Matth. 15, 21-28.
And Jesus went out from thence, and escaped into the region of Tyro and Sidon. And, behold, a Canaanite woman went out of that border, and cried after him, saying, Lord, thou Son of David, have mercy on me: my daughter is evil afflicted with the devil. And he answered her not a word. Then came his disciples unto him, and besought him, saying: Let her go from you, for she is crying out to us. But he answered and said: I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she came and fell down before him, and said, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs. And she said, Yea, Lord; but the dogs eat of the little bread that falleth from their masters' tables. And Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: let it be unto thee according as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed that very hour.
1. "O woman, your faith is great" etc. This is the most important article in the gospel, that the grace given in Christ also concerns the Gentiles. Therefore, the evangelists describe this woman as having been a Gentile from Syro-Phoenicia and its borders.
*) Cf. Erl. A. opp. var. arZ. VII, 385 D. Red.
Tyri and Sidon; not from the seed of Abraha, nor from the law, nor from the merits. For the promise of Christ did not come to them, as he himself clearly says in the text: first, because he does not hear it, nor cares for it; second, because he says he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel; third, that he would give them a
He calls her a dog and cuts off the children's bread. This example therefore shows that the Gentiles also have hope: even though they are not circumcised, nor adorned with the law and promises of God, they come to the fellowship of Christ and the company of the kingdom.
(2) Now this faith of the woman is great and marvelous, that being a Gentile, she not only believes, but also, being assailed with so many temptations, yet overcomes them and conquers. For this was great enough, that since she cried out and called, he did not hear her, but despised her. Here innumerable hearts of men would be cast down, saying, What shall I cry? I see that I am not in grace, he does not dignify me with his grace, I am lost, I must despair, God hates me and does not want to have me blessed. This woman could also have felt such thoughts, and perhaps she has suffered and felt them according to the feeling of the flesh: but as a heroine of a most courageous disposition she casts them all out of her heart, and holds fast to the opposite, namely, that she will be in grace and be heard, and believes in hope, since there is nothing to hope for, by saying: "Even though I am a heathen and in all ways unworthy, I do not want to be a heathen, and I know that I will not be held as a heathen. This first struggle is already bitter enough.
3 The following is even more bitter: when he, while the disciples are pleading, persists, even shows that he is cutting off grace, thus separating and separating them completely from the lost sheep of Israel. Who could bear this thunderclap, this stroke and blow, even if he were a child of Israel? It is frightening to hear the cause of the grace that was cut off and the prayer that was not answered, namely, that she was not of the sheep of Israel and that Christ did not come to her nor for her sake. This is a terrible banishment, and one that is unbearable where one is not supremely strong in faith.
The third battle is the most bitter, that when she herself falls down and begs, she is not only not heard nor accepted among the sheep, but is condemned by a manifest saying and called a dog, when others are called children. To be called a dog among the children is not only to be counted among the servants, but to be cut off from the eternal inheritance of the children.
(5) But the power of faith breaks through all this, though in a few such things are seldom found. For even Christ himself marvels at this faith, so that he exclaims and says: "O woman, your faith is great" etc.; therefore she also obtains what she desired. So shall we also do.