This chapter is based on Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30.
(HLv 267)
After the encounter with the Pharisees Jesus withdrew from Capernaum and crossed Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phoenicia. Looking westward He could see the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon with their heathen temples. Beyond was the Mediterranean, over which the messengers of the gospel were to bear its glad tidings to the centers of the world’s empire. The work before Him now was to prepare His disciples for their mission.
(HLv 267.1)
“Behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.’” RSV. The people of this district were idolaters, despised and hated by the Jews. The woman who now came to Jesus was a heathen, and therefore was excluded from the advantages the Jews daily enjoyed.
(HLv 267.2)
Tidings of Christ’s work had penetrated to this region. This woman had heard of the prophet, who, it was reported, healed all manner of diseases. Hope sprang up in her heart. Inspired by a mother’s love, she determined to present her daughter’s case to Him. He must heal her child. At times she was tempted to think, What can this Jewish teacher do for me? But the word had come, He heals all manner of diseases, whether those who come for help are rich or poor.
(HLv 267.3)
Christ knew that this woman was longing to see Him, and He placed Himself in her path. By ministering to her sorrow, He could give a living representation of the lesson He designed to teach. For this He had brought His disciples to this region. He desired them to see the ignorance existing in cities and villages close to Israel. The people who had been given the truth made no effort to help souls in darkness. The partition wall which Jewish pride had erected shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. These barriers were to be broken down.
(HLv 267.4)
Christ received this representative of a despised race with the cold and heartless manner in which the Jews would treat such a case. But the woman did not lose faith. As He passed on, as if not hearing her, she followed, continuing her supplications. Annoyed, the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their Master treated her with indifference, and they supposed that the prejudice of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to Him.
(HLv 268.1)
But it was a pitying Saviour who answered: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although this answer appeared to be in accordance with the prejudice of the Jews, it was an implied rebuke to the disciples, which they afterward understood as reminding them of what He had often told them—that He came to the world to save all who would accept Him.
(HLv 268.2)
The woman urged her case with increased earnestness, bowing at Christ’s feet, and crying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus, still apparently rejecting her entreaties, answered, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” This was virtually asserting that it was not right to lavish on strangers and aliens from Israel the blessings brought to the favored people of God. This answer would have utterly discouraged a less earnest seeker. But the woman saw that her opportunity had come.
(HLv 268.3)
Beneath the apparent refusal of Jesus, she saw a compassion He could not hide. “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Even dogs are not left unfed! So, while there were many blessings given to Israel, was there not also a blessing for her? She was looked on as a dog, and had she not, then, a dog’s claim to a crumb from His bounty? If she may have the privilege of a dog, she was willing to be regarded as a dog; and she immediately acknowledged Jesus as the Redeemer, as being able to do all that she asked of Him.
(HLv 268.4)
The Saviour was satisfied. He had tested her faith. He had shown that she who had been regarded as an outcast from Israel was no longer an alien, but a child in God’s household. As a child it was her privilege to share in the Father’s gifts. Christ now granted her request and finished the lesson to the disciples. Turning to her with a look of pity and love, He said, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” From that hour her daughter became whole. The woman departed, acknowledging her Saviour, and happy in the granting of her prayer.
(HLv 269.1)
It was for this miracle that Jesus went to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He wished to relieve the afflicted woman and at the same time leave an example of mercy for the benefit of His disciples when He would no longer be with them. He wished to lead them to be interested in working for others besides their own people.
(HLv 269.2)
Jesus longed to unfold the deep mysteries of the truth, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs with the Jews, and “partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” Ephesians 3:6. In rewarding the faith of the centurion at Capernaum and preaching to the inhabitants of Sychar, He had already given evidence that He did not share the intolerance of the Jews. But now Jesus brought the disciples in contact with a heathen, whom they regarded as having no reason to expect favor from Him. He would show that His love was not to be circumscribed to race or nation.
(HLv 269.3)
When He said, “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He stated the truth. This woman was one of the lost sheep that Israel should have rescued. The work they had neglected, Christ was doing.
(HLv 269.4)
This act opened the minds of the disciples more fully to the labor that lay before them among the Gentiles. They saw souls bearing sorrows unknown to those more highly favored, longing for help from the mighty Healer, hungering for truth. Afterward, when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was broken down by the death of Christ, this lesson had a powerful influence on the representatives of Christ.
(HLv 270.1)
The Saviour’s visit to Phoenicia and the miracle there performed had a yet wider purpose. Today, the same pride and prejudice have built strong walls of separation between different classes of men. Multitudes feel virtually shut away from the gospel. But let them not feel that they are shut away from Christ.
(HLv 270.2)
In faith the woman of Phoenicia flung herself against the barriers piled up between Jew and Gentile. Against discouragement, regardless of appearances, that might have led her to doubt, she trusted the Saviour’s love. Thus Christ desires us to trust in Him. The blessings of salvation are for every soul. Nothing but his own choice can prevent any man from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel.
(HLv 270.3)
Caste is hateful to God. In His sight the souls of all men are of equal value. He “hath made of one blood all nations of men, ... that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might ... find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.” All are invited to come to Him and live. “The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 17:26, 27; Romans 10:12, 13.
(HLv 270.4)