NOTES for Mat 15:21-28
Christ's initial unwillingness not merely to heal the girl but even simply to answer her mother seems strange. We have grown accustomed to the fact that up to this point He has refused healing to no one and has cared for everyone, and suddenly He reacts this way merely because it was a pagan woman who asked Him.
Today we are inclined to regard anyone's belonging to the pagan world neutrally, and when ordinary human relations are concerned, that is how it should be. But here the question is deliverance from negative spiritual influences that had caused the girl's possession. Yet in their everyday religious practice, pagans constantly appealed to lower spiritual powers. We may recall Christ's words about what happens when demons that have been cast out return to an unoccupied soul, for pagans who do not worship the God of Israel may well let them back in. In such circumstances, casting out unclean spirits is pointless.
But the pagan woman's humble request for crumbs speaks of the strength of a mother's love overcoming deep-rooted prejudices. After her humble admission, which essentially testifies that she is approaching faith, Jesus meets her halfway. Even the few crumbs of the Canaanite woman's faith proved sufficient for her daughter to receive not crumbs from the table at all, but the gift in its fullness.