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Christ Breaks Down Racial Barriers
241
Christ received this woman, representing a despised race, with
the cold and heartless attitude with which the Jews would treat such
a case. But the woman did not lose faith. As He passed by, as if
not hearing her, she followed, continuing her appeals. Annoyed, the
disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their Master
treated her with indifference, and they supposed that the prejudice
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of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to Him.
But it was a pitying Savior who answered, “I was not sent ex-
cept to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although this answer
appeared to be in keeping with Jewish prejudice, it was an implied
rebuke to the disciples. They understood this later as reminding
them of what He had often told them—that He came to the world to
save all who would accept Him.
The woman urged her case more earnestly, bowing at Christ’s
feet and crying, “Lord, help me!” Jesus, still apparently rejecting her
appeals, answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and
throw it to the little dogs.” This was virtually saying that it was not
right to lavish on strangers and aliens from Israel the blessings given
to the favored people of God. This answer would have completely
discouraged a less-earnest seeker. But the woman saw that her
opportunity had come.
Behind Jesus’ apparent refusal, she saw a compassion He could
not hide. “True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their masters’ table.” Even dogs are not left unfed! So,
while God had given many blessings to Israel, was there not also a
blessing for her? She was looked on as a dog, so didn’t she have
at least a dog’s claim to a crumb from His bounty? If she could
just have the privilege of a dog, she was willing to be regarded as
a dog, and she immediately acknowledged Jesus as the Redeemer,
Someone who was able to do all that she asked from Him.
Faith in Christ Gives Her a Tremendous Argument
The Savior was satisfied. He had tested her faith. He had shown
that she whom others had 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