Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me.
All Commentaries on Matthew 15:25 Go To Matthew 15
Epiphanius the Latin
AD 403
Then, in face of the Jews who were rejecting him, this Gentile woman asked him to heal her daughter. But the Lord turned a deaf ear to her. She fell down at his feet and adored him, saying, “Lord, help me.” The Lord then said to her, “It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” What have the Jews to say to this? Plainly he implied that they were children and called the Gentiles “dogs.” The woman agreed, saying to the Savior, “Yes, Lord.” That is to say, I know, Lord, that the Gentile people are dogs in worshiping idols and barking at God. “Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” In other words, you came to the Jews and manifested yourself to them, and they didn’t want you to make exceptions. What they rejected, give to us who are asking for it. Knowing the importunate faith of this woman, our Lord said, “O woman, your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” Faith accepts what work does not merit, and through faith the Gentiles were made children out of dogs. As the Lord spoke through the prophet: “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’ it shall be said to them, ‘Sons of the living God.’ ” On the other hand, the unreceptive Jews were made loathsome dogs out of children, as the Lord himself said in his Passion through the prophet: “Many dogs surround me; a company of evildoers encircle me.”
