The story about the encounter between the Canaanite woman and Jesus is a perfect example of this. By including today’s Gospel in the whole proclamation of the Kingdom, the early Christians tell us a lesson they themselves learned and wish to teach us in bold strokes: For the Lord no one is a “dog”. No one deserves to be called and treated like a dog. Jews and Gentiles alike, slaves and freemen, men and women, circumcised and uncircumcised – all of them – they are no dogs, but children of God. Early Christians as they were, they learned this lesson early enough.
Pero kasimbigat kundi man mas mabigat pa ang dating ng tanong ni Jesus kay Simon Pedro, sapagkat marahil three days or so ago lang nang three times din niyang tinatwa si Jesus. Halos umaalingawngaw pa po ang taginting ng pagtanggi ni Simon Pedro na kilala niya si Jesus. At sa Mt 26:74, nasusulat pa na matapos daw po ng ikatlong pagtatwa ni Simon Pedro, nagmura siya’t sinumpa ang sarili bilang patunay na wala siyang kaugnayan kay Jesus: “ Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed. ”