How does Matthew 15:21 connect to the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19?

Setting the Scene in Matthew 15:21

• “Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.”

• Tyre and Sidon were outside Israel’s traditional borders—a Gentile region.

• Jesus’ deliberate movement into Gentile territory is unusual at this stage of His earthly ministry, which is still focused mainly on “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).

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A Foreshadowing of a Global Mission

• By stepping into Tyre and Sidon, Jesus previews the widening horizon of redemption.

• The episode immediately following—His interaction with the Canaanite woman—demonstrates mercy and saving power extended beyond ethnic Israel (Matthew 15:22-28).

• This anticipates the future command: “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

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From One Woman to All Nations

1. Particular encounter:

– A single Gentile woman receives deliverance for her daughter (Matthew 15:28).

2. Universal expansion:

– After the resurrection, the same Lord commissions His disciples to take that saving power “to the ends of the earth” (cf. Acts 1:8).

3. Continuity:

– The compassion shown in Tyre and Sidon is the same compassion driving the Great Commission.

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Consistency With the Old Testament Promise

• Genesis 12:3—“all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

• Isaiah 49:6—“I will make You a light for the nations.”

• Jesus’ detour to Tyre and Sidon validates these prophecies and shows their literal fulfillment beginning even before Calvary.

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Implications for Us Today

• Matthew 15:21 assures that the gospel’s reach is not accidental but intentional.

• The Great Commission is not a new idea but the culmination of Jesus’ earlier actions and the entire biblical narrative.

• As disciples, we move outward with confidence that Christ’s authority, first displayed in Gentile territory, now empowers us to cross every cultural, ethnic, and geographic boundary with the same gospel.