He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Jesus’ words here may seem restrictive, but in fact they reveal the gradual plan of salvation. He explains that the primary mission of his ministry during his earthly life was directed to the lost sheep of Israel, that is, God’s chosen people who had strayed from the truth. Yet this limitation is temporary: throughout the whole story of the Gospel we see how Jesus’ grace is opened to all nations. These words were also a test of the woman’s faith. She heard that, as a non-Jew, she supposedly did not fit the stated purpose. Then we will see that she not only was not offended, but continued to draw near in faith. Jesus knew the strength of her faith and allowed that faith to be revealed and to go beyond the boundaries of nationality.