Christ Breaks Down Racial Barriers

Picture: Christ Breaks Down Racial Barriers 3TC 256.1

This chapter is based on Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30. 

After the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus left Capernaum and crossed Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phoenicia. Looking westward, He could see the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon with their heathen temples. Beyond was the Mediterranean, over which the messengers of the gospel were to carry its joyful news to the centers of the world’s empire. The work before Him now was to prepare His disciples for their mission. 3TC 256.2

“Behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! 3TC 256.3

My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’” The people of this district were idol worshipers, despised and hated by the Jews. The woman who now came to Jesus was a heathen, and so she was excluded from the advantages the Jews daily enjoyed. 3TC 257.1

News of Christ’s work had reached this region. This woman had heard of the Prophet who, it was reported, healed all kinds of diseases. Hope sprang up in her heart. Inspired by a mother’s love, she determined to present her daughter’s case to Him. He must heal her child. At times she was tempted to think, What can this Jewish Teacher do for me? But the word had come, He heals all kinds of diseases, whether those who come for help are rich or poor. 3TC 257.2

Christ knew that this woman was longing to see Him, and He placed Himself in her path. By ministering to her sorrow, He could give a living example of the lesson He intended to teach. This was why He had brought His disciples to this region. He wanted them to see the ignorance existing in cities and villages close to Israel. The people to whom God had given the truth made no effort to help others in darkness. The partition wall that Jewish pride had built shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. Jesus would break these barriers down. 3TC 257.3

Christ received this woman, representing a despised race, with the cold and heartless attitude with which the Jews would treat such a case. But the woman did not lose faith. As He passed by, as if not hearing her, she followed, continuing her appeals. Annoyed, the disciples asked Jesus to send her away. They saw that their Master treated her with indifference, and they supposed that the prejudice of the Jews against the Canaanites was pleasing to Him. 3TC 257.4

But it was a pitying Savior who answered, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although this answer appeared to be in keeping with Jewish prejudice, it was an implied rebuke to the disciples. They understood this later as reminding them of what He had often told them—that He came to the world to save all who would accept Him. 3TC 257.5

The woman urged her case more earnestly, bowing at Christ’s feet and crying, “Lord, help me!” Jesus, still apparently rejecting her appeals, answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” This was virtually saying that it was not right to lavish on strangers and aliens from Israel the blessings given to the favored people of God. This answer would have completely discouraged a less-earnest seeker. But the woman saw that her opportunity had come. 3TC 257.6

Behind Jesus’ apparent refusal, she saw a compassion He could not hide. “True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Even dogs are not left unfed! So, while God had given many blessings to Israel, was there not also a blessing for her? She was looked on as a dog, so didn’t she have at least a dog’s claim to a crumb from His bounty? If she could just have the privilege of a dog, she was willing to be regarded as a dog, and she immediately acknowledged Jesus as the Redeemer, Someone who was able to do all that she asked from Him. 3TC 258.1

Faith in Christ Gives Her a Tremendous Argument

The Savior was satisfied. He had tested her faith. He had shown that she whom others had regarded as an outcast from Israel was no longer an alien, but a child in God’s household. As a child, it was her privilege to share in the Father’s gifts. Christ now granted her request and finished the lesson to the disciples. Turning to her with a look of pity and love, He said, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” From that hour, her daughter was healed. The woman left, acknowledging her Savior, and happy that He had granted her prayer. 3TC 258.2

It was for this miracle that Jesus went to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He wanted to help the afflicted woman and at the same time leave His disciples an example of mercy for the time when He would no longer be with them. He wanted to lead them to be interested in working for others besides their own people. 3TC 258.3

Jesus longed to reveal the deep mysteries of the truth, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs with the Jews and “partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.” Ephesians 3:6. In rewarding the faith of the centurion at Capernaum and preaching to the people of Sychar, He had already given evidence that He did not share the Jewish intolerance. But now Jesus brought the disciples in contact with a heathen who they thought would have no reason to expect favor from Him. He would show that His love was not to be limited to race or nation. 3TC 258.4

When He said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” He stated the truth. This woman was one of the lost sheep that Israel should have rescued. The work they had neglected, Christ was doing. 3TC 259.1

This act opened the disciples’ minds more fully to the work ahead of them among the Gentiles. They saw people carrying sorrows that others, more highly favored, knew nothing about. They were longing for help from the mighty Healer, hungering for truth. Afterward, when the death of Christ had broken down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, this lesson had a powerful influence on Christ’s representatives. 3TC 259.2

The Savior’s visit to Phoenicia and the miracle He performed there had an even wider purpose. Today, the same pride and prejudice have built strong walls of separation between different classes of people. Many feel virtually shut away from the gospel. But we should not let them feel that they are shut away from Christ. 3TC 259.3

In faith the woman of Phoenicia flung herself against the barriers piled up between Jew and Gentile. Regardless of appearances and against discouragement that might have led her to doubt, she trusted the Savior’s love. This is how Christ wants us to trust in Him. The blessings of salvation are for every human being. Nothing but his or her own choice can prevent anyone from becoming a partaker of the promise in Christ by the gospel. 3TC 259.4

Caste is hateful to God. In His sight all people are of equal value. He “has made from one blood every nation of men ... that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might ... find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” All are invited to come to Him and live. “The same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Acts 17:26, 27; Romans 10:12, 13. 3TC 259.5