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From Heaven With Love
Christ received this representative of a despised race with the
cold and heartless manner in which the Jews would treat such a
case. But the woman did not lose faith. As He passed on, as if not
hearing her, she followed, continuing her supplications. Annoyed,
the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their
Master treated her with indifference, and they supposed that the
prejudice of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to Him.
But it was a pitying Saviour who answered: “I am not sent but
unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although this answer
appeared to be in accordance with the prejudice of the Jews, it was
an implied rebuke to the disciples, which they afterward understood
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 with increased earnestness, bowing
at Christ’s feet, and crying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus, still apparently
rejecting her entreaties, answered, “It is not meet to take the chil-
dren’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” This was virtually asserting
that it was not right to lavish on strangers and aliens from Israel the
blessings brought to the favored people of God. This answer would
have utterly discouraged a less earnest seeker. But the woman saw
that her opportunity had come.
Beneath the apparent refusal of Jesus, she saw a compassion He
could not hide. “Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their masters’ table.” Even dogs are not left unfed! So,
while there were many blessings given to Israel, was there not also
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a blessing for her? She was looked on as a dog, and had she not,
then, a dog’s claim to a crumb from His bounty? If she may have the
privilege of a dog, she was willing to be regarded as a dog; and she
immediately acknowledged Jesus as the Redeemer, as being able to
do all that she asked of Him.
Faith in Christ Gives Her a Tremendous Argument
The Saviour was satisfied. He had tested her faith. He had shown
that she who had been 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