25 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
Not being put off by Jesus’ silence, the woman continues pleading her case. To this the Lord answers tersely—which appears even more stern when understood within the context of Middle Eastern culture. Calling another person a dog was an insult of unparalleled magnitude. Jesus essentially told her that if He were to grant her request, that would be tantamount to throwing food from a child’s plate and giving it to the dogs—an unheard of thing. The woman didn’t miss a beat in responding to Him—even if she were like a dog, at least dogs eat the stuff that falls off the table. Likewise, she intimates, that although she doesn’t deserve anything from this Jewish healer, she could at least benefit from the blessings falling off the Jewish plate.
The insight here goes deeper than that which the woman perceives. In fact the Jews were more like children who didn’t want the food on the table and in effect were pushing it off the table, the food in this case being the blessings of the Kingdom. There was plenty for the Gentiles, because of the Jews’ growing rejection of Christ. This episode shows that when the Jews did not respond to God’s blessing and plan, then God made forays outside of Israel to bring blessing to the Gentile world. In fact later upon Christ’s death and resurrection and the Jews’ continued rejection, God turned from the Jews and began dealing directly with Gentiles apart from the Jewish nation. The promise to Abraham, though, still remains intact, for it was to the Jews first that the gospel had come, it was through the Jews that Jesus had come, and it was through this Jewish descendant of Abraham, that God would bless the whole world. Our story here of the Gentile woman is a preview of that very thing.
Jesus commends the woman’s faith! She believed Jesus could do it; the only question was whether He would be willing to do it. Her only hope was to be found in this Jewish teacher. As a Gentile that is all she had. And it was good enough—her child was healed of demon possession. Another Gentile showed similar faith and was also praised by Jesus, the centurion whose young servant was dying (Matt 8:10). That is the kind of faith God is still looking for today.
Lord, I make no claims on You as though I deserve anything. I stand in Your grace and mercy, which is my only hope. I trust You.
I have searched for some time as to the true meaning of these verses and today I am wiser for it. Thank you so much.