Why the difference.

[Edwin]

 

 

When our Lord Jesus was asked for help by a centurion, He said,

 

 Mat 8:7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

 

 But when a Woman asked for help, He said,

 

 Mat 15:26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the little dogs."

 

 Could someone please explain why?

 

 Thank you.

 

 Edwin.

[Guest Teditis]

The circumstances of every encounter that we have in life is different and accordingly, we respond to them differently.

[coheir]

When our Lord Jesus was asked for help by a centurion, He said,

 

 Mat 8:7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

 

 But when a Woman asked for help, He said,

 

 Mat 15:26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the little dogs."

 

 Could someone please explain why?

 

 Thank you.

 

 Edwin.

 

 

 

Edwin, Im sure others here may have a better explanation.  Here is how I see these verses. It is possible I could be misunderstanding them and if so someone will help if I do.

 

Matt 15

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 

 

In the above verses  Jesus was in person on earth as the promised Messiah that Israel waited on (v24) as He says he was sent for Israel not the rest of the world. He came to earth to save Israel not the world. All her crying and wailing was not to change his mission

(saving Israel ). there were many many Gentiles in the world with troubles of many kinds; they were not his mission, e did not come to solve the gentiles troubles.

 

 

25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

 

 

In the verses above the situation had changed and when this gentile whom Jesus was not sent for showed faith in him ( what he wanted to see from Israel ) he healed her because he saw real faith in her he acted upon it.

 

Matt 8

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

 

 

In the above verses I think Jesus saw some faith and love in this mans words. As a Centurion he could easily aquire another servant I would think.

 

 

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

 

 

Again the faith of the gentile shined thru and Jesus saw it and acted on that faith.

[Edwin]

Thank you to all three of you for your comments.

 

Here for what it is worth is my understanding.

 

Jesus in both cases is dealing with gentiles, and is showing us that they are capable of having more faith than Jews.

But then how are we to know this?

Well only as a result of how they react, to what He says to them, and although He deals with each in a totally different way, their response is the same,

In fact His comments were.

Matthew 8:10, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!".

Mark 7:29, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter ".

The centurion had great insight as can be seen when he said,

 

The Mat 8:9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

 

His words, "I also am a man under authority", clearly indicates that he knew that Jesus also had to do as He was instructed to do.
This in fact is confirmed by Jesus at,

 

Jhn 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment--what to say and what to speak.
Jhn 12:50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me."

And also by His Father, who said,

 

Deu 18:18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
Deu 18:19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

 

Every blessing.

Edwin. 

Edited October 5, 2014 by Edwin

[FreeinChrist]

We also see the story of Centurion in Luke 7:1-10, in which Luke tells us that the Elders of the Jews asked on behalf of the Centurion, for they told Jesus that he was worthy, Luke 7:3-5.  It sounds like the Centurion, was a God-fearer that is someone who feared the God of Israel, but usually did not follow the OT Circumcision Ritual. 

[Willa]

The thing that strikes me is the humility of each and that they recognized Him as the Messiah, sent from God.

The woman acknowledged that she was but an unworthy puppy with no right to ask, but she still begged for mercy. She acknowledged Him as the Son of David, called Him Lord and worshipped Him for Who He is.

Not many even of the Jews did this. Only one of the 10 lepers came back and worshipped Him. One thief on the cross did so as well.

The centurian was one under authority, and recognized that Jesus was totally under His Father's authority. Humility comes under authority. He also recognized Who Jesus is--the promised Messiah sent from God.

When Peter made the good confession, You and the Christ, Jesus had told him that only the Father could have revealed that to him. So God had revealed this to these two gentiles as well, and had given them faith.

God still reveals to each of us Who Jesus is and gives us saving faith.

[Riverwalker]

Jesus was testing the woman, because she was in sin...and he wanted to see where she would go.  He appreciated her determination...but had to confront her with her sin first

 

The soldier....had stated clearly his understanding of authority and who had it

[seandavids]

When our Lord Jesus was asked for help by a centurion, He said,

 

 Mat 8:7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

 

 But when a Woman asked for help, He said,

 

 Mat 15:26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the little dogs."

 

 Could someone please explain why?

 

 Thank you.

 

 Edwin.

He only did what He saw His Father doing

 

who knows the mind of God?

[Cog]

I think the centurion was a jew (at heart) and the woman a gentile (who likely prayed to and followed after strange gods / spirits over elements / fallen angels). And when Jesus tested her, her witty remark and understanding of the bread (Jesus) and dog (her and her kind) analogy proved her worthy -- she uderstood who Jesus was probably better than the disciples - she understood him spiritually, which is probably why she was so unrelenting - she knew he could help her - that it was practically Father's will for Jesus to help her.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Cog