Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table

 

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

- Matthew 15:21-28 

 

Yesterday we read that the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."  He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?  For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" -- 'then he need not honor his father or mother.'  Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.  Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, "Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:  'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."  Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"  But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."  So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat  with unwashed hands does not defile a man."  

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  In yesterday's reading (see above), we read that the scribes and Pharisees had come from Jerusalem, and began to criticize and question Christ regarding His disciples.  Here He has gone to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, a coastal area west and north of Galilee.  He has gone here not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees.  In Mark's Gospel, we read that Christ "wanted no one to know" He was there (Mark 7:24).

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  My study Bible comments here that this woman shows immeasurable love, in that she so identifies with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries to Jesus, "Have mercy on me."  This indicates that she sees her daughter's well-being as her own, and her daughter's sufferings as her own.

But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  My study Bible explains that Christ refuses to answer, not only because this woman is a Gentile, and, as He tells her, His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews.  But by refusing initially, He also reveals this woman's profound faith and love.  Several commentaries in patristic literature view the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter, as if the disciples are saying, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response seems to tell us this interpretation is proper, because He again refuses to heal her daughter.  

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.   My study Bible notes that, as Christ has now evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, here He reveals her humility.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  It says that Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman -- both to the disciples and for her own sake.  My study Bible further notes that this woman's ultimate acceptance by Christ points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as dogs ("outside" creatures), but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  

I'm always struck by the word-play in this passage.  My study Bible notes for us on today's reading that it reveals the Jewish orientation of St. Matthew's Gospel.  As noted above, this story also appears in St. Mark's Gospel, but with two important differences.  First, Matthew writes of Christ's words regarding being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel while Mark doesn't; and second, St. Matthew reports this woman using the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, while Mark does not.  In this context, Jesus tells the woman (after refusing her a couple of times, and noting He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel), "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  Little dogs can be understood in various ways, one of which is potentially a deep insult.  But, we hesitate to note, "little dogs" means house dogs, puppies -- not the outside dogs so scorned in Middle Eastern cultures.  In that sense we can understand a kind of allusion to little puppies begging under the table while children eat their food, in the same way this woman is repeatedly and insistently begging for healing for her daughter!  (Anyone who knows what begging puppies under the table are like can understand this undeniable persistence!)  But this woman's persistence, alacrity, humility, and wit all play into the good graces of Jesus, and He praises her for her reply to Him.  She receives His rebukes not just with patience and persistence but even good humor, and gives Him a good response with an intelligence that shows she has grasped everything He told her, but is also figuring for herself how she can remain persistent for what she sees He offers as hope.  And this must be a model for us of what a good prayer is like, for all of this together is an attitude and response that is pleasing to our Lord.  When we have setbacks, and God seems to refuse us something we desire and feel we need, we could take a good page from this woman's book and consider where our humility, persistence, and intelligent reply might come into it.  It seems that the Gospels teach us that Jesus does not want merely obedient sheep, but also intelligent sheep capable of discerning for themselves and responding with faith.  For in this way our faith is made even stronger.  There is a similar example by St. Paul.  He writes, "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  We don't know what his "thorn in the flesh" was exactly, but we see, like the woman, he has pleaded with the Lord three times about it.  The response he finally received was not what he desired, but his own wit, discernment, persistence, and humility has brought him to an illumined perspective and a deeper faith.  So it is also with this woman.  Let us consider our own seeming setbacks, when God seems to give us refusal or silence.  Let us think about how these qualities are those Christ desires, and how our own response and perception may be all the better for adapting them ourselves.