At first glance, the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 seems to have nothing in common with the exiled people of Israel in Jeremiah 31. In fact, they are the opposite of each other. She is a foreigner, a “house-dog” begging for scraps by shouting after Jesus. Whereas, the people of Israel are God's chosen and privileged clans, returning home with singing. But the bright idea that connects these readings is this: God's mercy has always been wider than we imagine; God's love has always been faithful through the ages.

Through the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord proclaims that He has loved them with an everlasting love. God gathers scattered Israel from the farthest places, promising they will return with dancing. Yet in Matthew, Jesus appears to hesitate before a foreign woman's cry. Why? Possibly not to reject her, but to draw out a faith so strong that it breaks every ethnic boundary. She is willing to accept the scraps that fall from the table, scraps that become a banquet, scraps that build up the Kingdom. For her faith, and with the mercy of God, her daughter is healed instantly. The Canaanite woman opens the convergence of all peoples towards God, regardless whether they are God's chosen people as in Jeremiah or the Gentile nations in the time of Jesus.

Remember: our smallest cry of faith would not go unheard by God. The mercy of God is wider than we imagine.