Jesus Heals a Canaanite Woman's Daughter

Jesus withdraws to the district of Tyre and Sidon where He encounters a Canaanite woman asking for deliverance for her daughter. After an exchange of words, Jesus comments on the woman's great faith and heals her daughter.

Arc

editing

Matthew 15:21-28

nasb

a Jesus went away

from there,

locative

and withdrew

into the district of b Tyre and b Sidon.

series

And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying,

“Have mercy on me, Lord, a Son of David;

my daughter is cruelly b demon-possessed.”

ground

ideaexplanation

But He did not answer her a word.

situationresponse

And His disciples came and implored Him, saying,

“Send her away,

because she keeps shouting 1 at us.”

But He answered and said,

“I was sent only to a the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But she came and a began 1 to bow down before Him, saying,

“Lord, help me!”

And He answered and said,

“It is not 1 good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

But she said,

“Yes, Lord;

1 but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

concessive

Then Jesus said to her,

“O woman, a your faith is great;

it shall be done for you as you wish.”

inference

And her daughter was healed 1 at once.

actionresult

progression

In the article A Man for all Peoples in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement , Third Edition, Don Richardson provides an interesting interpretation of this event. He states that Jesus was using the situation to teach the disciples about "clean" and "unclean" and that through non-verbal communication (e.g., a twinkle in His eye) He signaled to the Canaanite woman to persevere.

"Insensitivity"

"Inconsistency"

"Cruelty"

"Fickleness"

discourse

Phrase

Matthew 15:21-28

Setting

Jesus went away from there, and withdrew

into the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Request for Help - No Answer!

And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying,

“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David;

my daughter is cruelly demon- possessed.”

But He did not answer her a word.

Jesus appears to be insensitive.

Request to Send Her Away - Only Sent for the Jews!

And His disciples came and implored Him, saying,

“Send her away,

because she keeps shouting at us.”

But He answered and said,

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Jesus appears to be inconsistent. He has helped Gentiles before.

Request for Help - Children's Bread not for Dogs!

But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying,

“Lord, help me!”

And He answered and said,

“It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Jesus appears to be cruel.

Request for Crumbs - Healing!

But she said,

“Yes, Lord;

but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Then Jesus said to her,

“O woman, your faith is great;

it shall be done for you as you wish.”

Jesus appears to be fickle. He appears to change His mind.

And her daughter was healed at once.

phrasing

Comments

About Biblearc · Online courses · Report abuse

Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.

Biblearc app Path Courses Courses Learning Resources Login / Free Account Subscription
Glories Authors Groups Donate Gift certificates Ownership, thanks, copyrights and terms