Mathew 15:21-28 - Why Jesus said "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

The background:

Examine the time line especially in Mathew

• Jews commonly considered non-Jews as unclean, pagans.
• Jews literally calls pagans (non-Jews) 'Dogs'.
• Jesus started the ministry among Jews.
• Jesus’ disciples all are were Jews, who also possesed the same conservative Jewish thoughts.

See the turning point-

1) Jesus teaches his disciples about CLEAN & UNCLEAN:

Mt 15:1-20 –“⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,    but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ They worship me in  vain;    their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]””

^“18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” 

Jesus shows & taught, how consider a human clean or unclean, not by any race, it is by what comes from his hearts.

2) The VERY next is a Non-Jewish woman appears, disturbing Disciples & Jesus:

See that carefully, Does disciples really understood what Jesus taught them just before in Mt 15:18??

Nope! The disciples want to drive her away – as she was a non-Jewish woman.

Mt 15:23 “But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. "Tell her to go away," they said. "She is bothering us with all her begging.”

See Jesus was silent & testing his disciples – he broke his silence only after, disciples openly say to ‘drive her away’.

Here on-wards, before correcting the ideology of his disciples, ‘Messiah’ is not only for the Israel, Jesus spoke as if like a common Jew, that his disciples can digest the transformation of their Jewish nature to a broad minded view to consider the whole world.  

Mt 15: “²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” ²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. ²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.””

As it was said, as if in a nature of common Jew, to teach a lesson for his disciples, whom all never understood what he taught just before this scene in Mt 15:18. Jesus never call a gentile a dog, he just implicitly expressed the nature of Jews who self promote among the gentiles. Because after the Mt 15:21 – we can see the Jesus expanding Ministry out to Pagans.


3) Jesus Expanding his Ministry to pagans - as Messiah of Whole world:

Mt15:21 – says Jesus withdrew to Tyre & Sidon, which is out of Jewish territory – pagan regions- where Canaanite woman came to him. 

Mt 15:29-“ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee.” . Mark explicitly mentions that they are in the region of the Decapolis (Mark 7:31) which is the pagan East side of the Sea of Galilee 

Mt 15:31 says “The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking; the crippled    made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.”

(See the time line)

1)     Jesus moved out of Jewish territory for his ministry Mt 15:21 , Mark 7:31

2)     People praised the “God of Israel” – if it was Jewish territory no need to explicitly say People praised their God in such a way.

So calling literally pagans as 'Dogs' was put to an end by Jesus & he taught disciples to extend showering the G-d’s love to the whole world! And this 'call' has draw-ed the attentions of all world to this point, where the turning point of Messiah who came for the whole world!

Psalms 72:1-20 : 

"... His name shall endure for ever:

his name shall be continued as long as the sun:

and men shall be blessed in him:

all nations shall call him blessed."