Matthew 15:21–28
Jesus healed the daughter of a non- Jew. This shows that salvation is for all people.
This was a most important story. In Matthew 15:1–20, the Jews tried to prove that Jesus was wrong. Jesus showed them that they were not really God’s children. They were going to hell. Here, Jesus welcomed a non- Jewish woman. The Jews would think that this was very bad. To them, she was ‘dirty’. She belonged to a group called Canaanites. They were non- Jews (Gentiles). But they lived in Israel.
There was a wonderful miracle. But Matthew thought that something else was more important here. It was the way that Jesus dealt with the woman. She had a desperate need. So she came to Jesus. She knew that he could help her. She knew too that nobody else could help her. She even seemed to have some understanding of who he really was. She called him the ‘Son of David’. (Read the notes about Matthew 12:22–37.)
Note the contrast here. The Jewish leaders had the OT. They should have known that they needed the Messiah. They should have recognised him when he came. Instead, they did not know that they needed anything. They were unable to recognise Jesus. They just argued with him. This woman did not have the advantages that the Jews had. But she knew her need. She knew, too, that only Jesus could help her.
Matthew 15:23–26 seem to be strange at first. Jesus seemed to be saying that the woman was asking for too much. He seemed to tell her that he only came to help the Jews. Maybe this explained the disciples’ unkind attitude in Matthew 15:23. They were thinking like the religious leaders thought. They thought that Jews had a special claim on God. But Jesus certainly did not believe this.
There are two ways to understand this passage. The disciples may be saying: ‘Send her away. Do not do anything for her.’ If so, Jesus would be copying the disciples’ own thoughts. (Read Matthew 15:24-26.) But the woman had real faith (Matthew 15:28). She showed that she belonged to the real people of God (Matthew 15:24). It did not matter that she was a non- Jew (Gentile). Then Jesus healed the woman’s daughter. In the NT, to get better was often a sign of salvation. So his words and his action told her that God received her.
Or the disciples may have been saying: ‘Send her away. Give her what she wants.’ Jesus replied that, at present, his work was for the Jews first. But he still encouraged the woman’s faith. She proved that she did have real faith.
Questions
- Are there any groups of people whom you think may be beyond Jesus’ help? What hope is there for them?
- Are there people who are foreigners in your area? (Their culture is different from yours too.) They are like the woman in this story. Is there anything that you could do to help them?
- Should we still think that the salvation of Jews is the most important thing? Is this what Jesus would want?
