Why I Believe Jesus NEVER Sinned at All in His Encounter with the Canaanite Woman

I find it impossible not to think about Good Friday when Christmas is around the corner. Thinking about Good Friday actually helps calm me down in the midst of the worldly Christmas season. One of the films (though I dare agree with A.W. Tozer that the religious movie is indeed a menace) shown during Holy Week is the "Jesus (1979)" film which primarily focuses on the Gospel According to Luke. Matthew 15:21-28 records what some may call to be a difficult passage to understand. Some skeptics may want to prove that Jesus sinned. However, it's far from it and I'd have to defend why Jesus didn't sin at all in this passage.

What did Jesus mean when He said that He was only sent for the lost sheep of Israel? Jesus wasn't lying (since as the holy and righteous eternal God the Son, He cannot lie) but telling the truth when He said that. I had my views into thinking that Jesus referred that all sinners are considered the lost sheep of Israel. Otherwise, this Canaanite woman wouldn't have been saved and her daughter delivered at that very hour. It was possible that the woman was tested to see if she saw herself as such. Though, it's also important to see that the first primary focus of Jesus' ministry was Israel. We can read in Luke 24:49 when He told His disciples to tarry first in Jerusalem before the power will be granted unto them in Acts 2. The focus was still Israel at that time yet it didn't mean Gentiles weren't welcome. In fact, a Roman centurion also saw the power of Jesus in Luke 7:1-10. Jesus mentioned that how a Gentile (and a Roman) had such faith but not such faith was found in Israel. I even believe that the statement was meant to remind the woman of her sinfulness and a lost sheep. Was the woman told to seek herself and see herself as a lost sheep in need of salvation? I believe so and that's why Jesus told her that He was only sent for the lost sheep of Israel.

What did Jesus mean when He said that it's not proper to throw bread from children to dogs? The Greek word for dogs used is kunarion which means a small dog or pet dog. Was this again an attempt to make the woman see her sinfulness and desire to be saved from sin? It could be since the woman's response was that the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. She was probably now more than content to eat from the crumbs of the master's table and saw herself as that sinner in need of salvation. Though, I also want to believe that the woman was probably guilty of doing so which may have led to her predicament. It's possible that Jesus probably wanted to remind the woman of a sin she needed repenting of. The woman was a sinner and she needed to see the need for repentance. The woman finally repented seeing her need for salvation, content to be a dog eating from the crumbs of the master's table. She saw herself as a sinner who can only see salvation in humbling herself. She saw Jesus as her Master and that she as a dog, was content to be fed by Him.

The outcome was that the woman's faith is called great before the Jews. I believe that the Canaanite woman had to be broken before the magnificent saving power of God was displayed. It's also possible that Jesus said to her those statements so her faith can be displayed for all to see. The disciples wanted to send her away. Instead, Jesus gave her two truthful replies that led to her (and presumably her daughter) to get saved. It was a call to humility for the woman by telling her hard truths that she needed to hear. She had to see herself as a lost sheep of Israel and an unclean sinner to see the need of the Savior. Anybody who tries to say Jesus sinned in this passage isn't reading it properly or can't understand it because they're not saved.