To the Jew First, and Also to the Greek

Read Matthew 15:21-39

      The Apostle Paul once expressed hope that his ministry to Gentiles would “make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them” (Romans 11:14).  Something like that is what’s going on in today’s passages in Matthew. 

      On the heels of a hostile confrontation with Jewish religious leaders, Jesus “withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon” (15:21), Gentile territory near the Mediterranean coast.  There a Canaanite woman, a descendant of Israel’s ancient enemies, cries out for mercy from the “Son of David” (15:22).

      If Jesus initially ignoring this woman is troubling to modern readers, his comparison to Gentiles as “dogs” (15:26) is downright shocking.  Matthew’s original Jewish target audience, however, would be neither troubled nor shocked, unless at the woman’s willing concession that salvation is of and for the Jews, and her continued plea on the basis of Messiah’s mercy alone.  And Jesus, for his part, not only grants this Gentile woman’s request, but compliments the greatness of her faith. 

      Jesus is “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), but he came to us through the people of Abraham, through whom God promised to bless “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).  Thank God for his deep mercy and wide grace that honors and rewards faith in whomever he finds it.