<p>15:24&nbsp;<em>But he answered and said: I was only sent-&nbsp;</em>The Lord Jesus, who spoke and acted the words of God, was clearly willing to change His position depending on human response. He initially declined to heal the daughter of the Canaanite woman because, as He clearly stated, He had been sent&nbsp;<em>only</em>&nbsp;unto &ldquo;the lost sheep of the house of Israel&rdquo;; and it was not appropriate, He said, to take the food from those children and feed it to Gentile dogs (Mt. 14:24,26). He may well have had in mind His own principle of not throwing pearls before swine [Gk. &lsquo;wild dogs&rsquo;] (Mt. 7:6). But&hellip; He changed. He healed the woman&rsquo;s daughter. He was so deeply impressed with her perception and faith that He changed the operation of His principles.</p>
<p><em>To the lost sheep of the house of Israel</em>- The ambiguous genitive here could mean that the lost sheep&nbsp;<em>were</em>&nbsp;the house of Israel; or that the lost sheep had been lost&nbsp;<em>by</em>&nbsp;the house of Israel. The&nbsp;<em>apollumi</em>&nbsp;sheep means more than &lsquo;lost&rsquo; as in confused and in the wrong place; the word has the distinct sense of &lsquo;destroyed&rsquo; or &lsquo;dead&rsquo;. The Lord&rsquo;s mission was almost to resurrect the slain sheep of Israel.&nbsp;</p>