Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30
Matthew 15:21-28 HCSB When Jesus left there, He withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon.” 23 Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples approached Him and urged Him, “Send her away because she cries out after us.” 24 He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 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.” 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 her daughter was cured.
Jesus has withdrawn from the throngs in Galilee and Capernaum for some time to pray and recoup after the exhausting work of preaching and healing. Everywhere He went crowds of people followed, all asking for some healing or teaching or both. While indeed it was His mission to, “…become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers…” Romans 15:8. He often required quite time to pray, sleep & reflect. He travels north to the land of the Syrophoenician, (a native or inhabitant of Phoenicia when it was part of the Roman province of Syria) Matthew used the term “woman of Canaan” (denotes her descendants the Canaanite) while Mark “a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician” (denoting the country where she dwelt). It is not clear Jesus ever fully left the land of the Hebrews, but it is clear He was seeking solitude in or near the region of the Gentiles where he hoped there would be fewer crowds.
Here He addresses a request made by the Syro-Phoenician women to cast out, the demon which had cruelly tormented her. The disciples were in or near the region where it would not do for a Jew to cause a commotion. They urge him to be rid of her, perhaps grant her request or in some other way to send her away. At first Jesus is remote but polite to the women, Matthew 15:24 HCSB “…I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the “women of Canaan” continues with her one best hope. Jesus now become more direct, Matthew 15:26 HCSB “…It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to their dogs.” But the desperate mother will not be deterred, Matthew 15:27 HCSB “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table!”
The hindrances this woman had endured on behalf of her daughter has increased her determination and faith to have her request fulfilled. Because of His compassion and in spite of his mission Jesus heals the young girl. In Capernaum one might make a case for benefit to the Jews of that region for healing the Centurion servant. But here in the region of Syro-Phoenicia the demon possessed daughter of a “Woman of Canaan” could hardly be a benefit to any Jew anywhere.
Yet Jesus never lost sight of the reason(s) for Him coming to earth, John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that who-ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. A fact that would not escape the Apostle, John 10:16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” Even the apostle born out of due season, whom Jesus sent to convert the Gentiles would say, Romans 15:8-9 For I say that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, 9 and so that Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles, and I will sing psalms to Your name.
One can say, and rightly so, the Miracles of Jesus were to give authority to His preaching and teaching. Yet as we see that teaching was all to often included in the Miracles we are told about. Here we see the results of what our Lord had said, Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Questions:
- Why did Jesus & His disciples sometimes retreat to the North of Galilee into Gentile territory?
- Compare Matthew’s account to Marks’s concerning the origin of the women.
- What historical ties did Tyre have to Israel?
- Why might the disciples want Jesus to send the woman away?
- Discuss the women’s response to the reference to her race as “dogs”.
- Describe Jesus reaction at the response of the Canaanite woman.
- Why did the people of Israel take priority of place in the teaching and ministry of Jesus?
- How does the healing of the Canaanite’s daughter contribute to a Christian’s understanding about miracles in the ministry of Jesus?
- What understanding did you acquire from this Miracle?
