But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
He was at that time sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, and His personal work was confined to them while He prepared His disciples for a wider mission that had not yet come. That restriction was not a final refusal to save those outside Israel, for all who sought Him in faith belonged among the sheep He came to gather. He spoke in the cold manner Jews used toward a despised Canaanite to test her confidence, reveal her faith, and rebuke in His disciples the heartless prejudice they shared. By helping her on that journey to Tyre and Sidon He showed that salvation was not confined to Israel and left a pattern of mercy to lead His followers away from exclusiveness toward labor among the Gentiles unrestricted by custom or nationality. Her perseverance obtained the answer she sought, standing as proof that no soul who asks in faith will be left to perish.
Encounter Setting and Background
Jesus had left His field of labor around Jerusalem and Galilee because the scribes and Pharisees were seeking His life, murmuring in unbelief and bitterness and refusing the salvation so freely offered them. He had offended them by exposing the hollowness of their piety and the unscripturalness of their teachings, and He withdrew to avoid an outbreak of hostility. He sought the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida.
He went across Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phenicia overlooking Tyre and Sidon. There He entered into a house where He would have no man know it, seeking seclusion without proclaiming His own merits or entering into controversy or strife. He could not be hid because His Godlike character, wise gracious words, and deeds of mercy revealed a power far above priests and rulers, speaking to hearts and minds.
There He met a Canaanitish Syrophoenician woman from those borders, belonging to the old Canaanite race of that district. She was of an unfortunate and despised people, regarded as idolaters and heathen, hated by the Jews, not favored with the light of God's word, and excluded from the advantages the Jews daily enjoyed. Jews had no dealings with Canaanites and would refuse even to speak to them. Tidings of His work had penetrated to that region through Jews living among the Phenicians and through people who had listened to His words and witnessed His wonderful works of healing all manner of diseases for rich or poor, so hope sprang up in her heart. Though she knew Jews rejected dealings with Canaanites, she resolved in complete and perfect faith to appeal to Him as her only hope. Inspired by a mother's love she determined with resolute purpose to present her daughter, grievously vexed with a devil, to Him as the one who must heal her child, after she had sought help from heathen gods and obtained no relief. Having no national or religious prejudice or pride, she immediately acknowledged Him as Redeemer able to do all she asked, even willing to be regarded as a dog to have the privilege of a dog begging for crumbs from the master's table.
The episode is part of an encounter with a foreign woman in which barriers between Jews and foreigners are broken down. Her trust refreshed Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon. This stands in contrast with the welcome of the Gentile people in Decapolis and the contemptuous unbelief He met in Galilee.
Meaning of Sent to Israel
At that time He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, and His personal field of labor was confined to them. The time for carrying the gospel across the Mediterranean to the Gentile centers of the empire had not yet come. His present work was to prepare His disciples for that future mission. Yet people of other nations still came to Him for healing and for help for relatives and friends, representing the great human family who did not know God or the truth but felt a soul-longing for something they did not have, and He received all who came, taught them the word of truth until they were deeply impressed, spoke hope to weary unsatisfied souls, and healed their infirmities, thereby setting an example to be practiced from one end of the world to another in speaking and acting for humanity at large.
Israel was the people entrusted with God's word and specially blessed so that they could bless others. His work for the Canaanite woman fulfilled that commission because she was one of the lost sheep that Israel should have rescued. In helping her He was doing Israel's appointed work which they had neglected. That encounter was also meant to lead beyond Jewish exclusiveness toward a gospel work unrestricted by custom or nationality, a lesson that after the barrier between Jew and Gentile was broken down helped guide His followers to people of every nation.
The mission to Israel was not a refusal to save people outside Israel nor a final exclusion. The lost sheep included everyone who sought Him and was ready to believe when He was revealed. Whoever would accept Him and sought Him in faith belonged among the sheep He came to gather. His answer echoed Jewish prejudice and the cold treatment Jews would have given a Canaanite, and by acting it out He indirectly rebuked lack of mercy and taught not to imitate prejudice but to respond compassionately to people in distress.
Among Israel He sought out the lost and needy, especially the weak, faulty, and unfortunate. He did not limit His visits and work to people who were intelligent or less flawed but sought the company of those who needed help. The focus on Israel does not excuse excluding other nations. Pride and self-sufficiency led Israel to forget its purpose to bless others and to build a wall between itself and surrounding nations. The Jewish leaders despite advantages and responsible positions failed to understand the true import of Scripture and the principles of pure religion and neglected those in darkness around them.
