Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

On first glance it seems that Jesus was being cruel to the plight of this woman and her daughter. Jesus had already displayed that He was able to heal. In fact, much of his earthly ministry was spent healing people of diseases, raising the dead, and casting out demons. Why was Jesus resistant in healing the Syrophoenician woman? The gospel of the kingdom was first to be proclaimed to the Jews (Matt. 10:6). After all, the Messiah was promised to the nation of Israel (Isa. 65:9), and He was born as a member of the house of David (Luke 2:4). It was to this rebellious nation that Jesus first appeared and performed many miracles. But was it because this woman was a Gentile that Jesus first ignored her request? No. Actually it had nothing to do with her being a Gentile. It had all to do with His eventual healing of her daughter being a stinging rebuke of the Pharisees and their rejection of the Messiah. Consider what Jesus said just a few chapters earlier.

Matthew 8:11-12 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The redemption that the Pharisees dismissed without thought was begged for by the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus said, “…your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.”

It is not on the basis of national origin or religious tradition that God heals (spiritually), it is on the basis of faith.