Matthew 15:28

O woman, great is thy faith, etc.] Why did Jesus speak to her so harshly, and wait so long before granting her request? (1) To test the strength of her faith; (2) to teach her the lesson that persistence and importunity in prayer will finally meet their reward; (3) to teach the disciples that greater faith was often to be found among the heathen than in Israel.

The miracle is interesting as one of the rare cases in which the ministrations of Christ were extended to a pure heathen. It is one of the few 'preludes of the larger mercy which was in store, first drops of that gracious shower which should one day water the whole earth.' In St. Mark's version our Lord gives a clear intimation of the future call of the Gentiles, by saying, 'Let the children first be filled.'