Testing Faith Rebuking Prejudice
His reply sounded like Jewish prejudice, giving this representative of a despised race the cold, seemingly indifferent treatment a Canaanite would have received from Jews when the disciples urged Him to send her away. For a short time He acted out the ideas and sentiments controlling many who were then following Him, the feelings prompting the disciples, and the manner the Pharisees taught the people to act toward the heathen. He did this to hold up before the disciples how cold and heartless the Jewish way of treating such need was, and how compassionate the way He wanted them to deal with such distress. That echo of prejudice was an indirect and implied rebuke for their lack of mercy and for supposing that prejudice pleased Him, teaching them not to imitate prejudice but to respond compassionately to people in distress.
His words of restriction and neglect and repulsion, His initially cold reception and apparent delay, did not mean He lacked divine compassion and pitying tenderness, had not heard her prayer, or meant finally to exclude her. He longed to give immediate assurance that her prayer was heard and her request fulfilled, for He knew her heart and the pressing sorrow on her soul and her persistent determination not to be driven away until her request was granted. He used the delay to test her confidence and to reveal her faith. She yielded at once to divine influence with implicit faith in His ability, unconditionally acknowledging Him as Redeemer able to do all she asked, with no national or religious prejudice or pride. Her perseverance obtained the answer and His commendation of her great faith, and with pity and love He healed her demon-troubled daughter, a lesson the disciples never forgot. They later understood the answer as a reminder of what He had often told them, that He came to the world to save everyone who would accept Him.
Opening Gospel to Gentiles
Even while defining His mission as to the lost sheep of Israel, He deliberately went into the coast of Tyre and Sidon to minister to the afflicted Gentile woman. That healing was the only miracle He performed on that journey. It was done both to relieve her and to leave His disciples a pattern of mercy toward a despised people for use after He was gone.
The encounter was already direct work among people outside Israel. It more plainly revealed that salvation and His compassion and saving help were not limited to Jews or confined to Israel. The Syrophoenician woman's conversion showed that people others considered unworthy and outside the acknowledged people of God could hunger for the truth given to Israel, long for help, and receive His help.
By this act of mercy He meant to lead them away from Jewish exclusiveness to be interested in working for others besides their own people. He meant to open their minds more fully to the labor before them among the Gentiles. He taught them to leave behind exclusiveness and to carry on a gospel mission unrestricted by custom, nationality, or territorial and social barriers.
The lesson pointed from Jewish exclusiveness toward continued preaching and active spread of the gospel among Gentiles and the later gathering of Gentiles into God's church. After the Jews turned more persistently away for declaring Him Saviour of the world and the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by His death, this lesson pointing to a work unrestricted by custom or nationality directed their labors. It helped guide His followers to people of every nation, with no territorial or social barriers remaining.
People of other nations still came to Him for healing and for help for relatives and friends. These seekers represented the great human family who did not know God or the truth but felt a soul-longing for something they did not have. He received all who came, taught them the word of truth until deeply impressed, spoke hope to weary unsatisfied souls, and healed infirmities. In doing this He was setting an example to be practiced from one end of the world to another in speaking and acting for humanity at large.
Call to Prayer and Ministry
The encounter stands on record to show what happens when need is pressed upon the Hearer of prayer with perseverance that will not be driven away. The apparent delay did not mean compassion was lacking or prayer unheard, but allowed faith to be revealed while Christ sustained the praying one and then rewarded the faith He had inspired. No soul who asks in faith for His help will be left to perish, but even the weakest and most struggling soul may live and find hope and sufficiency in God. When He comes into storm and darkness, midnight becomes as bright as noonday, and faith that recognizes Him and rests implicitly on the promises finds peace and rest.
He made that journey to relieve the anxious heart of a suffering mother, proving He is moved by a mother's distress and sorrow. He hears the prayers of afflicted mothers and blesses their children, giving comfort and help in every grief and need today. As the great Medical Missionary whose whole life represents God, He heeded the urgent appeal and healed the demon-troubled, sick child by His touch and word in answer to earnest, humble plea. He notices the humble suppliant, welcomes the request, comes near and responds to faith, and no frown or opposition turns the needy away, revealing His great love for suffering people. His wise gracious words and deeds of mercy there revealed a power far above priests and rulers.
Being sent to the lost sheep requires leaving those already visited even when urged to stay in their homes, to go on to other lands to seek other scattered souls. That going is at the cost of hardship, imprisonment, and death, leaving truth already spoken to work in hearts until the Judgment. The messenger's work among scattered believers continues that same mission in humility, sincerity, and fervor, with words that keep bearing fruit after he has gone.
