Jesus was in the area of Tyre and Sidon. These two cities which are twenty miles apart are now in the country of Lebanon.
He went into a house trying to escape the pressing crowd, but they always seemed to find out where he was. On this day a Greek woman, a Canaanite or Syrophenician, came to him. She was a Gentile, not a part of the Jewish people.
The Jews would not have any dealings with the Gentiles and thought of them as "dogs".
This woman had a young daughter who was possessed by a devil. She came to Jesus for healing for her child. She said, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David."
At first Jesus would not answer her at all, but she kept following and crying out to him. His disciples wanted him to send her away.
He finally turned to her and said, "I am only supposed to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This meant he was only supposed to preach to the Jews. The Gentiles would have the blessing of being welcomed into the kingdom later.
Jesus said to her, "It isn't right to take food away from the children (Jews) and give it to the dogs (Gentiles)." The woman didn't want to hear these words, but she persisted.
"Lord, that's true, but even dogs get crumbs that fall from the master's table", she said.
Jesus said, "Great is your faith. It will be done even as you ask."
Even though Jesus did not go to her daughter, he could heal her from a distance. The devil left the child and she was made well at the very time he spoke the words.
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