And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
A despised Canaanite mother from the borders of Tyre and Sidon came to Jesus where He had withdrawn for retirement, falling at His feet to beg healing for her daughter grievously vexed by an unclean spirit. When He answered that the children's bread should not be cast to dogs, she humbly accepted the low place and claimed a dog's right to crumbs from an abundantly supplied table without robbing Israel. For that saying He granted her request by His word alone, and she found her daughter whole from that hour. Her earnest, persevering plea under apparent repulse proved implicit, meek and great faith that refused offense and would not give up, in contrast to the unbelief of the scribes and Pharisees. The healing, the only miracle of that journey, was done on purpose to relieve her and to teach the disciples to turn from Jewish exclusiveness and carry the gospel unrestricted by nationality to all mankind.
Setting and Meaning
After the encounter with the Pharisees Jesus withdrew from Capernaum and crossed Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phenicia overlooking Tyre and Sidon and the Mediterranean. He sought there the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida and time to prepare His disciples for their mission. The time had not yet come for messengers of the gospel to bear its glad tidings across the sea to the centers of the world's great empire.
The speaker is a foreign, veiled woman met in a Phoenician hillside town, where barriers are broken down. It is the same encounter told in Matthew 15:21-28. She is a Canaanite mother from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, of the old Canaanite race of Phenicia, a Greek, Syrophenician heathen and idolater, despised and hated by the Jews and excluded from the advantages they daily enjoyed. Her daughter was grievously vexed by an unclean evil spirit, a devil, sick and afflicted, and she had sought help from the heathen gods and obtained no relief. Having heard that Jesus heals all manner of diseases whether those who come are rich or poor, hope sprang up in her heart. Though she knew the Jews rejected dealings with Canaanites, she appealed to Jesus because she had heard of His works of mercy and had perfect faith in His power to help her.
Inspired by a mother's love she determined with resolute purpose to bring her affliction to Jesus, that He must heal her child. She came crying to Him for mercy as Lord, Son of David, fell at His feet, and urgently besought Him to cast the devil out of her daughter. She was a mother urgently asking Jesus to help her sick daughter, and Jesus heeded her request and healed the daughter. To her plea Jesus answered, let the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs, expressing the sentiment of the disciples. He spoke still apparently rejecting her entreaties according to the unfeeling prejudice of the Jews against lavishing the blessings brought to favored Israel upon strangers and aliens from Israel.
Beneath His words repeating Jewish prejudice about giving the children's bread to dogs she saw compassion He could not hide and seized her opportunity. She answered, Yes, Lord, yet claimed the children's crumbs for the dogs under the table. By accepting the low place as a dog she thankfully took what falls from the master's hand and claimed a dog's right to crumbs from an abundantly supplied table. While Israel as the children of the household feasted richly at the Father's table, even strangers and aliens were not left unfed. She accepted that she had no claim to the blessings given to Israel, while trusting that Jesus could grant her a crumb of blessing from His bounty without taking away from God's people, as dogs under the table eat crumbs that fall from the family's plentiful meal.
For this saying Jesus told her to go her way, that the devil was gone out of her daughter, and granted her request with pity and love. When she came to her house she found the devil gone out and the daughter laid upon the bed. From that hour her daughter became whole and the demon troubled her no more. He cast out the devil by His word alone, showing His power and mercy over evil spirits. The demons He meets are intelligent entities whom He addresses directly, commanding them to come out of the victim and torment him no more, and they obey His authority and power.
Faith Tested and Rewarded
Her answer yielded at once to the divine influence of Christ with implicit, unhindered, meek faith and certainty of relief. In contrast stood the scribes and Pharisees, who murmured and complained in unbelief and bitterness, refused the salvation freely offered them, and sought to take His life after He departed from Jerusalem. She let no national or religious prejudice or pride shape her course, but immediately and unconditionally acknowledged Jesus as Redeemer able to do all she asked. In this she showed a higher appreciation of His benevolence and power than most of God's favored people had.
She humbly confessed she had no claim on Jesus' favor or on the blessings given to Israel, yet trusted His mercy was abundant enough to help her. She was willing to be regarded as a dog if she might receive help, accepting a place outside Israel like dogs under the table that thankfully take whatever falls from their master's hand. Her faith was thus free from national or religious pride while she pleaded for one crumb from His bounty for her need, though God's people feasted on rich and bountiful gifts.
Jesus' apparent indifference, delay, and rejection severely tested her sincerity. That repulse would have utterly discouraged a less earnest seeker, and many would have given up all further effort and gone away feeling humiliated and abused beyond all patience. She refused offense and did the opposite, and with earnest, humble supplication kept following and pleading with increased earnestness for only the help represented by the crumbs that fall from the children's table. Her reply proved her confidence under testing and made her faith, determination, perseverance, and great faith manifest. It satisfied Jesus, so He granted the help she asked with pity and love and commended her great faith, and she departed acknowledging her Saviour, happy in the granting of her prayer, with her daughter from that hour whole and troubled no more.
