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Peter now asks the Lord to explain further, which caused Christ to say "are you still so
dull?", that is, like the religious leaders are? He tells him that what enters the mouth
passes through the body in the normal way. But spoken words come from the heart or
mind, and so are a true index of character.
"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft,
false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean; but eating with unwashed
hands does not make him unclean" (15: 19, 20, N.I.V.).
In Mark's account (7: 21, 22) the list of sins is extended and six more are added,
guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride and folly. Matthew adds one, false
testimony. In Mark they are given in no particular order, but in Matthew they are
evidently arranged according to the decalogue, "murder, adultery, fornication, thefts and
false witness" represent the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth commandments. This would
make a great impression on the mind of a Jew who was familiar with the law given
through Moses.
The great faith of the Canaanitish woman.
The Lord Jesus now moves northward to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and a woman
of Canaan comes to Him and implores Him to rescue her daughter from demon
possession. The woman was a Greek speaking descendant of the old inhabitants of
Phoenicia, and in dealing with her we have a startling contrast to the multitudes He had
recently fed miraculously. Up to this point, we have no record of any sick or needy
person being turned away by the Lord. He healed them all, is the constant statement. But
now He apparently ignores her. He answers her not a word. But she persists and it began
to annoy the disciples. "She keeps crying out after us" they said.
Then the Lord spoke, but what He said was far from encouraging as far as the woman
was concerned:
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" (15: 24, N.I.V.).
She was a pagan, certainly not a descendant from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet she
had addressed Him as the "Son of David" (15: 22). But as an outsider, she had no claim
upon Him. She had evidently heard Him addressed in this way as such. Her great need
and her great faith encouraged her to persist. She now kneels before Him and pleads,
"Lord, help me", and now uses the all-embracive title "Lord". Again Christ speaks,
testing her even further. He said:
"It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs" (15: 26, N.I.V.).
The children were obviously Israel, and she was certainly not a true Israelite. But
there was a ray of hope in the Lord's words which her faith recognized. "Yes, Lord" she
said, "but even the dogs (little dogs) eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table
(verse 27). In Palestine dogs were scavengers and looked upon as unclean, but puppies
were sometimes allowed into houses and of course ate anything that accidently dropped
from the table during a meal.