Why did Jesus call a Woman a dog?

 

Jesus travels to the cites of Tyre and Sidon north of Galilee on the Mediterranean coast. This area is Gentile country out of the Hebrews’ jurisdiction. A Canaanite woman (a Syrophonecian) begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus ignores her. The disciples are annoyed by her asks that she be sent away. Jesus initially refuses her request and says, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house Israel." That is a strange reply considering that He said in Luke 4:18-19 that He was sent to release those who are captive. The woman continues to beg Jesus. Jesus replies in what on the surface seems to be a very disrespectful statement. He says, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26). The woman said yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table. Jesus impressed with the woman’s faith in Him said your request is granted; her daughter was healed that instant (Matthew 15:28).

Now, why in the world would Jesus seemingly say something as crass as calling this woman a dog? All she wanted was for Him to heal her daughter. She knew He was only one who could. What do we learn from this foreign woman? 1) She was desperate and knew she had no right to demand anything of Jesus, so she humbled herself. 2) There was no one else in the world who could help her other than Jesus. 3) When Jesus called her a dog, she did not take offense but exercised her faith and declared although I’m a dog, I’ll grab the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table. Her persistence in faith is what Jesus responded to.

The word dog in the Greek consists of two words. The first one is kuon. This is a rabid scavenger dog. This is what Jews called Gentiles. Why? Because Gentiles were unclean and pagan. They worshipped false gods. So, the Jews were repulsed by them. Jesus used a different word for dog when addressing this woman; kunarion. This means a household pet and not a scavenger. However, anyway you want to slice it, Jesus called her a dog which no doubt she was used to being called – a kuon instead of kunarion That didn’t matter to her. If she couldn’t receive a piece of bread, she was willing to get anything from Jesus, even crumbs. Because of her faith she received bread – her daughter was healed.

Obviously, Jesus knew He would encounter this woman before He met her. But there are two important lessons we need to observe here. 1) Jesus was testing the woman’s faith in Him by initially denying her request. 2) Jesus did this for the benefit of His disciples. Although Jesus was sent specifically to the lost sheep of Israel, anyone that comes to Him genuinely, humbly realizing they are not worthy to even be in His presence with faith for what they need, God will grant it to them.

So that I am clear, God is not going to give everybody anything they want. God is not a cosmic Jeanie in a bottle that grants wishes! Most people desires are evil. The meeting with this woman was a divine encounter. Once again, it was for the benefit of His disciples – showing them that He was merciful to all people; even sheep not of the Israelite fold (John 10:16), and it was recorded for our learning (Romans 15:4).

This woman did let go until Jesus blessed her. We must exhibit the same kind of tenacious faith. God is merciful and will meet our needs if it is according to His will (1 John 5:14-15).