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As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually.

The Canaanite Woman Said What She Said.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 offers a rich lens for challenging colonial theology and the doctrine of discovery. What does Jesus’ transformation in this story teach us about listening, humility, and change?

Matthew 15:21-28 (NRSV)
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.

Mark 7:24-30 (NRSV)
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

Kana’an: Canaan was the southeastern side of the Mediterranean coast, the part that joins Africa to Asia. The Indigenous inhabitants of that region were called Canaanites in Biblical Hebrew, or Syrophoenician in Koine Greek. Canaanites were on their land since before 4500 BCE. There were many different cultures and beliefs of the groups of people living in the land of Canaan. Ammonites, Moabites, Israelites who were never exiled, Phoenicians, Philistines (later called Palestinians), and other nomadic groups were all called Canaanites.

A Conversation with the Text

When the Hebrew scriptures refer to “the stranger” or “the foreigner”, most times it means someone who sojourns through the territory where a community of Israelites are living. These strangers or foreigners agree to live in the community of Israelites, and the sacred texts encourage hospitality and kindness to anyone who chooses to live by the values, mores, and rules of the Israelites. The power dynamic tips on the side of the people who are telling the story… the Israelites.

When the story encounters people who lived on the “land of milk and honey” before the Israelites, the power dynamic becomes flipped. The harmony between the stranger (Israelites) and the original inhabitants is incompatible. This is the political context of Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 is one of the most striking moments in the Gospels. It is a story of persistence, resistance, and transformation. It is also a story that challenges colonial theology and the Doctrine of Discovery—a doctrine that has justified centuries of land theft, cultural erasure, and spiritual domination.

Jesus, a Jewish teacher and prophet, enters Gentile territory. The woman he meets is not just a foreigner—she is a descendant of the people displaced by Israelite conquest. Her voice disrupts the narrative.

The woman’s plea is urgent: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Jesus’ initial silence and the disciples’ dismissal reflect a theology of exclusion. She is not part of the chosen people. She is not supposed to belong.

But she persists. She kneels. She speaks back. And when Jesus calls her a dog, she responds with a truth that cannot be ignored: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” This is not just clever rhetoric. She refuses to accept the boundaries of belonging. She claims her place in the story. The woman is direct with no shame. She firmly believes in a God that took joy and delight in creating all of creation.

This woman leads a theological intervention, when she challenges Jesus’ wrong lens. We see an image of Jesus as fully human, fully experiencing all of what it means to be human and have an embody theology that does not include all that God has created. Until this intervention, Jesus embodied what he had been taught in society, and an Indigenous woman came into his life and retold Genesis 1.

What happens next is extraordinary. “huh… recalibrating…” Jesus says. Jesus listens. He changes. He affirms her faith and heals her daughter.

This moment of transformation is crucial. It shows that even Jesus, shaped by the cultural and theological norms of his time, can be moved by the voice of the marginalized. It shows that divine compassion is not static—it responds to truth, humility, and courage.

The Doctrine of Discovery declared that lands not inhabited by Christians were available to be “discovered,” claimed, and colonized. It denied the humanity and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples. It justified genocide and spiritual domination.

The Canaanite woman’s story stands in stark contrast. She is not discovered—she speaks. She is not conquered—she resists. She is not erased—she is remembered.

Her voice calls us to reject theologies that exclude. Her persistence invites us to listen to those who have been silenced. Her faith reminds us that transformation is possible.

Deeper Reflection Questions

• How do power dynamics shape the way biblical stories are told and interpreted? What happens when we center the voices of those historically labeled as “foreigners” or “outsiders”?
• What does it mean that Jesus entered Gentile territory in this story? How does the woman’s identity as a Canaanite challenge dominant theological narratives?
• What does Jesus’ change of heart teach us about humility and openness to correction? How might this story inform our own spiritual practices of listening to the voices we are taught not to listen to?
• In what ways does this story challenge the assumptions of the Doctrine of Discovery? What does this story invite you to reconsider in your own theology or practice?
• When you have experienced or witnessed a moment where someone’s voice disrupted a harmful narrative, what kind of transformation happened? How did you feel?

Closing Prayer: A Prayer for Listening and Liberation

God of all peoples and all lands,
You walked into Gentile territory.
You listened to the voice of a woman who refused to be silenced.
You changed, and in that change, we saw the fullness of your compassion.

We come to you now,
As people shaped by stories—some that heal, and some that harm.
Help us to hear the voices that disrupt exclusion.
Help us to welcome those who have been cast aside.
Help us to unlearn theologies that justify domination, genocide, and colonization.

May we be like the Canaanite woman—persistent, courageous, and faithful.
May we be like Jesus—willing to listen, willing to change.
May our communities become places of justice,
Where crumbs are no longer enough,
And all are fed with dignity, truth, and love.

We pray in the name of the One who crossed boundaries,
Who healed with compassion,
And who calls us to do the same.
Amen.