Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.
This woman from a Gentile region knew the identity of Jesus more truly than did the religious leaders of Judea, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, for she recognized him as Son of David. She connected this not merely with royalty but with supernatural power, hoping that he could cast out the demon that cured her daughter. She had not been raised amidst a people that had been trained to hope for this promised Messiah. But she had heard enough about him to come to him in her need. She was sufficiently desperate for the sack of her daughter that she latched on to the possibility of hope that Jesus represented and she did not let go.
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
She was so bothersome in her pleading that she annoyed the disciples. Jesus himself did not answer her at once. Perhaps he was giving his disciples a chance to see how they would respond, since they themselves would later be called to go proclaim the Gospel to every nation. Certainly he also knew that she would persist, that his lack of immediate response would give her the opportunity to show great faith.
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
It was as though Jesus tentatively echoed what his disciples expected him to say, as though he put forth the answer playfully, so that by hearing the answer he received in turn from the woman the disciples would begin to grasp that the scope of the mission would eventually go beyond the house of Israel. What Jesus said was true. Israel really did have primacy in the order of salvation, since it was as one of them that Jesus came into the world, and to them that he first preached and manifested himself. But Jesus knew that the plan was to tear down the dividing wall that kept Jew and Gentile separate and to make his salvation available to the entire world.
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
The woman, for her part, knew she had no special claim on Jesus. She noticed, perhaps, that Jesus never said no exactly. And so she asked and kept asking. Importantly, she didn't let her pride interfere. She didn't insist on her request because she thought she deserved it, but insisted on it in spite of apparent evidence to the contrary. Pride was a greater barrier to Jesus than nationality or ethnicity, for it kept many Sadducees and Pharisees from coming to him. Humility was a door that could allow Gentiles access to his grace even before the cross of Jesus destroyed the dividing wall between peoples and nations forever.
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
Compared to people of Israel, who had been given the law, the covenants, and the scriptures, it was not so far fetched to call a Canaanite a dog. They were an idolatrous people who were therefore without Godly morality and ignorant of their ultimate destinies. They were more like dogs that lived only to satisfy immediate appetites, and moved at the whim of the idols they served. But this woman proved that they could be much more.
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Even the scraps that fell from the table of the master would be enough to raise dogs up into something more than dogs. For this bread did more than address the appetites of the body, but could even satisfy the hunger of the spirit. This woman believed more in the power of the gift of the master than in her own limitations or those of her background.
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
Although Jesus came to the House of Israel it was always the case, as Paul taught, that those who had faith were the true children of Abraham (see Galatians 3:7). Those who had only the pride of a lineage of flesh and blood but did not have faith would be sent away hungry. But even this Canaanite woman, because of her great faith, was able to eat at the table. The disciples of Jesus were meant to see in this woman the truth that faith and humility were the essential things in the Kingdom. He commended the humility of this woman to them as an example. From her they could learn to seek Jesus with persistence and humility. And seeing her they would they would begin to be able to welcome those like her, anyone who sought Jesus in faith, regardless of background.
Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will call out on Mount Ephraim:
“Rise up, let us go to Zion,
to the LORD, our God.”
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