He was at that time sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, and His personal work was confined to them while He prepared His disciples for a wider mission that had not yet come. That restriction was not a final refusal to save those outside Israel, for all who sought Him in faith belonged among the sheep He came to gather. He spoke in the cold manner Jews used toward a despised Canaanite to test her confidence, reveal her faith, and rebuke in His disciples the heartless prejudice they shared. By helping her on that journey to Tyre and Sidon He showed that salvation was not confined to Israel and left a pattern of mercy to lead His followers away from exclusiveness toward labor among the Gentiles unrestricted by custom or nationality. Her perseverance obtained the answer she sought, standing as proof that no soul who asks in faith will be left to perish.
Encounter Setting and Background
Jesus had left His field of labor around Jerusalem and Galilee because the scribes and Pharisees were seeking His life, murmuring in unbelief and bitterness and refusing the salvation so freely offered them. He had offended them by exposing the hollowness of their piety and the unscripturalness of their teachings, and He withdrew to avoid an outbreak of hostility. He sought the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida.
He went across Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phenicia overlooking Tyre and Sidon. There He entered into a house where He would have no man know it, seeking seclusion without proclaiming His own merits or entering into controversy or strife. He could not be hid because His Godlike character, wise gracious words, and deeds of mercy revealed a power far above priests and rulers, speaking to hearts and minds.
There He met a Canaanitish Syrophoenician woman from those borders, belonging to the old Canaanite race of that district. She was of an unfortunate and despised people, regarded as idolaters and heathen, hated by the Jews, not favored with the light of God's word, and excluded from the advantages the Jews daily enjoyed. Jews had no dealings with Canaanites and would refuse even to speak to them. Tidings of His work had penetrated to that region through Jews living among the Phenicians and through people who had listened to His words and witnessed His wonderful works of healing all manner of diseases for rich or poor, so hope sprang up in her heart. Though she knew Jews rejected dealings with Canaanites, she resolved in complete and perfect faith to appeal to Him as her only hope. Inspired by a mother's love she determined with resolute purpose to present her daughter, grievously vexed with a devil, to Him as the one who must heal her child, after she had sought help from heathen gods and obtained no relief. Having no national or religious prejudice or pride, she immediately acknowledged Him as Redeemer able to do all she asked, even willing to be regarded as a dog to have the privilege of a dog begging for crumbs from the master's table.
The episode is part of an encounter with a foreign woman in which barriers between Jews and foreigners are broken down. Her trust refreshed Jesus in the region of Tyre and Sidon. This stands in contrast with the welcome of the Gentile people in Decapolis and the contemptuous unbelief He met in Galilee.
Meaning of Sent to Israel
At that time He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, and His personal field of labor was confined to them. The time for carrying the gospel across the Mediterranean to the Gentile centers of the empire had not yet come. His present work was to prepare His disciples for that future mission. Yet people of other nations still came to Him for healing and for help for relatives and friends, representing the great human family who did not know God or the truth but felt a soul-longing for something they did not have, and He received all who came, taught them the word of truth until they were deeply impressed, spoke hope to weary unsatisfied souls, and healed their infirmities, thereby setting an example to be practiced from one end of the world to another in speaking and acting for humanity at large.
Israel was the people entrusted with God's word and specially blessed so that they could bless others. His work for the Canaanite woman fulfilled that commission because she was one of the lost sheep that Israel should have rescued. In helping her He was doing Israel's appointed work which they had neglected. That encounter was also meant to lead beyond Jewish exclusiveness toward a gospel work unrestricted by custom or nationality, a lesson that after the barrier between Jew and Gentile was broken down helped guide His followers to people of every nation.
The mission to Israel was not a refusal to save people outside Israel nor a final exclusion. The lost sheep included everyone who sought Him and was ready to believe when He was revealed. Whoever would accept Him and sought Him in faith belonged among the sheep He came to gather. His answer echoed Jewish prejudice and the cold treatment Jews would have given a Canaanite, and by acting it out He indirectly rebuked lack of mercy and taught not to imitate prejudice but to respond compassionately to people in distress.
Among Israel He sought out the lost and needy, especially the weak, faulty, and unfortunate. He did not limit His visits and work to people who were intelligent or less flawed but sought the company of those who needed help. The focus on Israel does not excuse excluding other nations. Pride and self-sufficiency led Israel to forget its purpose to bless others and to build a wall between itself and surrounding nations. The Jewish leaders despite advantages and responsible positions failed to understand the true import of Scripture and the principles of pure religion and neglected those in darkness around them.
