The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 10: Matthew 15, by Kevin M. Williams
This would indicate, would it not, a Jews-only club? On the surface we might believe that. But Matthew wrote this gospel to be a witness to the Jewish people of the Messiahship of Yeshua. Was Yeshua’s subsequent interchange merely grace being poured out on an undeserving Gentile woman? Or was there a message beneath the surface?
The answer may rest in Yeshua’s choice of words, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He could have said, “I was sent to the lost people of the house of Israel.”. However, He purposefully chooses an animal allegory. This is a clue to the greater purpose of this interchange.
The Lord GOD, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.” All you beasts of the field, All you beasts in the forest, Come to eat (Isaiah 56:8-9).
Keeping this prophecy in mind, that there are Israelites and there are other beasts who come to eat—for the purpose of being gathered in with Israel—the following dialogue in our Matthew account may take on new relevance.
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” (Matthew 15:25-27).
Ah, one of the “beasts” has come to eat—Isaiah’s words are about to become reality.
Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once (Matthew 15:28).
We have no additional commentary on which to build, but it would seem that Yeshua has affirmed that Gentiles, prophesied in Isaiah 56, who are justified by faith are welcome into the flock that was once reserved only for the house of Israel. This seems perfectly consistent with Yeshua’s words in another gospel account:
And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd (John 10:16).
This exchange with this woman may be yet one more example of Matthew demonstrating that Yeshua is the long awaited Messiah, whose sovereignty and mercy extend not only to Israel, but to all creation.
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Matthew’s goal, to proclaim the Messiah to the Jewish people, is carried on through the rest of chapter 15:
And departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, and having gone up to the mountain, He was sitting there. And great multitudes came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, dumb, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them, so that the multitude marveled as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel (Matthew 15:20-31).
If there were any doubts that Yeshua was the Messiah, Matthew dispels them here. As discussed in an earlier section of this Matthew study, the people were looking for a Messiah through whom the lame would walk, the blind would see, and the dumb would talk, and so forth. In fact, when John’s disciples come to ask Yeshua if he is the “One,” his answer is not “yes” or “no,” but an affirmation of the anticipated:
Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them (Luke 7:22, also Matthew 11).
The miracles fulfilled the public’s messianic expectations. Six signs were given by the prophet Isaiah to confirm the identity of the promised Messiah:
1) Isaiah 29:18, 35:5 (blindness)
2) Isaiah 35:6, 61:1 (lameness)
3) Isaiah 61:1 (leprosy cleansed)
4) Isaiah 29:18, 25:5 (deafness)
5) Isaiah 11:1-2 (resurrection implied)
6) Isaiah 61:1-2 (evangelize the poor)
Category: Biblical Studies, Pneuma Review, Summer 2003
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