"O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire."
Matthew 15:28 NKJV
If you read the whole of this section, Matthew 15:21-28 & Mark 7:24-30, you will see how Jesus appears to speak quite harshly to this Gentile woman, who had come begging Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. The woman was actually a Syro-Phoenician, a Gentile from Syria. Jews referred to Gentiles as dogs. To the Jew 'dog' was a term of contempt. To the Gentile, 'dog' meant shameless and audacious.To a Jew, the term 'dog' was utter contempt for a Gentile.
The word 'dog' that the Jews used, referred to the wild and scavenging type. Jesus here, took the sting out of the word and instead of using it as an insult, he used the term known as 'household pets - lap dogs'. Jesus' words appear quite harsh but He would be overcoming the prejudice by using this kinder term so that He could draw out a confession of faith from her. In other words, he was testing her. His tone of voice would have determined how she received what He said too. It could have been said and received as an insult - as many people who have not studied this piece deeply, have felt. Or it could have been said and received as an affectionate address. My understanding is that it was the latter. Jesus could never be accused of being so rude to anyone who came for help. We therefore, need to be careful how we speak to people. At times, what we say can be received as harsh although it probably wasn't intended this way. It is a thought that we need to ponder.
There was a metaphor used here; in Mark 7:27 Jesus said, 'Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.' He actually said to let the children be fed first because there will be food left over for the household pets (Little dogs). Israel had the first offer of the gospel, but only the first, there were others to come - the Gentiles.
In those days, knives, forks and napkins didn't exist; people ate with the hands and then wiped the excess from this on chunks of bread and threw it under the table for their pets. The woman said that she knew this and asked if she could have the scraps the children threw away. Jesus loved this statement and her daughter was delivered that day. He saw her simple, yet determined faith and His heart melted the way it does when He sees you as well.
This woman was tested to the hilt. She didn't back down; she knew what she wanted, in fact needed, and she went for it. He faith and determination set her daughter free that day and she found her newly found faith to be real.
Copyriight 2020 Grahame Howard
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