“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”
Commentaries
15:21 - 15:28
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman.
Matthew uses this story to illustrate Jesus’ earlier teaching. Jesus’ apparent objections to performing the miracle actually reflect the concerns of the Christian community for which Matthew is writing, which had not yet fully accepted believers converted from paganism among them. It’s as if Jesus raised objections only to dismiss them later with the miracle. The importance of racial purity in their Jewish heritage still heavily influenced those first-generation Judeo-Christians.
Commentaries
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman.
Matthew uses this story to illustrate Jesus’ earlier teaching. Jesus’ apparent objections to performing the miracle actually reflect the concerns of the Christian community for which Matthew is writing, which had not yet fully accepted believers converted from paganism among them. It’s as if Jesus raised objections only to dismiss them later with the miracle. The importance of racial purity in their Jewish heritage still heavily influenced those first-generation Judeo-Christians.