Mean Jesus?
Here are some thoughts on Sunday's gospel reading. What do you think when you read it? This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
21Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 23But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” 24He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 27She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
There are some very puzzling aspects to this gospel story. First of all, Canaanite is an anachronistic term. In Jesus' time, there were no Canaanites. In Mark’s gospel, the woman is referred to as Syro-Phoenician. The second thing, which for many of us may be the main thing is that Jesus seems downright nasty! Did he get out on the wrong side of the bed or something? First, he ignores the woman and then insults her!
After an altercation with the Jewish leaders, Jesus was getting out of Dodge and we find him and the disciples in Gentile, not Jewish territory. Earlier he had told the disciples “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10: 5-6). With only a few exceptions, Jesus’ earthly ministry was directed at the Jewish people, which he reiterates in his conversation with the nameless woman.
The disciples wanted to send the woman away, but with her need met. The Greek does not indicate that they were just trying to get rid of her, but more that they were encouraging their master to answer her plea. Didn’t he hear her?
The woman approached Jesus in a stance of faith. In her words we hear echoes of psalms and liturgy: “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,” she knelt before Jesus, and three times she referred to Jesus as “Lord.” Where did someone from the wrong side of the tracks, from a pagan background learn all of this about Jesus? We don’t know, but she was certainly persistent!
That tenacious lady was so desperate to have her daughter healed. Any of you that are mothers, wouldn’t you do just about anything for the benefit of your child? At last, Jesus saw her and her need and engaged in conversation with her, but it was an insult-laden one. The woman doesn't back down, takes the insult, and uses it to make her point. Jesus changes his mind and heals the woman's daughter.
Something I just read today ties together the woman’s response to Jesus calling her (and all Gentiles) dogs and Martin Luther’s final words:
“We are beggars; this is true,” are reported to be Martin Luther’s last written words. Christians are “beggars” for God’s grace, undeserving but graced nonetheless. A beggar’s faith focuses not on what is given or accomplished or believed, but on what is received: the healing and sustenance desperately longed for and needed.
In today’s gospel, the Canaanite woman is such a “beggar” for Jesus’ healing for her daughter. She is denied a place at the table at first, but she will accept even “crumbs” in the faith that Jesus’ healing power and love are intended even for her. (sundaysandseasons.com)
That healing power and love are for us as well.
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