Matthew 15:28

‘Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith. Be it done to you even as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.'

Impressed by her faith, and aware that she has now acknowledged where any benefit will come from, Jesus replies with commendation. “O woman, great is your faith. Be it done to you even as you wish.” This is the second time that Jesus has been impressed by the faith of a Gentile (see Matthew 8:19). And her daughter was healed from that hour (compare Matthew 8:13 b).

There are parallel echoes here to Matthew 8:5 where the Gentile centurion also demonstrated great faith, and His servant was healed at a distance ‘in that hour'. They are thus both seen to be on a parallel. Does this then mean that her faith, and that of the centurion, were greater than that of the disciples who were of ‘little faith'? The comparison is not fair. The disciples are seen as ‘of little faith' in the face of great obstacles (Matthew 14:31; Matthew 17:20). His point there was that their faith was small compared with what it should have been, but it was nevertheless a faith that kept them following Him faithfully, and was great enough to enabled them to perform wonders in His Name. Thus their faith and hers must be seen as measured on a different basis.

But there seems little doubt from what follows that this incident has opened Jesus' eyes to the further outreach that His Father has now shown Him that He must engage in. And He is thus not described as returning to Jewish territory until Matthew 15:39. It would seem therefore that the ministry that follows is intended by Matthew to be seen as on Gentile territory, fulfilling the words of Matthew 12:18; Matthew 12:21. That the crowds which will be mentioned included many Jews we need not doubt, for all the areas around Galilee were well inhabited with Jews. But nor can we doubt that they would have included many Gentiles, who would be in the majority in these areas. It would not be true to human nature not to recognise that a wonder-worker of such magnitude would not be an object of interest to all. And as we shall see there are in fact hints of the fact in the stories that follow.