“Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we could ask or imagine.”[1] In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Hello Church! Was this a hard story for you to hear? It was for me. “Jesus called this woman a dog!” Ouch. Was he caught with his compassion down? Jesus is not acting the way I thought Jesus would. Last Sunday we heard about Him walking on water and having compassion for Peter’s faltering faith. The week before that we heard about him having compassion on the Five Thousand and then feeding them. Was he caught with his compassion down? One question I always try to ask is “what is the text trying to say to us?”
This passage speaks to me about how deep prejudice can dwell and the grace filled possibility for change and healing is always present. You do remember the Charles Dickens story of Scrooge? Right? He was never the same after his encounter. Have you ever had an encounter where you were never the same afterwards? That is what happens to the Canaanite woman and her daughter. What about Jesus? What about the disciples? Are they changed as well?
Let me give you some background on this story. There is a huge fight going on as to whether Jewish dietary laws were binding to the followers of Jesus. There was a high premium on the “purity” of the individual. At the start of chapter 15 the Pharisees and scribes come to Jesus and ask him “why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” Basically, making what they ate unclean. Jesus is cancelling out all the food laws in the Old Testament – a huge part of Leviticus – saying that it is not what you put into your mouth that defiles (defiles meaning makes you ritually unclean) – but rather what comes out of your mouth that proceeds from your heart.
“For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”[2] Jesus calls us from a self-centered thinking of what might hurt our bodies to a broader concern for our own actions and attitudes that hurt others.[3] By not obeying the food laws – opening table fellowship - a major barrier had fallen, Jews and Gentiles could now eat together. This is revolutionary.
In the second part of the gospel, Jesus and his motley gang of disciples are heading to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Two Gentile cities with evil reputations north of Israel. These towns are NOT friendly to Jewish people or anyone who is different for that matter. They are in Gentile territory – cautious Israelites do not walk there alone. Racial labeling and prejudice define all encounters between these different classes of people – the Israelites and Canaanites. Plus, the Canaanites where the ancestral enemies of the Jews.[4] I image that the disciples knew where they were – by stories of violence and hostility that they had heard. And had their eyes wide open – being careful. Then as they are walking along, one of them, one of the other, a resident of this evil place calls out to Jesus, a Canaanite Women, an outsider, for Pete’s sake. (She is female, a gentile, a citizen of Tyre or Sidon, probably a worshiper of Herod, and a Canaanite). “Danger Will Robinson, Danger.”[5]
She is crying out for help from a known healer in the land --- these are not the shouts of prejudice that would show the mutual distain for each other. But rather it is a cry for help. She is a mother whose daughter has been possessed by a demon. Some roles surpass others. You can image a mother’s persistence when protecting her young. Her appeal is very compelling. The Canaanite Woman address Jesus as “Lord” and appeals respectfully and cross-culturally to the “Son of David.” Both are strange titles to be addressing Jesus by a pagan, however, “Son of David” is not merely calling him an Israelite of David’s family; she is using a title, and in some places a messianic title. His own people have not addressed Jesus in this manor yet and neither have the disciples!
She professes her faith and her request is not for herself but rather for her daughter! A very noble action that is unselfish and humane. This woman had love. As Bengel said of her, ““She made the misery of her child her own.” Heathen she might be, but in her heart, there was that love for her child which is always the reflection of God’s love for his children. It was love that made her approach this stranger; it was love which made her accept his silence and yet still appeal; it was love which made her suffer the apparent (rejections) rebuffs; it was love which made her able to see the compassion beyond and behind the words of Jesus. The driving force of this woman’s heart was love; and there is nothing stronger and nothing nearer God than that very thing.”[6]
And right here Jesus is not acting the way I thought he would. Was he caught with his compassion down? He does not answer her – at all – Jesus ignores her which would have been the proper civil response for the society of the time. But the disciples who have been with him all the time, who have seen his miracles, his compassion, his actions, his mercy, they are even worse. Shame one them! They want her dismissed! They say, “send her away, for she keeps shouting after us” (v.23). Then Jesus responds to the woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24). Jesus declares his commitment to Israel, God’s chosen people, and to them the Messiah goes first and foremost. Wait what? What about the gentiles?
Now, the Woman could have taken these last words to heart and left. But no, she resolutely persists, falls on her knees and says, “Lord, help me” (v. 25). And right here again, Jesus is not acting the way I thought he would. Was he caught with his compassion down? Jesus basically in the next line calls the woman a dog. “It is not fair to take the Children’s food, (that is what Jesus has to offer to Israel), and throw it to the dogs (the Gentiles)” (v. 26). This reference to the Canaanites as dogs was a favorite insult of the Israelites.[7] However, the woman offers an unexpected, witty reply: “the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters’ tables.” She is recognizing the privileges of Israel while at the same time acknowledges that others can be benefited. She is basically saying then treat me like a dog and let me have the crumbs that fall from under your table. By displaying this tenacious trust, Jesus acknowledges her faith and heals her daughter.
I wonder --- if Jesus was just tired and having a bad day and that is why he was acting the way, he was acting. Or could it be that Jesus was taught something by this Canaanite Women. Did Jesus learn from her? Seems to me that she schooled him. And is this when his ministry changed to include all people – Jews and Gentiles? It seems that everyone was changed by the encounter not just the woman and her demon possessed daughter. This passage speaks to me about how deep prejudice can dwell and the grace filled possibility for change and healing is always present. It is for us too.
AMEN.
Proper 15 Year A Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28
The Rev. James T. Said August 16, 2020
[1] Ephesians 3:20. [2] Harper Study Bible, p. 1886. [3] Feasting on the Word, 359. [4] William Barclay, the Gospel of Matthew, p. 121. [5] Reference from “Lost in Space.” Robot’s way of warning Will Robinson of danger. [6] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew Vol. 2, p.123. [7] Feasting on the Word, p. 361.
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