When the Lord Jesus referred to the Canaanite woman as a dog, she said, “Yes, Lord; for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). The Canaanite woman, not offended by the Lord’s word, but rather admitting that she was a heathen dog, considered that at that time Christ, after being rejected by the children, the Jews, became crumbs under the table as a portion to the Gentiles. The holy land of Israel was the table on which Christ, the heavenly bread, came as a portion to the children of Israel. But they threw Him off the table to the ground, the Gentile country, so that He became broken crumbs as a portion to the Gentiles. What a realization this Gentile woman had at that time! No wonder the heavenly King admired her faith (v. 28).
The Gentile woman seemed to be saying, “Yes, Lord, I am a dirty, pagan dog. But don’t forget, Lord, that even dogs have their portion. The dog’s portion is not on the table like the children’s portion. The children’s portion is on the table, but the dog’s portion is under the table. Now, Lord, You are not on the table, in the land of Israel. You are under the table, in the Gentile world. You are in the very place where I am. You are not on the table where the children are. You are now under the table where the dogs are. Lord, the dogs may eat the crumbs that are under the table.” The Canaanite woman was keen, and the Lord Jesus was caught by her.
Verse 28 says, “Then Jesus answered and said to her, O woman, your faith is great; let it be done to you as you desire. And her daughter was healed from that hour.” This word indicates that the Canaanite woman’s dealings with the Lord were by faith, and her faith was great, overcoming the apparent situation.
Because I am very careful in doctrinal matters, I have wondered why the Lord Jesus did not tell the Canaanite woman to wash herself and then come back and eat. If I had been the Lord, I would have said, “Yes, as a dog, you have your portion. But don’t you realize how dirty you are? If you would eat Me as the crumbs, you need to wash yourself.” According to doctrine, this woman definitely needed to be washed. But why did the Lord Jesus not ask her to wash herself before eating of Him? If the Lord had done this, He would have been acting contrary to what He had said in the foregoing verses when He belittled the matter of outward washing. Here the Lord is emphasizing the matter of eating. But this does not mean that we do not need to be washed. The blood is available. We may strike the blood and eat the Lamb. But in order not to confuse matters, in this section on eating, the Lord Jesus said nothing about washing. I believe that the Lord Jesus did this purposely to show His disciples that they needed only one thing—the eating. Even if we are as dirty as pagan dogs, we still have the right and the position to eat Jesus. Oh, we need to be uninhibited eaters! Do not wait until you have washed. Come to the Lord just as you are and eat of Him. As the words of a hymn say, “Just as I am, I come.” We need to say, “Lord, I come just as I am. I don’t need to change or to be cleansed. Lord, I need You, and I come to You to eat. Even if I am a dirty dog, I come to You just as I am.” Eating is primary, and eating is everything.
The Canaanite woman did not come to the Lord because she was hungry; she came because her daughter was sick. But the Lord turned the situation to the matter of eating. The Lord did not say, “I came as a Physician to the children of Israel, and I cannot heal any heathen. I cannot cure dogs.” Rather, the Lord seemed to be saying, “I came as bread to the children. It is not right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.” Although the woman’s request had nothing to do with eating, the Lord purposely related her case to the matter of eating to show us that what we need is not outward washing, but eating for the inward nourishing. In his doctrinal arrangement Matthew put these matters together that we might understand that for the kingdom of the heavens we do not need outward cleansing, but what we need is for Christ to get into us. Are you sick or weak? Do you have certain problems? Do not try to deal with these things in an outward way. Instead, deal with them in an inward way by eating Jesus. In fact, you should forget about all those things. What you need is not outward washing, but Christ coming into you. The Lord seemed to be saying to the Canaanite woman, “You don’t need healing. You need Me! And you do not need Me outwardly; you need Me inwardly. You need to eat Me. I came as bread for people to eat, to digest, and to assimilate. I would like to get into your being, into your system, vessels, and fibers. I would like to get into your very constituent and become you. Thus, you need to eat Me. Don’t deal with things in an outward way. Rather, deal with everything in an inward way by taking Me into you. As long as I can get into you to nourish you, every problem will be solved.”
We do not need outward rituals or practices. In today’s religion people are following outward practices. But God’s economy is not a matter of outward things; it is a matter of Christ coming into us inwardly. For this, we need to take Christ in by eating Him.
When I came to this country, I came with a commission and a burden, with something that I had received from the heavens. Before you came into the church, you never heard a word about eating Jesus, for all the teachings in religion are concerned with the outward washing of hands, not with presenting the edible Jesus to people. But this ministry has come here with the commission to minister the edible Jesus to His believers. I do not care for the opposition and the attack. I know what I am doing. Thinking that I am too bold, some may say, “Why is this man so bold? Don’t we have many scholars in this country, men with doctoral degrees from the best seminaries?” I do not care about those degrees. I care only for my burden. I have the strong assurance that I have something of the Lord from the heavens that is not found in today’s religion. I am not here teaching or preaching—I am ministering the edible Christ. This is what the Lord’s people need today. You do not need religious washings. Forget about such things! As dirty dogs, we need the eating of Jesus. We need to take Jesus in. Hallelujah, today Jesus is not on the table! He is under the table. He has been cast off the table by the Israelites, and now He is in the Gentile world. All of us, including me, are dirty, pagan dogs. Nevertheless, we can praise the Lord that we are dogs, because the very bread of life from the heavens is now where the dogs are. If the bread were on the table, it would not be available to us. But today the bread is under the table where the dogs are. We need the edible Christ who is now so near to us.
How I appreciate this section of the book of Matthew! This section reveals that we must forget about outward washing and eat the Lord Jesus. Do not try to change yourself, to correct yourself, or to improve yourself. What we need is the eating of Jesus.