a smile on His lips, He went up to the woman to offer their pitiful excuse for why He shouldn't talk with her. Why do I interpret His response as humorous satire? Because he wasn't even in Israel at the time.

... The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" ...

She has her audience with the Master! The disciples by this time have realized they have lost their argument, once again, and Jesus is fully and completely engaged in conversation with this woman--and nothing else in the world matters to Him while they are having their talk.

... He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." ...

I believe this is a parallel to Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman in John 4:16, where, out of the blue, Jesus asks her to go get her husband. With a simple question, Jesus cut to the center of that woman's sinful practice, confronting her promiscuity and her manipulation of men as the part of her that would prevent her from accepting God's love.

The barrier the Canaanite woman had to overcome was different. In Jesus' day, the word "dogs" was an explosive racial insult the Israelites used to refer to tribes they held in contempt, like Canaanites and other tribes which Joshua and the people had defeated. I feel Jesus' reference to "dogs" was challenging her to overcome her resentment of the Israelites so she could accept as her God the One who came to earth as a Hebrew baby.

However, there's a twist in the written Greek and the spoken Aramaic that doesn't translate into English. The term Jesus used was the diminutive form of the word "dog," a less serious term, expressing the endearing, lovable nature of dogs. While not as precise, the intention of what Jesus said is better captured by saying "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the puppies."

With one small change, Jesus took a racial slur and turned it into a gesture of love, and this woman embraced that Love!

... "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the [puppies] eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." ...

In the original language, she applies the same twist to her witty response to Jesus! When she uses the term "crumbs", she also uses the diminutive form, which makes no sense in English, but must have caused Jesus to laugh with her. Maybe some of the disciples had gotten over their self-righteous defensiveness and were able to laugh as well.

Aside from the ancient humor, we also have her confession of Jesus as not only Messiah but as Lord in her answer. She put aside her resentment of the Israelites who had defeated and continued to insult her people. More than that, she used the same term when she called Jesus "Lord" as she used referring to the dog's Master's table.

One more observation about her response: this is no longer the plea of a desperate mother. This intelligently funny exchange shows this woman already knew Jesus was going to heal her daughter and change her life. She had already been given the peace and joy that only God can give, and she was already rejoicing in the wholeness that Jesus had not yet put into words.

... Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." ...

In other places in the Gospel, Jesus says a person's faith has made them whole, and the meaning here is the same. Jesus did not act alone in working this healing miracle, so that the miracle of restoration and wholeness would be complete for both mother and daughter.



Did you notice how uniquely Jesus interacted with this woman? He knew her tenacity, and used it to make a point to his disciples about how they regarded other people. He knew her faith in God was distracted by her dislike of the arrogant Israelite attitudes toward her race. He also knew her wit and sense of humor. The few sentences we see of this dialog were a original work of art created exclusively for that one person, written by the same God that created her as a unique individual.

Our relationship with God is just that personal, too. God knows where your faith is strong, and God knows what is preventing your faith from being stronger. God knows how you think, how you feel, and how you respond. Even when you're sitting in a congregation of thousands of people, God speaks to you individually as you worship, often with a personal message that no one else in that crowd will comprehend, because God knows what you need to hear.

We worship the all-powerful, infinite God! Never forget, we also worship the all-knowing, intimate, loving God whose Holy Spirit always abides with us to lead us, bless us, and fill us with joy!