Testing Faith Rebuking Prejudice
His reply sounded like Jewish prejudice, giving this representative of a despised race the cold, seemingly indifferent treatment a Canaanite would have received from Jews when the disciples urged Him to send her away. For a short time He acted out the ideas and sentiments controlling many who were then following Him, the feelings prompting the disciples, and the manner the Pharisees taught the people to act toward the heathen. He did this to hold up before the disciples how cold and heartless the Jewish way of treating such need was, and how compassionate the way He wanted them to deal with such distress. That echo of prejudice was an indirect and implied rebuke for their lack of mercy and for supposing that prejudice pleased Him, teaching them not to imitate prejudice but to respond compassionately to people in distress.
His words of restriction and neglect and repulsion, His initially cold reception and apparent delay, did not mean He lacked divine compassion and pitying tenderness, had not heard her prayer, or meant finally to exclude her. He longed to give immediate assurance that her prayer was heard and her request fulfilled, for He knew her heart and the pressing sorrow on her soul and her persistent determination not to be driven away until her request was granted. He used the delay to test her confidence and to reveal her faith. She yielded at once to divine influence with implicit faith in His ability, unconditionally acknowledging Him as Redeemer able to do all she asked, with no national or religious prejudice or pride. Her perseverance obtained the answer and His commendation of her great faith, and with pity and love He healed her demon-troubled daughter, a lesson the disciples never forgot. They later understood the answer as a reminder of what He had often told them, that He came to the world to save everyone who would accept Him.
Opening Gospel to Gentiles
Even while defining His mission as to the lost sheep of Israel, He deliberately went into the coast of Tyre and Sidon to minister to the afflicted Gentile woman. That healing was the only miracle He performed on that journey. It was done both to relieve her and to leave His disciples a pattern of mercy toward a despised people for use after He was gone.
The encounter was already direct work among people outside Israel. It more plainly revealed that salvation and His compassion and saving help were not limited to Jews or confined to Israel. The Syrophoenician woman's conversion showed that people others considered unworthy and outside the acknowledged people of God could hunger for the truth given to Israel, long for help, and receive His help.
By this act of mercy He meant to lead them away from Jewish exclusiveness to be interested in working for others besides their own people. He meant to open their minds more fully to the labor before them among the Gentiles. He taught them to leave behind exclusiveness and to carry on a gospel mission unrestricted by custom, nationality, or territorial and social barriers.
The lesson pointed from Jewish exclusiveness toward continued preaching and active spread of the gospel among Gentiles and the later gathering of Gentiles into God's church. After the Jews turned more persistently away for declaring Him Saviour of the world and the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by His death, this lesson pointing to a work unrestricted by custom or nationality directed their labors. It helped guide His followers to people of every nation, with no territorial or social barriers remaining.
People of other nations still came to Him for healing and for help for relatives and friends. These seekers represented the great human family who did not know God or the truth but felt a soul-longing for something they did not have. He received all who came, taught them the word of truth until deeply impressed, spoke hope to weary unsatisfied souls, and healed infirmities. In doing this He was setting an example to be practiced from one end of the world to another in speaking and acting for humanity at large.
Call to Prayer and Ministry
The encounter stands on record to show what happens when need is pressed upon the Hearer of prayer with perseverance that will not be driven away. The apparent delay did not mean compassion was lacking or prayer unheard, but allowed faith to be revealed while Christ sustained the praying one and then rewarded the faith He had inspired. No soul who asks in faith for His help will be left to perish, but even the weakest and most struggling soul may live and find hope and sufficiency in God. When He comes into storm and darkness, midnight becomes as bright as noonday, and faith that recognizes Him and rests implicitly on the promises finds peace and rest.
He made that journey to relieve the anxious heart of a suffering mother, proving He is moved by a mother's distress and sorrow. He hears the prayers of afflicted mothers and blesses their children, giving comfort and help in every grief and need today. As the great Medical Missionary whose whole life represents God, He heeded the urgent appeal and healed the demon-troubled, sick child by His touch and word in answer to earnest, humble plea. He notices the humble suppliant, welcomes the request, comes near and responds to faith, and no frown or opposition turns the needy away, revealing His great love for suffering people. His wise gracious words and deeds of mercy there revealed a power far above priests and rulers.
Being sent to the lost sheep requires leaving those already visited even when urged to stay in their homes, to go on to other lands to seek other scattered souls. That going is at the cost of hardship, imprisonment, and death, leaving truth already spoken to work in hearts until the Judgment. The messenger's work among scattered believers continues that same mission in humility, sincerity, and fervor, with words that keep bearing fruit after he has gone.