The Faith of a Gentile

Matthew 15:21-28

Reading the Gospels provides many opportunities to be encouraged and challenged in our Christian lives. We enjoy the stories of Jesus healing people, teaching about his Father's kingdom, and the triumph of his death and resurrection. But certain stories force us to pause, reread, and reevaluate what we thought about Jesus and his ministry. This account in Matthew 15 is one of those.

Exercise persistent faith as you wait for Jesus to answer.

In this story, Jesus reaches the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, a region north of Galilee and outside of the boundaries of Israel. It was definitely Gentile territory. As he approaches this area, an unnamed woman of Canaanite background comes to Jesus and makes a repeated request for him to heal her daughter from demon possession. It is the Lord's responses to this woman that cause us to reconsider what we think about Jesus. But we don't like to pause for too long lest his words make us uncomfortable. Let's look at this story together and discover its importance in the life and ministry of Jesus. Then we will consider what it can tell us about how to exercise faith.

The Woman Approaches Jesus

Notice first what did the Canaanite woman believed about Jesus. She cries out to him for mercy and calls him the Lord and the Son of David. "Lord" was just a polite greeting for an adult man. In this context, her addition of "Son of David" indicates it was more than just polite. It was an expression of her belief in his divine power and claims. She believed he was David's descendant with the authority to rule on his throne.

For Matthew's Jewish audience, it's strange hearing this from a Canaanite, especially since she would have no obvious benefit from Christ's ruling authority over Israel. But Matthew seems to be highlighting that contrast on purpose, to demonstrate that faith can come from unexpected sources. In fact, Jesus' role as Messiah was not just attractive to many Jews, but to many Gentiles as well who understood who he was and what he came to do.

She also understood that she did not deserve his help. She's not the first person to recognize this. The two blind men who cried out to Jesus for healing also implored him, "Son of David, have mercy on us" (Matt 9:27). We can assume these men were Jewish, yet they too understood that as God, Jesus is not obligated to heal any disease or answer any prayer for any particular individual. None of us can merit a response from God. He responds according to his divine will, and often, it is to heal.

The Canaanite woman also recognized this. The context seems to indicate she knew this because she was a Gentile. She fully recognized Israel's privileged position as God's chosen people, and that the ministry of Israel's Messiah was focused on the Jewish people. But she still came to him because she believed he had the power to heal her daughter. She demonstrated this by continuing to call out to him for mercy.

Jesus Responds to the Woman

The most uncomfortable part of this story is the response of Jesus to the woman. To say the least, it's unusual. Jesus never denied the opportunity to serve others by meeting physical needs. Indeed, that's why he came (Mark 10:45). Often, we focus on the fact that this woman was a Gentile. While this is a critical component of the story, this is not the first time Jesus interacted with Gentiles or healed them.

He healed the servant of a Roman centurion without ever setting foot in his house (Matt 8:5-13). Early in his ministry, we see the fame of Jesus spreading abroad to every part of Syria, from Galilee, Decapolis, Judea, and beyond the Jordan (Matt 4:23-25). Many of those who came to Jesus for healing would have been Jewish, but all the regions that Matthew mentions are not entirely Jewish. No doubt, many Gentile people from these areas heard about the miracle-worker from Nazareth and came to him for healing.

So, what makes this woman different? If Jesus has already healed and interacted with Gentiles before, why doesn't he do that for her immediately? Why does he treat her differently? We will answer these questions closer to the end of our study. For now, notice how starkly different Jesus responds to this woman. First, he gives her no response. The text doesn't say he ignored her, turned his head away, or walked past her as she's crying out. If a woman in a crowd is crying out for attention, it would be pretty difficult (and odd) to ignore her completely. But Jesus did not ignore her. He simply did not answer her, not one word.

