NOTES for Mat 15:21-39
21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. |
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. |
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. |
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. |
25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. |
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. |
27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. |
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. |
29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. |
30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: |
31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. |
32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. |
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? |
34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. |
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. |
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. |
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. |
38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. |
39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala, |
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When we read in the Gospel that this woman was a Canaanite, it does not mean she was "second-rate," or of the wrong origin, or had somehow else failed to please Jesus. We know, having read the Gospel and simply sensing it in our hearts, that Jesus is always ready to help and heal the poor, the sinful, and the rejected. For the evangelist's first listeners it was entirely clear that she was a real pagan: she believed in pagan gods, worshiped them, and offered sacrifices to them. That is exactly why the Lord subjects her faith to such a test - to help her understand why she is turning to Him for help and not to her own gods.
Here a line is drawn between a person's pagan ideas and turning to Jesus, that is, prayer. Prayer to Christ, and to the Father in Christ, is incompatible with paganism. At the same time, paganism does not necessarily mean belief in other gods. It can also be the very ordinary Christian hope not in the one God, but in something else: money, one's own abilities, one's political party, the thought that things will somehow work out, and so on. Paganism is when we live not for God, but for someone or something else, most often simply for ourselves. If we, while being such pagans, want to ask Christ for something and turn to Him in prayer, we will need, together with this Canaanite woman, to pass through a complete revaluation of our faith and understand why we have turned to Christ and not to our idols...
Readings for 2 May 2026
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