Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. (Matt 15:21–28)

Then, in the face of Jews who were rejecting Him, this Gentile woman asked Him to heal her daughter. But the Lord turned a deaf ear to her. She fell down at his feet and adored him, saying, “Lord, help me.” The Lord then said to her, “It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” What have the Jews to say to this? Plainly He implied that they were children and called the Gentiles “dogs.” The woman agreed, saying to the Savior, “Yes, Lord.” That is to say, I know, Lord, that the Gentile people are dogs in worshiping idols and barking at God. “Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” In other words, You came to the Jews and manifested Yourself to them, and they didn't want You to make exceptions. What they rejected, give to us who are asking for it. Knowing the importunate faith of this woman, our Lord said, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” Faith accepts what work does not merit, and through faith the Gentiles were made children out of dogs. As the Lord spoke through the prophet: “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’ it shall be said to them, ‘Sons of the living God.’” On the other hand, the unreceptive Jews were made loathsome dogs out of children, as the Lord Himself said in His Passion through the prophet: “Many dogs surround me; a company of evildoers encircles me.”

Epiphanius, Interpretation of the Gospels 58.

Having seen her advocates unsuccessful, the woman then appeals for herself and does not stop but in effect says to the Lord, “Help me, I haven't been asking this for my own sake.” Then the Savior in turn says, “It is not good to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.” He uses the term dog on account of the Gentiles’ unclean lifestyle and proneness to idolatry, while he calls the Jews children on account of the fact that they appeared to be devoted to God. But He uses the word bread not only to speak of his teaching, which was through words, but also of that which nourished the faithful by means of signs. But in this case the word preceded the condemnation of the Jews, since when life in the Lord had been given to them as bread, they did not accept it. The woman does not complain, even when insulted. What does the Savior do? By His answer, He showed what He had premeditated from the outset. For it was for this reason that He postponed giving a reply: that the woman might cry aloud with this word. Thereby He would show her to be worthy of a thousand crowns. For it was not because He did not want to give her the gift that He delayed but because He sought and took care beforehand to reveal her faith. With His accolades He honors her as presenting a type of the church that is from the Gentiles. Note that He did not say, “Let your child be healed,” but “Be it done for you as you desire,” in order to show that it was the power of her faith that elicited the healing. Even if she were worthy of even greater things, nevertheless that which she wanted was what was given to her.

Theodore of Mopsuestia, Fragment 83.