Having just concluded a biting debate with the Pharisees on the issue of what defiles a person (Matthew 15:1-9), Jesus travels to a region that is suspiciously unclean in Jewish eyes. Tyre and Sidon, or Phoenicia - what today is part of Lebanon - was outside the established boundaries of Israel, God's chosen nation and people. It was an area rife with pagans and other suspect characters. Yet Jesus walks smack into it. Matthew's text suggests that it doesn't take long for one of the locals to discover the presence of these Jews and start making a scene.

Matthew defines this person as a "Canaanite" woman - emphasizing her heritage as among the earliest inhabitants of this region. Canaanite meant a long-hardened pagan and a longtime enemy of Jewish monotheistic faith and commitment.

Not only …