The disciples respond to this situation by asking Jesus to send her away. We have seen a similar response from the disciples before. When the multitudes of people following Jesus were tired and hungry, the disciples suggested sending them all away to go home and get food (Matt 14:15). The difference in this story is that the disciples were not asking Jesus to send her away without her request being granted. We know this because the word for "send away" can mean "to satisfy, to grant a request and so be rid of a person" (BDAG). We could rephrase their words as, "Jesus, just give her what she wants so she can get lost. She's being a nuisance."

This response from the disciples was rude and unkind. But think about why they might respond this way. They had seen Jesus heal people who asked him, so they would naturally expect him to do that now. The difference is they are biased in this situation for a few reasons. As they say, she continued to cry out for Jesus to help her; her constant pleas for help annoyed them. They also would have been prejudiced against Gentile people, and a woman no less, talking to Jesus and making this request.

Jesus' silence ends when he responds to the disciples. He tells them, with the woman probably in earshot, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." He does not say, "Fellas, I'm not healing this Gentile," as if bothered or disgusted by her. He reminds them why he came - to minister to Jewish people.

As we read in the OT, the prophesied Messiah would indeed concentrate his ministry on the nation of Israel (Isa 9:6-7; Mic 5:2). When he sent out his disciples to heal people and spread his message about God's kingdom, he told them to minister to the house of Israel rather than to Gentiles (Matt 10:5-6). Jesus has already made clear that the focus of his mission on earth was to reach Jewish people.

By answering them this way, perhaps we have a good reason why Jesus does not respond to the woman right away. He wanted to see how his disciples would react. They requested that this woman be asked to leave. Jesus' answer probably confirmed their biases. They would expect him to say some special words so the woman's daughter would be healed and they could get on with their day.

But Jesus had something important to teach them. His answer does not stop the woman from coming to him and worshipping him. We can picture the scene. Up to this point, she may still have been a little way off. Now, she comes up to him and kneels down pleading for the Lord to help her. Hearing what he just said, she persists in her cries for help. She is desperate for her daughter to be healed.

In verse 26, we have one of the most stunning words from Jesus in all of the Gospels. He says, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." Reading this for the first time, you may be shocked (or mortified) by Jesus' words. Did he just call this woman a dog? Is he insulting her on purpose? What does he mean by this brash statement?

Remember that Jesus just stated the central purpose of his coming to earth - to seek out the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He picks up on that house imagery and uses it to reinforce what he has just taught about his mission. He imagines a house with a father and his children at the table enjoying a meal. He makes the obvious point that it would not be good, in an ethical sense, to take the children's food and feed it to the housepets instead. If you have pets and children at home, you can imagine the absurdity of this. It would not be ethical, right, or fair to starve your kids to feed your dogs.

He explains his mission in a way that both the woman and the disciples would understand. As the Messiah of Israel, his duty was to minister to the Jews. To take time, energy, and attention away from his mission would violate his whole purpose for coming. It would be like taking food from your children to feed to their pets.

Jesus is not just helping his audience understand his reason for coming to earth. He also maximizes his opportunity by turning a common Jewish prejudice on its head. It's no secret that Jews and Gentiles did not get along. As we see exemplified in the book of Galatians, Jews did not want to be in the same room or eat at the same table as Gentiles for fear they might become unclean. The animus was so strong that Jews resorted to calling Gentiles "dogs," the Greek word referring to a scavenger or street dog.

In his short parable, Jesus does not outright call the woman a dog. But he does associate Gentile people with the dogs in the story. However, he uses a different Greek word for dogs, the ones that are domesticated and cared for by the family. While the story is meant to show the importance of Jesus' ministry to Jewish people, it also points out his radical perception of Gentiles. They are not street dogs that deserve no attention. Rather, they belong in the community of faith along with God's chosen people.

So, no, he does not call this woman a dog either directly or indirectly. He wants her to understand his mission to the house of Israel is paramount. In verse 27, we see she has no problem understanding this. She agrees, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Though Jesus' mission was focused on Jewish people, this woman believed his miracle-working power and ministry of blessing could touch the lives of Gentiles too. She believed that God's blessings were not limited to ethnicity or race, but open to all people.

