Matthew 15:21-28

This Sunday we read Matthew 15:21-28. It is an odd story. We find Jesus traveling way up the Mediterranean coast northwest from Galilee and toward Lebanon. He comes to a place beyond where Jews live, and meets a woman from that place.

Pay close attention to the conversation the woman begins with him. How does she address him? How do you think she has come to know this Jewish form of address? What does the way she addresses him say about how she regards him?

Consider the response the woman receives from the disciples, then from Jesus. Does the disciples’ response differ from Jesus’ in any way?

When Jesus invokes “dogs” to respond to the woman, he is not so much calling her a dog as referencing the Gentile practice of keeping small dogs as household pets who might well be fed table scraps.

The woman persists, and Jesus, clearly surprised, commends her faith and heals her daughter. Here is the big question: How does Jesus’ understanding of his mission change, and expand, from this encounter?