48th Post Jesus Mission Con't - Matthew 15: 24

This passage is from Jesus encounter with a Canaanite woman (the whole story Matthew 15: 21 - 28). At first glance it looks like Jesus is very rude to this woman. This woman called Jesus "Son of David", and asked him to cure her daughter. The fact that the woman is called Canaanite, means that she was not a Jew, and maybe not even a believer. Jesus tells the woman that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Clearly this woman is not a Jew and outside the territory of Israel (district of Tyre and Sidon), so she was not one of the people Jesus said He was here to reach, but the lost sheep of Israel. She would not be put off and kept following Jesus. Jesus said to her "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Jesus was telling her that His Blessings were for the Jews only and not dogs. Dogs in the Bible are usually held in a negative light. So When Jesus likened her to dogs, it was not a compliment. This also did not deter her, for she responds with "Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." The woman turned the story around by putting the dogs under their masters' table. These dogs were pets and not wild dogs as Jesus had made them out to be. These dogs were not fed the bread directly, but fed on what was dropped by the children. The woman was saying to Jesus, you are here in our territory outside your land, and you are helping your own people, since you are here, You could help my daughter also. Jesus went through all this drama, not for her benefit, but for His disciples. He knew her heart, and wanted them to know it also. Jesus praised her for her faith and healed her daughter.