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Jesus came as the Jewish messiah. His ministry was offered first to the Jewish people. But, the Jews rejected Him. The gentile world has willingly received the messiah which the Jews rejected.
The Jews of Jesus' day despised gentiles (non-Jews). Some Jews today continue in that tradition. In fact, the Jews of Jesus' day called gentiles "dogs" as an expression of their contempt.
What we seem to have here is a play on words, a conversation which can be interpreted on more than one level. On the surface, we may seem to be talking about food belonging to the children first and it not being right to take it from them and feed it to dogs. But, as the woman points out, the dogs may eat what the children despise and do not want. Such a conversation, taken at face value, does seem a bit strange and out of context with what is going on.
But there is more going on here than that. The woman is not Jewish, but she is asking Jesus to minister to her. Jesus is telling her that His ministry (the food on the table) belongs first to the Jews. The verses leading up to this story tell of Jesus' rejection by His own people (the children). Picking up on Jesus statement, the woman wisely, using Jesus' own analogy, states that the dogs (gentiles) may have what the children (Jews) don't want (the food which is unwanted and allowed to fall to the floor - Jesus). Jesus then affirmed that His ministry was to be to the gentile world and not just to the Jewish people by granting the woman her request. |
