SUMMARY
Jesus crosses into territory beyond Israel and finds there a Canaanite woman who pleads for him to have mercy. In response to her great faith, JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. heals her daughter who is possessed by a demon.
ANALYSIS
Once again Matthew’s Jesus “withdraws” (see 14:13; this is a favorite Matthean motif) and enters a situation in which the issue of faith is central. While taking over this healing story from Mark (Mark 7:24-30), Matthew once again has completely transformed it into a story of remarkable faith in an unexpected place. Identified as a foreigner, this Canaanite woman nevertheless has all the appropriate language of a true Israelite, pleading incessantly for God’s “mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God's mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments.” and addressing Jesus as “Lord” and “Son of David.” Jesus, however, seems somewhat out of character. He will not even respond to her. Instead, when the disciples (who do not even appear in Mark’s narrative) call repeatedly for Jesus to get rid of her, he disturbingly seems to join them in a statement about his being “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (15:24). When she is not to be put off and once again persists in addressing Jesus as “Lord,” he seems to reject her again with a comment about not throwing to the dogs what belongs to the children. The resulting picture of Jesus and his response is so troubling that many interpreters seek to soften the clear and direct impact of its rejection and thus also the impact of the woman’s faith that occasions Jesus’ healing, according to Matthew’s narrative.
The woman is not to be put off and persists in seeking the Lord’s help, even if it is only to be the crumbs that fallThe Fall refers specifically to the disobedience of Adam and Eve when they listened to Satan rather than adhering to God's command not to eat the fruit from the tree. When people act contrary to God's will, they are said to fall from from grace... from the “masters’ table.” Mathew’s Jesus elsewhere three times chastises the “little faith” of the disciples (see 8:26; 14:31; 16:8), but here, in the only occurrence in the whole New Testament, Jesus praises the “great faith” of this woman and commands that her plea be granted. It is no sooner spoken than it is done. The woman’s daughter is healed instantly (Mark’s narrative delays the discovery until the woman returns home; see Mark 7:30). As if in further response to this great faith, Jesus breaks out in healings that amaze the crowds and call forth the praise of God (15:29-31). The picture thus contrasts the lack of Jesus’ power to do miracles that accompanied the unbelief in Nazareth with which this section of stories began (13:58). And finally, it seems hardly accidental, when Jesus now invites his disciples to join him in compassion for the crowds in another miraculous feeding story (15:32-39) that balances the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand that began this section (14:13-21).
