“But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 15:23 Mean?
"But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us." The Canaanite woman cries to Jesus for her demon-possessed daughter, and Jesus is silent. Not a word. The disciples' response is worse: send her away. She's bothering us. The woman faces a silent Savior and hostile disciples — the two groups that should be most responsive to human need are both refusing to engage.
The silence is deliberately unsettling. Jesus, who responds to lepers, blind men, and centurions, says nothing to this woman. The silence isn't cruelty — the ensuing dialogue (v. 24-28) reveals it's a test that produces the greatest faith statement in the Gospels. But in this moment, the silence is real and the woman feels it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When has God's silence felt like abandonment but turned out to be the forge for deeper faith?
- 2.How do you persist in prayer when both God seems silent and the community tells you to go away?
- 3.What does the woman's refusal to leave despite silence and hostility teach about the nature of genuine faith?
- 4.Where is Jesus' silence in your life right now — and could it be the setup for something you can't yet see?
Devotional
Not a word. The woman is crying. Her daughter is tormented. She's calling out to Jesus with everything she has. And Jesus says nothing. The most compassionate person who ever lived responds to a desperate mother with silence.
The silence hurts more than a refusal would. A refusal at least acknowledges your existence. Silence treats you as if you're not there. The woman is shouting — the disciples complain about the noise — and Jesus is quiet. Not busy with someone else. Not distracted. Deliberately silent.
Send her away. The disciples' response is actively hostile. Not just indifferent. They want her removed. She's an inconvenience. Her persistence is annoying. Her foreignness makes her dispensable. Send her away — the way you'd dismiss a stray dog that won't stop following you.
The woman faces the worst possible combination: a silent God and hostile community. The person who should help won't speak. The people who should care want her gone. Every door is closed. Every face is turned. And she keeps crying.
The silence isn't the end of the story. It's the setup. Jesus' silence produces the dialogue that will extract from this woman the most remarkable faith statement in the Gospels: "even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table" (v. 27). The faith that Jesus calls "great" (v. 28) was forged in the silence. The silence didn't kill her faith. It refined it.
If Jesus is silent right now — if your desperate cries seem to hit a wall of divine non-response while the community around you suggests you should just go away — the silence might be the forge. The faith that produces miracles is often born in the moment when silence seems like abandonment but turns out to be refining.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But he answered her not a word,.... Not that he did not hear her, or that he despised either her person or petition, or…
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We have here that famous story of Christ's casting the devil out of the woman of Canaan's daughter; it has something in…
answered her not a word Jesus, by this refusal, tries the woman's faith, that he may purify and deepen it. Her request…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture