The story of the Canaanite woman is a great testimony to persistence, humility and faith of the woman.  Jesus said He was sent to the “lost sheep of Israel” (the Jews, as well as the other tribes). The woman was a Gentile. She understood what Jesus was saying and yet she pleaded for mercy for her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus testified to her faith and her faith paved the way for her daughter's healing.

In the reading today it is recorded that Jesus withdrew from the people and tried to keep His presence a secret.  Later on we read these words:

“He looked up into heaven and with a deep sigh…”
Jesus seems tired because all the people want physical healing and not spiritual healing. Could it be Jesus was demonstrating to the Father and to the people around Him how exasperated He was?

A large hungry crowd again gathers around Jesus. Did the disciples forget about the feeding of the multitudes earlier when they asked this question, "...where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"

Jesus feeds 4,000 with seven loaves and some fish, with seven baskets left over. What was different this time from the feeding of the 5,000? There must be something significant in this because Jesus spoke to His disciples about it.  For one thing, even though there were fewer people, they consumed more this time than the previous time with the 5,000.  Could it be that the people were craving more of the physical and less of the spiritual? Earlier Jesus had told the crowd that they were coming to Him only to be physically fed.

Jesus warns them about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Leaven (yeast) is not a good thing in this case.  In fact leaven is not a good thing in most cases.  We need only read in Matthew 22 and 23 about the religious leaders of the day.  Just read about all the "woes" Jesus pronounced on them. When Jesus referred to yeast He was speaking about the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees and told the disciples to guard against this.  Something we should guard against today as well. 

Why did Jesus perform this miracle of restoring sight to the blind man in two parts? This blind man was brought by friends. The friends begged Jesus to touch him. Could it be the man didn’t have the faith himself? Was his belief or knowledge of Jesus confused or fuzzy at first (like the man saw fuzzy shapes at first). As knowledge and faith grows, things are seen more clearly. Faith is active. It requires action on the part of the person being healed. This man at first didn’t act. It was the action of his friends. Faith is personal!

Is our faith and knowledge in Him growing so that we are beginning to see more clearly as did the blind man that Jesus healed? Is our faith active?