MATTHEW 15:21-28 AND MARK 7:24-30

In considering events recorded in the gospels we often get multiple accounts of the same event, and there are some variations in the way the gospel writers tell them. This can be disturbing to some Christians. Segal's Law humorously puts it this way: “A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never quite sure.” As an example, take the healing of the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter, which is found in both Matthew and Mark. This is the story where Jesus calls the woman a dog. Don't let that fact turn you off. You need to take into account that the Greek word for dog appearing in both accounts is kunarion (little puppy), not the more derogatory term kuon (cur, mongrel) used elsewhere in the NT.

Compare the two accounts below:

Matthew: Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

Mark: From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. 

These two versions say basically the same thing. 

Matthew: Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”

Mark: He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syro-Phoenician origin.

Note Matthew's use of a typically Jewish title for Jesus and Mark's emphasis on Jesus maintaining secrecy. By comparing the minor differences between parallel accounts, we can actually increase our understanding of the events as well as seeing the particular concerns that each of the gospel writers has.

Matthew: But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord help me.”

Mark: She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 

Matthew stresses details that would be of interest to his mainly Jewish audience. 

Matthew: He answered, “It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

Mark: He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

Note that Mark doesn't deny that Jesus came to serve the Gentiles, only that a ministry to the Jews was his first priority.

Matthew: She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”

Mark: But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”

Matthew: Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Mark: Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go – the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

The slight differences in details and wording between these accounts is actually good evidence that we have two completely independent witnesses to the event. By the way, the question might arise, “Why did Jesus give the woman such a rough time before answering her request?” Here again there is a parallel in probably the only time in the OT that God performed a healing miracle on behalf of a Gentile. This is the time in II Kings 5 when Elisha cured the Syrian commander Naaman of his leprosy. If you recall the story, Naaman is told to bathe seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman at first argued that it was beneath him to do that, but he was talked into it by his servant. In both stories, it looks as if a Gentile's faith is being tested before God will perform a miracle.