Canaanite woman

5/17/17
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 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.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” 25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (Matthew 15:21-28)
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Jesus walked 50 miles to get to Tyre (meaning rock), an important city in Phoenicia and bordering on the shores of Israel with Greek culture under Roman rule. He planned to meet the Canaanite woman, whom He already knew, and her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus’ disciples and other gathering people would know that Jesus was challenging this woman by not responding to her intercessory prayer, thus treating her like a dog; Jews commonly treated Gentiles as though they were untrained stray dogs, with no caring master. Of course, most Gentiles were idol-worshipers, and did not have proper discipline by the word of God or recognition of God as their Heavenly Father. Jesus challenged her further by stating that He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, and it was not right to toss the children’s bread, the body of Christ, to the dogs that don’t know Jesus. Jesus’ words to the woman seemed to be very cruel. What was Jesus doing to the poor woman?
The woman calling to Jesus, “Lord, Son of David,” and asking for His mercy without ceasing understood that Jesus’ words were for His lost sheep, and for the dogs sitting under the master’s table. Jesus addressing a small dog sitting under the Master’s table was not wasting bread on one undisciplined wild dog, but was tending to a dog that was owned and cared for by the Master. The woman claimed that the Lord, as a creating and caring master, would feed her and her daughter with Jesus’ bread through faith in Him. Even if the children at the table (priests and Pharisees) may reject the Lord’s Bread (the body of Christ), she would willingly accept the Bread and His grace with gratitude. Jesus praised her great faith and wisdom, and granted all of her requests. I hope we also have faith in Jesus like the Canaanite woman. Amen.(Do Insook)