# Day 253

# A Gentile Dog and the Bread of Life

Matthew 15:21–31

Leaving Capernaum and traveling north, Jesus came to Tyre and Sidon, a place where Gentiles lived. A Canaanite woman shouted, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is harassed by a demon.”

His disciples urged him, “Send her away.”

She came and knelt down. “Lord, help me.”

“It wouldn’t be fair,” he answered. “I can’t throw Israel’s bread to the Gentile dogs.”

“That’s true, Lord,” she said. “But little dogs get the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

“Woman, you have great faith! You may have what you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

After this, Jesus journeyed back along the Sea of Galilee. He went up a mountainside and sat down. Huge crowds came with the lame, the blind, the mute, and others. They were brought to him, and he cured them. The crowd was amazed. They saw the mute speaking, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Questions: At first, Jesus wouldn’t help the woman. Why? What did the woman say that showed Jesus she had faith?