Identity is a big deal in this day and age, but regardless of identity crises or identity theft crises, the most important identity to get right is the identity of the man Jesus of Nazareth. So whom do men say that he is? Or more to the point, who do you say that he is? 

Sometimes, we look for signs that indicate what we are doing is the right thing. Sometimes, we demand that God shows us himself so that we will know that he is there. But are we really wise to do such things? 

De ja vu. Why another feeding miracle? Does not Matthew know that we got the message the first time? But wait, are you sure that there is not more of a message to get? 

Canaan is cursed. He is in fact only the second human to be cursed in the Bible, and his curse carries out throughout the whole of the TaNaK (OT) narrative. There would then seem to be no hope that Jesus would respond to a Canaanite woman who desires to receive aid from him, right? 

Jesus has just left the disciples confused. He has offended the Pharisees and left them stumbling over him, the stumbling block and cornerstone. But the disciples have had reason to look up to the Pharisees. Who are they to trust and what does that mean about where defilement and uncleanness comes from?