Matthew 15:21-28 describes an interaction between Jesus and a Canaanite woman—a member of the very people group that Israel had been called to exterminate from the Promised Land in the Old Testament. The woman is found pleading with Jesus to free her demonized daughter, and persists in doing so, even after the disciples urge Jesus to send her away, and despite the fact that Jesus reminds her that Jewish people stereotyped Canaanites as “dogs.” As a result, Jesus praised this woman’s “great faith” and then granted her request.
But why was this interaction significant? The full force of this story only becomes apparent when we recall that Jesus is a descendant of the mighty warrior King David (Matthew 1:6), and that the name “Jesus” is the Greek version of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” Seen in this light, some have argued that Matthew intends this story to be read against the background of the Old Testament’s conquest narrative (see especially the book of Joshua), as the contemporary “Joshua” interacts with a descendent of the Canaanites, who the ancient Joshua had attempted to exterminate. If read like this, it becomes apparent that, by extending mercy to a descendent of the people that the ancient Joshua had shown no mercy to, Jesus – the New Joshua – is subverting the “show no mercy” command of the conquest narrative.
This helps explain why Jesus tested the woman’s faith by bringing up the Jewish stereotype of Canaanites as “dogs,” which was itself part of the legacy of the conquest narrative. Her “great faith,” combined with Jesus’ merciful subverting of the “show no mercy” command, forges a healing of the rift created by Joshua’s bloody campaign. And, of course, the focal point of the healing is Jesus.
