What does it mean Mat 15:26?
Mat 15:26 -> “Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.”.
Why Jesus said this to the woman?
To figure out this, we need to analyze the other verses of the Holy Scripture.
Mat 15:21 -> “And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.”.
Mar 7:24 -> “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.”.
After the conflict with the Pharisees, Jesus desired to depart from the Galilee to Tyre and Sidon. Considering that He didn’t want anyone to know, certainly He longed for having intimacy with His disciples.
But He couldn’t hide because a woman cried for her daughter:
Mat 15:22 -> “And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”.
Mar 7:26 -> “Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.”.
This woman was born in a region that belonged to Syria and Phoenicia (gentile, that is to say, heathen), which were part of the Canaan that wasn’t conquered by the sons of Israel (in particular, by Asher).
Matthew, writing specially to the Israelites, made a point of emphasizing that the woman belonged to the strangers that were neighbors to the Israelites, being a shame for them who didn’t believe (even more considering that Canaan was the region which people were cursed by the Creator for their heinous cult to cruel gods).
This woman cry “O Lord, Son of David”. Probably, this woman cried like this because many people were blessed when they called Jesus like this:
Mat 9:27 -> “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”.
This expression was used by Israelites to make reference to the Messiah:
Mat 12:23 -> “And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?””.
So, how could this woman refer to Jesus as Messiah if, at first, He came to the Israelites? This was countersense. Hence Jesus ignored her at first:
Mat 15:23 -> “But he did not answer her a word...”.
She believed that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel, but she needed to figure out what this meant (that is to say: first the Israelites; next, the non-Israelites – Rom 1:16). And the disciples too:
Mat 15:23 -> “... And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.””.
The disciples were upset in virtue of the disturbing and wished to get free of the perturbation in a jiffy. Jesus shew the disciples that she, although considered someone thoroughly unworthy of something good (in virtue of belonging to a nation condemned to death to the Creator in the past), for her faith, she was considered a lost sheep of Israel (see Rom 2:25-29).
Mat 15:24 -> “He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.””.
And note that Jesus’ mission was directed to the lost sheep of Israel. He wasn’t sent to reward the righteous, but to redeem the criminals (everyone is sinner and, for this, someone guilty of death – Rom 6:23).
But, what did mean when He said this? It is good to recall what the prophets said:
Isa 49:6 -> “he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”.
Isa 60:3 -> “And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”.
Isa 2:3 -> “and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”.
Jer 4:2 -> “and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”.
Psa 86:9 -> “All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.”.
Note that Jesus would be light to all nations. And He said that many people would partake of the table of the Creator coming from all around the world:
Mat 8:11-12 -> “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”.
Luk 13:29 -> “And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.”
Furthermore, it was in the middle of the gentiles that Jesus found the greatest faith (as we can see here and below):
Mat 8:10 -> “When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
Not to mention the conversion of the Samaritans in (John 4). So, note the success of Jesus’ ministry amidst the non-Israelites.
Nonetheless, He enjoined His disciples “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mat 10:5,6 – like here).
Why? Very soon you will figure out this.
When Jesus said this, He was just coming in to the house of someone:
Mar 7:24 -> “... And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.”.
Then, the woman reached Him:
Mat 15:25 -> “But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.””.
Mar 7:25 -> “But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.”.
Observe that, now, she referred to Him as her Lord (He wasn’t only Lord of the generation of David, but her Lord too). However, she still needed to comprehend what meant the first title that she gave to Jesus (son of David). Hence, He said:
Mat 15:26 -> “And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.””.
Mar 7:27 -> “And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.””.
It is curious that this history follows immediately to Jesus’ criticism against the Pharisees in virtue of them making a point in condemning Him and His disciples for overlooking the external ritual about what is pure and impure (see Acts 10:10-15). Jesus said that what defiles the man is what comes out of his interior.
Now, nevertheless, Jesus seems to drive away the woman for her nationality. Nevertheless, it is the opposite. Jesus was trying to induce her to find her way in His plan (instead of discuss with Jesus and trying to convince Him of His “mistake”, she recognized the perfection of His plan and have sufficient faith to find her place in Jesus’ mission).
So, she didn’t stop to fight against prejudice, alleging that anybody is especial (regardless their race, color of skin or nationality) and worthy of respect and attention. Instead, her necessity stirred her up to encroach the barrier between Israelites and non-Israelites (especially because both need Jesus equally).
As Son of David, Jesus should grace first the Israelites and, only after they reject Him the salvation would be opened to the non-Israelites too. The only way for her to be blessed is through the faith. After all, the faith came before the law:
Rom 4:9-11 -> “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,”.
Following the law and prophets, only after Jesus’ death she could be blessed. However, by faith, the grace was available even before the foundation of the world (1Peter 1:20).
And she gave room for her faith to increase in Jesus:
Mat 15:27 -> “She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”
Mar 7:28 -> “But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.””.
Note that she recognized the children of Israel as her masters in faith, that is to say, she accepted to renounce all their gods and followed the true salvation that comes from Israel (John 4:22). Although, in our dispensation, the Creator uses Jesus’ Church, all her members are, by the faith in Christ, lost sheep of the house of Abraham (Isaac and Israel):
Gal 3:29 -> “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”.
And her statement of faith in this was so powerful that the demon was obliged to leave her daughter immediately:
Mat 15:28 -> “Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” ...”.
Mar 7:29 -> “And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.””.
And, when she went to her house, she found her daughter in perfect health:
Mat 15:28 -> “… And her daughter was healed instantly.”.
Mar 7:30 -> “And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.”.
One point to be observed is that If Jesus healed her daughter immediately, she would spread the news as did the leper (Mark 1:40-45) and, as shown in the outset, He did not want anyone to know.
Note, too, that the woman asked Jesus “Have mercy on me” and not “have mercy on my daughter” (Mat 15:22). Alike, when we go to help someone, we need to have compassion, that is to say, the problem of the person needs to be our problem too.
Finally, note that, in Matthew, this excerpt is between the two multiplication of breads. And recall that, in both passages, the disciples gathered basket full of the sufficient crumbs to nurture “little dogs” after the “children” got sated.
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