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As Matthew opens his Gospel he pointedly declares that Jesus Christ is, “the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mat 1:1). During his three year ministry on earth, wherever He went, His fellow Jews declared Jesus to be the “son of David” (Matt. 9:27, 12:23, 20:30-31, 21:9, 21:15, 22:42; Mark 10:47-48, Luke 18:38-39) and Jesus never rebuked nor corrected them. |
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However, when the “a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil…he answered her not a word” and the Apostles demanded that he should “Send her away” (Matt. 15:22-23) . Why did this needy woman receive such a cold response to her pleas for help? The Gospel of Mark tells us that this woman was, “a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation” (Mark 7:26). The title “Son of David” is a technical term referring to a very particular descendant of Israel’s greatest king – David. This Descendant was understood to be the Messiah.[1] He would be the King in Israel’s millennial kingdom. The subjects of this kingdom would be Israelis and the Messiah was to be their king. As king He would have a responsibility to His subjects and they would have a responsibility to Him. In a human kingdom, the king is responsible to provide military protection, economic opportunity, a legal system, etc. In return, his subjects give him honor, pay taxes, and serve in his military and so on. The king is obligated to the citizens of his kingdom and likewise, the citizens are obligated to the king.
This is the dynamic of the situation recorded in Matt. 15. Jesus was the “Son of David;” the Messiah; the King of Israel. He had come unto His own (John 1:11), the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Mat 10:6, 15:24). He had an obligation to Israel and not to this non-Israeli, Greek woman. For this reason, He explained to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). She then realizes her error and her place, and, instead of appealing to the “Son of David;” the King of Israel, she calls Him “Lord” (Kyrios). This term acknowledged His lordship over the world in general.[2] |
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The Aramaic equivalent to the Greek "Kyrios" is “Mari.” This was a very respectful form of polite address, well above "Teacher" and similar to Rabbi. Jesus was impressed with her expression of respect and responded by answering her request. But He made it clear that she had no claim to Israel’s exalted position.
[1] See Mark 12:35 where Jesus is teaching in the temple and asked why the scribes say, “that the Christ [the Messiah] is the son of David?” (ESV) [2] Kyrios (biblical term), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrios_(Biblical_term)#cite_note-Cullmann2-2
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