Dogs - Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30

While journeying away from the Pharisees and into Tyre and Sidon, Jesus went into a house “and would that no man should come unto him. But he could not deny them; for he had compassion upon all men.” There are times when he is ready to teach, but the other times he wants to rest and perhaps teach his disciples privately, but he still loves everyone, and wants to help them. A “certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet, and their exchange is very strange and it seems at first reading that Jesus is incredibly rude to her, but we know Jesus and that’s not who he is, so with some digging hopefully we can see the deeper meaning of their interaction.

This woman came to Jesus while he was in gentile cities and Mark tells us that she “was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.” We know that Jesus has healed gentiles before, and it begs the question what exactly is he doing in a gentile city if he doesn’t want to help the people there. She asks him to heal her daughter and he answers, “Let the children of the kingdom first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” That seems like a pretty harsh statement, so let’s look at it more closely. I remember something Hugh Nibley said once about the similar statement of casting your pearls before swine, he said something to the effect of “that’s not very nice, maybe the piggy likes nice things too.” While it seems like quite the insult to be called a dog, the IM gives insight, saying, “The Greek word translated ‘dogs’ referred to small dogs that could be household pets.” I love my dogs very much, I wouldn’t consider them to be vile or anything bad, they are part of my family and they are treasured by me. Does that mean I’m going to let them eat the food that I make for the kids? No, of course not. Jesus is saying, let the kids eat first, because it’s not ok to feed the kids’ food to the dogs. I would still have no idea what he was talking about, even if I could recognize that he’s not being rude, but this woman understands what he’s saying.

She answers, “Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” The IM explains further, “At a time when the gospel was being proclaimed to the Jews and not yet to the Gentiles, a gentile woman recognized Jesus as the ‘Son of David,’ the promised Messiah… Understanding the Savior’s distinction between Israel and Gentiles, the woman correctly pointed out that household pets were allowed to eat hat which had been rejected. She did not take offense at Jesus’ words, but she humbly recognized that she was a beggar at Israel’s table. The Savior commended her expression of faith.” Reading this, I feel that it’s much better understood that the woman was recognizing that she wasn’t entitled to Jesus’ help with her daughter, but asked him to have mercy on her. This woman was rewarded for her faith because Jesus heals her daughter that instant. This woman must have had great humility because if I asked someone for help and they told me they wouldn’t because I was not a member of their club, I would be furious, it would be incredibly difficult for me to put aside this apparent insult and beg. But I guess that’s why she had her daughter healed, because she was humble and believing.