Jesus Greatly Praises the Gentile Woman
In Matthew 15:21 we find one of the highest praises Jesus has for an imperfect person. However, we have to wade through a very confusing counter-intuitive passage to get there. The full text is at the end of this post. It should be noted how often Jesus praises women in the old world. He consistently gave honor, dignity and praise to women.
A non-Jewish woman from the land of Canaan came out to Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter. The woman clearly knows something of Jesus’ identity because she refers to His Messianic name… “Lord, Son of David.” The Jews had known for a long time that someone coming from David’s line would be the ultimate shepherd and leader of the Jewish nation. (The Jew’s just didn’t realize the Messiah would focus on internal heart-level spiritual reform before He was going to militarily deliver and restore them. That would be reserved for Jesus’ second arrival.)
To understand this passage I think we have to focus on two things. First, Jesus is training His disciples to reach the Gentiles. Soon Jesus will die and He knows the Kingdom of God will be given to all the nations of the earth not only to the Jewish people (See Matt 21:43). So, Jesus is shifting His disciple’s mindsets from a Jewish-only perspective to a Gentile or all-nations perspective. Secondly, although the disciples want to drive the woman away, Jesus leaves the door open to this woman throughout the entire interchange. It seems that He is drawing out her faith while simultaneously exposing His disciples to the needs of the Gentiles.
Initially Jesus is silent regarding the woman’s request to deliver her daughter. His silence allows the disciple’s uncompassionate and “Jewish-only” mindset to come to the surface. What do they want to do? “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” They don’t care about the Gentiles at all.
Instead of sending her away, Jesus begins interacting with her. He states that His core mission was to come to the Jews in fulfillment of 4,000 to 6,000 years of prophetic oracles. However, He knows that shortly the Gospel will explode in the Gentile nations. John 12:20-22 reveals that the Greeks are approaching Philip, Jesus’ disciple, because they want to interact with Jesus.
The woman then comes closer and kneels before Jesus saying, “Lord, help me!” The disciples continue to be the audience of this strange interaction watching all that Jesus is doing. Do they care about her suffering daughter yet?
Jesus makes another statement about the Jews and the Gentiles and the coming transition. Jesus asks if it is right to give what is meant for the Jews (fulfilling years of prophetic promises) to the Gentiles? We don’t like the word “dogs” because of our cultural references but it is possible to also translate it “little puppies.” The woman is NOT deterred but continues to press Jesus for help for her daughter.
Then Jesus’ internal hidden motivation for the interchange is explodes to the surface! “Woman you have great faith!” Your request is granted.”
This is what Jesus wanted to happen the whole time. He wants the daughter to get deliverance and healing. He wants to woman’s request to be granted.
Jesus turns the whole event on its head and gives the woman one of the two greatest praises in the Gospels. Jesus praises her on the central issue of faith that is the core of His entire mission. “You have great faith in Me! You held onto Me for help!” (Paraphrase) This is why Jesus became a human and came to earth in the first place. The only other person to receive this great praise, “You have great faith,” is the Roman Soldier of Matt 8:5, who also is a non-Jewish person.
To realize how great Jesus’ praise for this woman is, you only have to remember that often Jesus speaks to the Disciples as “O you of little faith.” And He also addresses the Pharisees as having no faith in God at all, but doing everything to be seen by men. She shines way above the Pharisees and even above the disciples!
Jesus’ praises do not get higher than this: “Woman, you have great faith!”
She had very little. But she used what she had and Jesus delighted in her!
As the event closes, the disciples find out that Jesus didn’t want to send her away even though she was a Gentile. They found out that Jesus wants to give to all those who come to him in faith. The Gentiles were knocking at the door for salvation as seen in John 12:20 and Peter would shortly have a vision to confirm this in Acts 10:9. The Jewish God was about to join all the nations to Israel.
‘Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.’ Matt 15:21-28