The episode teaches that persevering prayer is not neglected, and that Christ may use a trial to reveal and strengthen faith before answering. Those who keep bringing their needs to Christ in faith are heard. Even the weakest, most struggling soul may find hope and sufficiency in God.
Mercy Beyond Israel
This was the only miracle of that journey to the coast of Tyre and Sidon, drawn there by her faith and performed on purpose to relieve the afflicted woman. It was left at the same time as an example of mercy toward one of a despised people for the benefit of the disciples when Jesus would no longer be with them. The whole account stands as an example of the work they should do and of His way of working.
Through the encounter Jesus tested her faith and sincerity and taught the disciples to turn from Jewish exclusiveness and to work for people beyond their own nation. The woman's persistence exposed the disciples' lack of sympathy and Jewish prejudice against Canaanites. His reception of her and His later healing of her daughter showed the compassion with which they were to treat people in distress, rather than copying the coldness and prejudice of the Jews.
That lesson led them to be interested in working for others besides their own people and opened their minds more fully to labor among the Gentiles. It directed their labors afterward, when the Jews turned still more persistently from them for declaring Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, and when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by the death of Christ, as a gospel work unrestricted by custom or nationality. It showed that people whom many considered unworthy of salvation could hunger for the light of truth, that salvation is for all mankind, and that God's kingdom has no territorial or social divisions, so that Christ's followers must carry the message of His love to every nation.
His statement about being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel rebuked that prejudice and means He came to save all who accept Him. Every seeking believer ready to believe, even a despised Gentile, belongs to the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold, regardless of background. The Jews' privileges and knowledge of Scripture were meant to make them a blessing to other nations, not a reason for superiority, but pride led them to exclude and neglect those around them, making God's blessings a responsibility to care for others.
The encounter is an instance of Christ's direct work and ministry beyond acknowledged Israel and beyond the acknowledged people of Israel. She accepted that His work was first directed to Israel while appealing for its benefits to reach Gentiles too, with Gentiles recognized as children of God. Her conversion anticipated the gathering of Gentiles into God's church and was a sign of the work that would continue among the Gentiles, as an effort to lead the Jews away from exclusiveness.
It shows Christ's great love for suffering humanity in answering the earnest, humble supplication of the afflicted Syrophoenician mother by healing her daughter. It rebukes selfishness and neglect of the unfortunate, the blind, the lame and afflicted, the widow and the fatherless. It calls for greater missionary effort right at home in families and neighborhoods in caring for the afflicted, the suffering, and the discouraged.
A despised Canaanite mother from the borders of Tyre and Sidon came to Jesus where He had withdrawn for retirement, falling at His feet to beg healing for her daughter grievously vexed by an unclean spirit. When He answered that the children's bread should not be cast to dogs, she humbly accepted the low place and claimed a dog's right to crumbs from an abundantly supplied table without robbing Israel. For that saying He granted her request by His word alone, and she found her daughter whole from that hour. Her earnest, persevering plea under apparent repulse proved implicit, meek and great faith that refused offense and would not give up, in contrast to the unbelief of the scribes and Pharisees. The healing, the only miracle of that journey, was done on purpose to relieve her and to teach the disciples to turn from Jewish exclusiveness and carry the gospel unrestricted by nationality to all mankind.
Setting and Meaning
After the encounter with the Pharisees Jesus withdrew from Capernaum and crossed Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phenicia overlooking Tyre and Sidon and the Mediterranean. He sought there the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida and time to prepare His disciples for their mission. The time had not yet come for messengers of the gospel to bear its glad tidings across the sea to the centers of the world's great empire.
The speaker is a foreign, veiled woman met in a Phoenician hillside town, where barriers are broken down. It is the same encounter told in Matthew 15:21-28. She is a Canaanite mother from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, of the old Canaanite race of Phenicia, a Greek, Syrophenician heathen and idolater, despised and hated by the Jews and excluded from the advantages they daily enjoyed. Her daughter was grievously vexed by an unclean evil spirit, a devil, sick and afflicted, and she had sought help from the heathen gods and obtained no relief. Having heard that Jesus heals all manner of diseases whether those who come are rich or poor, hope sprang up in her heart. Though she knew the Jews rejected dealings with Canaanites, she appealed to Jesus because she had heard of His works of mercy and had perfect faith in His power to help her.
Inspired by a mother's love she determined with resolute purpose to bring her affliction to Jesus, that He must heal her child. She came crying to Him for mercy as Lord, Son of David, fell at His feet, and urgently besought Him to cast the devil out of her daughter. She was a mother urgently asking Jesus to help her sick daughter, and Jesus heeded her request and healed the daughter. To her plea Jesus answered, let the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs, expressing the sentiment of the disciples. He spoke still apparently rejecting her entreaties according to the unfeeling prejudice of the Jews against lavishing the blessings brought to favored Israel upon strangers and aliens from Israel.
Beneath His words repeating Jewish prejudice about giving the children's bread to dogs she saw compassion He could not hide and seized her opportunity. She answered, Yes, Lord, yet claimed the children's crumbs for the dogs under the table. By accepting the low place as a dog she thankfully took what falls from the master's hand and claimed a dog's right to crumbs from an abundantly supplied table. While Israel as the children of the household feasted richly at the Father's table, even strangers and aliens were not left unfed. She accepted that she had no claim to the blessings given to Israel, while trusting that Jesus could grant her a crumb of blessing from His bounty without taking away from God's people, as dogs under the table eat crumbs that fall from the family's plentiful meal.
For this saying Jesus told her to go her way, that the devil was gone out of her daughter, and granted her request with pity and love. When she came to her house she found the devil gone out and the daughter laid upon the bed. From that hour her daughter became whole and the demon troubled her no more. He cast out the devil by His word alone, showing His power and mercy over evil spirits. The demons He meets are intelligent entities whom He addresses directly, commanding them to come out of the victim and torment him no more, and they obey His authority and power.
Faith Tested and Rewarded
Her answer yielded at once to the divine influence of Christ with implicit, unhindered, meek faith and certainty of relief. In contrast stood the scribes and Pharisees, who murmured and complained in unbelief and bitterness, refused the salvation freely offered them, and sought to take His life after He departed from Jerusalem. She let no national or religious prejudice or pride shape her course, but immediately and unconditionally acknowledged Jesus as Redeemer able to do all she asked. In this she showed a higher appreciation of His benevolence and power than most of God's favored people had.
She humbly confessed she had no claim on Jesus' favor or on the blessings given to Israel, yet trusted His mercy was abundant enough to help her. She was willing to be regarded as a dog if she might receive help, accepting a place outside Israel like dogs under the table that thankfully take whatever falls from their master's hand. Her faith was thus free from national or religious pride while she pleaded for one crumb from His bounty for her need, though God's people feasted on rich and bountiful gifts.
Jesus' apparent indifference, delay, and rejection severely tested her sincerity. That repulse would have utterly discouraged a less earnest seeker, and many would have given up all further effort and gone away feeling humiliated and abused beyond all patience. She refused offense and did the opposite, and with earnest, humble supplication kept following and pleading with increased earnestness for only the help represented by the crumbs that fall from the children's table. Her reply proved her confidence under testing and made her faith, determination, perseverance, and great faith manifest. It satisfied Jesus, so He granted the help she asked with pity and love and commended her great faith, and she departed acknowledging her Saviour, happy in the granting of her prayer, with her daughter from that hour whole and troubled no more.
The episode teaches that persevering prayer is not neglected, and that Christ may use a trial to reveal and strengthen faith before answering. Those who keep bringing their needs to Christ in faith are heard. Even the weakest, most struggling soul may find hope and sufficiency in God.
Mercy Beyond Israel
This was the only miracle of that journey to the coast of Tyre and Sidon, drawn there by her faith and performed on purpose to relieve the afflicted woman. It was left at the same time as an example of mercy toward one of a despised people for the benefit of the disciples when Jesus would no longer be with them. The whole account stands as an example of the work they should do and of His way of working.
Through the encounter Jesus tested her faith and sincerity and taught the disciples to turn from Jewish exclusiveness and to work for people beyond their own nation. The woman's persistence exposed the disciples' lack of sympathy and Jewish prejudice against Canaanites. His reception of her and His later healing of her daughter showed the compassion with which they were to treat people in distress, rather than copying the coldness and prejudice of the Jews.
That lesson led them to be interested in working for others besides their own people and opened their minds more fully to labor among the Gentiles. It directed their labors afterward, when the Jews turned still more persistently from them for declaring Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, and when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by the death of Christ, as a gospel work unrestricted by custom or nationality. It showed that people whom many considered unworthy of salvation could hunger for the light of truth, that salvation is for all mankind, and that God's kingdom has no territorial or social divisions, so that Christ's followers must carry the message of His love to every nation.
His statement about being sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel rebuked that prejudice and means He came to save all who accept Him. Every seeking believer ready to believe, even a despised Gentile, belongs to the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold, regardless of background. The Jews' privileges and knowledge of Scripture were meant to make them a blessing to other nations, not a reason for superiority, but pride led them to exclude and neglect those around them, making God's blessings a responsibility to care for others.
The encounter is an instance of Christ's direct work and ministry beyond acknowledged Israel and beyond the acknowledged people of Israel. She accepted that His work was first directed to Israel while appealing for its benefits to reach Gentiles too, with Gentiles recognized as children of God. Her conversion anticipated the gathering of Gentiles into God's church and was a sign of the work that would continue among the Gentiles, as an effort to lead the Jews away from exclusiveness.
It shows Christ's great love for suffering humanity in answering the earnest, humble supplication of the afflicted Syrophoenician mother by healing her daughter. It rebukes selfishness and neglect of the unfortunate, the blind, the lame and afflicted, the widow and the fatherless. It calls for greater missionary effort right at home in families and neighborhoods in caring for the afflicted, the suffering, and the discouraged.