Jesus recognizes this faith in much the same way he credited another Gentile in chapter 8: "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." As with the centurion who asked for his servant to be healed, Jesus applauded the remarkable faith of this woman and healed her daughter at that instant. This dear woman's patient, persistent faith was rewarded by immediate healing and a granting of her request.

Lessons for Believers

What can we take away from this story? Like many of Jesus' interactions with people, we are left intrigued by some parts of the story and scratching our heads at others. At the end of the day, the woman got what she asked for. Jesus healed her daughter of demon possession, and she even received praise for her great faith. But we still wonder why Jesus waited to do that, why he felt the need to emphasize his purpose for coming, and why he insulted this lady in the process. Consider a few important takeaways for us from this story.

Jesus honors persistent faith.

We may not know all the reasons why he delayed healing the daughter. We do know that neither his lack of response nor his "harsh" responses kept this woman from seeking his help. She was never offended or taken aback by his words. She understood that no one, especially a Gentile at this time, could merit the ear of God. When he responds, it is out of his own goodness and mercy. She relied on the mercy of the Messiah to heal her daughter, and Jesus honored that faith publicly.

Our prayer lives should also exhibit this kind of enduring faith. We are quick to drop certain prayer requests, especially those that seem like they have an obvious answer. We expect that God will give us the wisdom to make important decisions for ourselves and our families. We expect the sick sister at church will get better. We expect the unemployed brother will get a job in due time.

But none of these things are guaranteed. Instead, our heart attitude in prayer should be like this woman - I don't deserve an answer from God, but I am going to pray persistently for this need anyway. If your request is a legitimate need, then your Father already knows about it and he will meet it according to his riches in glory (Phil 4:19). You can pray in confidence that he hears you and will answer according to his will. The Lord may not always answer as we expect, but he always honors enduring faith.

Jesus may have important things to teach us while we wait for him.

We read this story with great curiosity: why would Jesus delay giving this woman her request? She was not living in obvious sin, and she certainly had no trouble trusting Jesus to do this for her. Why did he respond the way he did?

It's important to remember that Jesus has the right to respond differently than we might expect. He is God and knows what is best for us. He is also good, so whatever he gives or keeps from us is for our benefit. Parents interact this way with their children. They might give their kids a special gift for Christmas, like a new video game. But they also may limit them to a certain amount of time playing the game. That is not unfair or cruel, that is just good parenting that teaches children discipline with their time and hobbies.

In the same way, I think Jesus used this occasion to teach a vital lesson to his disciples and the woman. He came to this world to reach the house of Israel. His purpose was to wake them up to his role as their Messiah so they would believe on him. The Canaanite woman seems to have understood that better than the disciples. Her responses to Jesus make that clear. But in this episode, it was important to him that both she and the disciples were crystal clear about why he came.

You may have wondered during a time of trial, "Why am I going through this now?" Maybe the timing of the trial was inconvenient, its effects were uncomfortable, or the length of it was more than you could bear. Perhaps you are experiencing that now. Be encouraged that Jesus has something important to teach you as you wait. He is building your endurance, your capacity to wait for his deliverance. By doing so, he is increasing your faith and conforming you to his own image.

Do not neglect other believers who wait for Jesus' answer.

The disciples dismissed this woman as a nuisance. Yes, they expected Jesus would heal her, but only as a way to get rid of her. May we never view each other that way. May we come alongside each other and comfort one another in the Lord. When we hear prayer requests, may we not think of them as another bullet point on our prayer lists. May we think of the person behind that need who wants the Lord to answer and deliver them from the challenges they face. Pray with sympathy for your brothers and sisters.

Reading this story challenges our preconceptions about how Jesus engaged with people's needs. Hopefully, your understanding of Jesus and his miracles is a little more rounded and nuanced. Yes, he readily healed people who came to him for all kinds of needs. Yes, he quickly responded to the faith in needy hearts. But sometimes, even a heart of faith does not guarantee a quick or easy response. Sometimes, having faith means you keep waiting. It might mean you will learn something unexpected, though important.