Gospel Reflection on Matthew 15:21-28
August 16, 2026
And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
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We prize ourselves on living in a class-free culture: "no kings" has even become something of a slogan in the United States. And we look down on cultures that segregate people, ranking people according to education, ethnic background, wealth.
But our own religious story is populated with class barriers. The original Temple of Israel had different areas: one for the ordinary people, one for the Levites, one for the priests, and an inner one where only the high priest could enter.
The idea that a Gentile could enter the Holy of Holies would have offended the Jewish people.
The early church had to undergo a painful process of recognizing that salvation was being offered to all and that the separations of the old covenant no longer applied. This opening to all seemed to many to be something that went against the instructions of the old world. And this struggle is still going on as our church continues to find her vision burdened by a Euro or Roman mindset.
We might look down on this history, but if we're honest, we also rank people we meet. We've all identified someone as beneath us in status. It is even tempting to look at our own religious experience as something unique to our group, and look down on any other experiences so much less than ours; or how often do we assume that we alone know what God would do in a given situation? We know, Lord, what you need to do in the church or in the culture.
Instead of the good news being a beautiful experience leading us into communion with others, it so often becomes a basis for self-affirmation of our own group and the exclusion of others. When we hear the story of Jesus' encounter with this woman pleading for her daughter, we want to shout at Jesus, 'do the right thing!' Her daughter deserves this. Her daughter is poor. But his slow response allows the woman to undergo the liberation of salvation. At the end of the encounter, Jesus pays her an extraordinary compliment: 'O woman, great is your faith.' God will grant her request, which means that her prayer, her sacrifice, is being accepted. How does this pagan come to deserve such a compliment? The key is her humility, her complete recognition that she is nothing, that she does not outrank anyone. All she knows is she needs nourishment from the table of the Lord. She says, 'You have the true bread. You have what I need, what I am not entitled to in any way. I do not pretend to be a daughter of yours. I just ask to be nourished.' Her response provides the key to progress in the spiritual life.
It is all about making ourselves poor. The first Jewish Christians had to make themselves poor and do something that was very difficult for the Jewish people: acknowledge they had no special claim on salvation. By contrast, this pagan woman was able to do it. And Jesus acknowledged this.
When we humble ourselves before God, God bends immediately towards us. Jesus waited for that humility, that poverty, that self-abandonment. The woman recognized she has no rights. She expressed her faith in the recognition of her poverty; all she asked is a crumb of nourishment.
In prayer and our relationship with God, we also must remember that we are poor creatures who do not outrank anyone. We need God to give us that which we do not deserve. It is then we become worthy. What a curious thing: the smaller we are, the greater we are; the poorer we are, the richer we are in him.
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