“Yes, Lord!, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters‘ table” (Matthew 15:27).
Imagine that you are arriving in an unknown land, and someone comes at you screaming. What would you think?
When I had to prepare English or music classes for my teaching residency (student teaching), I was required to note what I would do minute by minute. Everything had to be planned, taking into account possible situations that could arise. There were classes that were richer in resources and subjects than others, and I remember one teacher told us that we sometimes had to act to get attention and teach better.
I think the class Jesus set out to give that day had several factors in mind. He knew that this lesson was very important and, to make it clearer, acted very well to prove His point. He put Himself in the path of this woman that would lead Him to exemplify perfectly the treatment the Jews had with the heathen, even though they should have been a light and a witness for all nations.
His cold dialogue with her was simply a demonstration of how the Jews treated others who supposedly were not in God’s favor. When He implied that His blessings were reserved for God’s favored people, she did not give up.
“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 that He could not hide” (The Desire of Ages, ch. 63, P.401). How beautiful! By the way, Jesus was not such a good actor in the end. With a hidden wink, he gave room for her to make a last plea that was only the tip of the iceberg of her faith, and He granted her request: her daughter was healed.
This pagan woman recognized in Jesus whom her compatriots could not see. We are told that this was the only miracle Jesus did on this journey.
Jesus also wants to go through the pagan cities in which we live today even if it is to perform a single miracle. He wants to use you so that those people who do not have an Adventist surname, who believe themselves deprived of His favor, or who are separated by the barriers we sometimes put up may meet Him. Will you allow Him to do that?