15:21-28 I feel a renewal of my faith. This comes from the strong faith of the woman in this passage. Reflecting on this passage Matthew uses the powerful symbols of faith, love, and mercy; additionally he uses imagery to convey his message. Matthew’s second verse uses the idea of a woman calling to Jesus for mercy, not for herself but for her daughter. This brings the symbol of a mother’s love for her child; when describing the demon Matthew creates an image for the reader by using the word tormented to describe the daughter’s state. Conveying how this mother needs Jesus’ help. Matthew also uses “Son of David” to stress Jesus’ heritage since his community had strong ties to Jewish religious traditions. Matthew also associates the title “Son of David with healing”. (Murphy 160) The …show more content…
I believe that Matthews Gospel is loved so much because his writings reinforce the idea of with steadfast faith Jesus will help you. This passage of “the Canaanite woman whose wit and faith overcome Jesus’ reluctance to heal her child” (Byme, xii) allows the reader to see that Jesus looked beyond his mission of ministering to the Jews to also minister to a Gentile. Matthew used a timeless point that his readers can understand - a mother’s faith and love are powerful; in this passage, it was powerful enough to for Jesus’ minister to a Gentile. Additionally, “neither the biblical authors nor their first audiences could ever have anticipated anything like the Great Transformation that has taken place over the last two hundred years” (Malina, pg 1), yet people still relate to this passage today. Faith is something that a person from any period can