A Lesson from the Faith of the Canaanite Woman

The Matthean narrative on the Canaanite woman’s faith (Matthew 15:21-28) gives an impression as if Jesus were so mean and insulting her.

Every time I teach and speak on this narrative, I am always asked questions like, “Why was Jesus so mean to her (the Canaanite woman)?”, “Was it because she was a Gentile? , “Was Jesus actually a misogynist?”, and so forth.

Was Jesus really mean to the Canaanite woman?

To address such questions, we need to review the story.

Jesus had quite busy days in Galilee, feeding the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21), rescuing Peter from drowning (14:22-33), healing the sick (14:34-36), dealing with the accusation by the Pharisees (15:20). After all this, he and his disciples came to the region of Tyre and Sidon, to get away. Then, the Canaanite woman came to Jesus and called out to heal her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. At first, Jesus did not say anything to her at all. However, she kept calling and calling. Then, the disciples, who were obviously annoyed by her, suggested Jesus to send her away. It was when Jesus finally opened his mouth and spoke to her, saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”(v. 24). Then, the woman came closer to Jesus and knelt in front of him, saying, “Lord, help me!”(v.25). To this, Jesus said, “It is not right to take the children’s food/bread (artos) and throw it to their dogs”(v.26).

What do you think? Do you think that Jesus was “mean” to the woman?

Suppose if Jesus were really uninterested in helping or ministering to the Canaanite woman, what do you think he would do when his disciples said to him, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us!”(Matthew 15:23). Had he been mean or indifferent to her, he would have taken the disciples’ advice and sent her away so that he would not have been disturbed by her anymore.  The fact that Jesus did not take in the disciples’ suggestion to send the Canaanite woman away means that he was, indeed, interested in dealing with her. However, it was obvious that Jesus wanted to challenge her, as he engaged in conversation with her. Therefore, we cannot conclude that Jesus was disinterested in the Canaanite’s woman’s cry.

The fact that Jesus did not accept the disciples’ advice to send the Canaanite woman away is a proof that he was not aloof or unconcerned about her plea for her daughter. Nevertheless, the way he responded to her, after a period of silence, can certainly be provocative.  His words, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”(v. 24) sure can make you wonder if Jesus were ethnocentric, caring for only his kind of people, the Israelites. Then, his words of his, “It is not right to take the children’s food/bread (artos) and throw it to their dogs”(v.26), can certainly raise eyebrows, giving an impression as if he were regarding the woman a “dog” because she was not an Israelite. If it were the case, what a great insult it would be.

It is certainly quite intriguing that Jesus responded to the Canaanite woman with such provocative words, after some period of silence. However, Jesus has spoke in such an incensingly disturbing way elsewhere. For example, Jesus said, “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law “(Matthew 10:24-35) . This is an example of Jesus’ hyperbolic rhetoric in his teaching. Through this kind of provocative expressions, he tried to make highlight his teaching on the eschatological judgement.  To the Canaanite woman, Jesus responded with his hyperbolic expression to test her faith.

Jesus sure saves us, as his name, “Jesus”, literally means. However, his salvation may not come without some challenges. As the eschatological vision in the Book of Revelation alludes to, the Kingdom of Heaven will not come without series of tribulations. The Revelation also reminds us that only those who pass the test, namely, those who have endured the trials with faith, will enter the Kingdom.  Likewise, Jesus challenged her before he answered her plea to heal her daughter. These provocative words of his in v. 24 and v.26 are the tests that Jesus gave the Canaanite woman to see if the quality of her faith would pass. And, she certainly passed this test of faith. Therefore, v. 24 and v. 26 have nothing to do with a possibility of Jesus being ethnocentric or misogynic at all. In fact, because of the quality of her faith, the Canaanite woman did not seem to have taken this way, either. Rather, she responded to Jesus’ challenges with wisdom and wit, saying, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table”(v.27). To this, Jesus was obviously impressed and said, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish”(v. 28), and her daughter was consequently healed.

To better understand that Jesus used hyperbolically provocative expression to challenge the Canaanite woman’s faith, we can ask, “Why Jesus did not stop the storm immediately when he noticed the disciples were in panic”, in regard to Matthew 14:22-33. Instead of stopping the storm, Jesus was walking on the stormy water toward already-frightened disciples as if he were a ghost, making them aghast. Jesus did not stop the storm immediately, even though he could, so that Peter’s faith can be tested. In Peter’s case, alas, to Jesus’ dismay, his faith did not pass the test, as he let fear overwhelm and began to sink in the water.  Nevertheless, Jesus saved him, as he cried out to him, saying, “Lord, save me!”(14:30). In fact, this plea of Peter is echoed by the plea of the Canaanite woman, “Lord, help me!”(15:25).

As the Canaanite woman had to go through challenges set by Jesus to have her wish granted, we also need to expect certain trials to endure in order to enjoy the salvific effects of Christ.

Yes, Jesus certainly said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”(Matthew 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10). However, this does not mean that we will receive what we ask for immediately and easily, as we want.  Rather, this is contingent upon persistence, as Jesus describe through the parable in Luke 11:5-11. In fact, this parable’s lesson to support Jesus’ teaching of prayer, in particular, asking and receiving in prayer, echoes a lesson we can learn from the Canaanite’s woman in Matthew 15:21-28. It is that we receive what we ask, upon ensuring challenges or passing the test of faith, not in the way we want but only as God wishes.

Sometimes we may feel that God does not listen to our prayers, or doubt if God really cares about our prayers.  Then, we may become frustrated with God and even grow angry at God. To overcome this problematic tendency of ours with patience and persistence in our prayer, as taught in Luke 11:5-11, we can take a lesson from the way the Canaanite woman endured the trials and passed the test of faith, in conjunction with the way the widow dealt with the unjust judge in Jesus’ parable (Luke 18:1-8) and the way Hannah patiently and persistently prayed (1 Samuel 1:1-20).

Additionally, it is also important to note that the Canaanite woman overcome the challenges not only with the strength in her faith but also with her humility. “

These words of the Canaanite woman to Jesus’ challenges, “Lord help me! “(Matthew 15:25) and “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table”(15:27) , clearly show that she is humble enough to be satisfied with whatever Jesus can give.  These words of hers also echo this prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.

In her words in Matthew 15:27, the Canaanite woman also demonstrates her wit along with her humility. Had she lacked humility and humor, her pride would make her react to Jesus’ challenge with anger, feeling insulted to be compared to a dog. However, the way she responded to Jesus’ challenge with such a wit tells that the Canaanite woman is a good example of being “poor in spirit” in the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3).

The faith of the Canaanite woman teaches us that her faith not only makes her prayer so persistent and patient but also makes her witful. No wonder Jesus said, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish”  (Matthew 15:28).