Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21-28

And after Jesus departed from there He went a considerable distance into the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold!  After a Canaanite woman from that region came out she was crying out while saying, “Have mercy on me, Son of David!  My daughter is being badly possessed by a demon.”  But He did not answer to her with a word.  And after His disciples came near they were asking Him while saying, “Dismiss her, because she cries out behind us.”  But after answering He said, “I was not being sent except to the sheep that have been ruined of the house of Israel.”  But the woman who came knelt in worshipful allegiance to Him while saying, “Lord, help me.”  And the one who answered said, “It is not good to take the bread of children and throw it to the dogs.”  And she said, “Yes, Lord.  For even the dogs eat from the crumbs of that which fall from the table of their lord.”  Then, after Jesus answered He said to her, “O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be done for you as you desire.”  And her daughter was being healed from that hour.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus goes a great distance away.  This is an easily missed point, but in the scheme of the Gospels it is a very important point for several reasons:

• Jesus is escaping the tension of the Pharisees that had been building over the last few sections of study.  Jesus knows that if He pushes too hard too quickly, then the Pharisees will want to crucify Him before His disciples are ready for Him to die.
• Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon.  Even though Jesus says that He was sent to the Hebrew people in this passage – and is merely testing the woman, His greater message is that the message is for all people.  Jesus goes among Samaritans.  He goes among the people of Tyre and Sidon.  He goes among the Gentile populations of the Decapolis.  Jesus is about reaching all of humanity.
• By putting some distance between Himself and the Hebrew people, Jesus will be able to have some bonding time for Jesus and His disciples.

Have you ever needed to get away?  Have you ever needed some alone time with people you trust?  Why is this important?

Second Thought:

One of the things that I love about this story is that the disciples want to dismiss the woman.  She’s annoying.  She’s a Canaanite.  From their perspective, she’s not worth their attention.  They tell Jesus to dismiss her.  But Jesus has other ideas.  God usually does.  God doesn’t care if someone is annoying.  God doesn’t care if they aren’t like us.  God is interested in reaching anyone who will respond to His presence.

Have you ever overlooked people whom God does not overlook?  Why do we have a knack for doing this as human beings?

Third Thought:

My favorite aspect of this story, however, lies with the woman.  Jesus plays with her.  Jesus insinuates that she isn’t worth his time by comparing her to a dog.  But the woman is okay with that.  She doesn’t need to assert herself.  This isn’t about her!  This is about her daughter and her relationship with God.  Because her perspective is correct, she isn’t about asserting herself.  She can be humble before Jesus.  Jesus responds to her humbleness.  Jesus heals her daughter.  I find this woman to be one of the most amazing women in the Gospels because of her natural humility.

How would you react to someone making an inference to you being a dog?  How good are you at expressing humbleness?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 15:29-31