“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Did y’all hear that? Here we have a woman, a beggar, an outcast, an enemy even, lecture Jesus, the Son of David, on who is deserving of God’s mercy. How dare she talk to Jesus like that? Does she even know who she is talking to? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
But then again, how dare Jesus talk to the Canaanite woman like that? Jesus called her and her daughter dogs. In case you are wondering, it was just as bad then as it is today to call somebody a dog. And to be honest, probably worse.
If your understanding of Jesus just shattered a little bit, then that means you are paying attention. This reading should make you feel unsettled. Today’s gospel lesson forces us to admit that we might not know Jesus as well as we thought we did. At least, the lesson makes me admit I don’t know Jesus as well as I thought I did.
It makes sense to me to start looking at this lesson by looking at the bigger picture. To help us along, it is important to know that Jesus is referring to Israel when he says children and to the Gentiles when he says dogs. And remember, previously in Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples to go nowhere among the Gentiles that their mission is to gather the lost sheep of Israel.
Jesus response, while harsh, tells us that he remains committed to his mission to first gather the children of Israel who are like sheep without a shepherd. The Canaanite woman seems to know this and says, but Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs under the children’s table. At the very least, the woman is reminding the reader and possibly even Jesus that Israel was chosen by God to be a light to the world.
God did not choose Israel so that they might become the supreme race and Lord it over everyone else. Rather, God choose a race of people, the Israelites, who were traditionally oppressed and outnumbered, to be vehicles of God’s mercy and grace to all nations. But it seems that some in the nation of Israel have forgotten their true vocation.
In fact, the people of Israel are pretty divided at this point. There are the Pharisees who are obsessed with ritual purity and make a living off calling others out for disobeying the 600+ laws of God. The Pharisees tend to be the holier than thou type. There are also the Sadducees who decide if they can’t defeat Rome, they will join them in the oppression of their own people. And then there are the Zealots who are a rebel group who plot to take Rome by force.
And now enters the Canaanite woman who breaks the salvation story open. She is most likely divorced or widowed. She is poor and an outcast among her own people. Her people worship King Herod instead of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She in no way represents the lost sheep of Israel. But she has something that even the people of Israel have lost – faith.
She sees something in Jesus that Jesus’ own people fail to see because they are too busy fighting each other. She sees in Jesus the faith of Israel, a faith that Israel has largely forgotten, a faith that is defined by the mercy of God. She sees something in Jesus so powerful that she is willing to be publicly humiliated, fall to her knees, and beg for mercy.
And now enters the Canaanite woman who breaks the salvation story open. She is most likely divorced or widowed. She is poor and an outcast among her own people. Her people worship King Herod instead of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. She in no way represents the lost sheep of Israel. But she has something that even the people of Israel have lost – faith.
She sees something in Jesus that Jesus’ own people fail to see because they are too busy fighting each other. She sees in Jesus the faith of Israel, a faith that Israel has largely forgotten, a faith that is defined by the mercy of God. She sees something in Jesus so powerful that she is willing to be publicly humiliated, fall to her knees, and beg for mercy.
In every way, this Canaanite woman recognizes that she has no power in herself to save herself or her daughter. She has no money. She has no connections. She has no family. She literally has nothing except a daughter who is possessed by demons. So, if there is anyone in this world who knows that mercy is the only way out, it is this Canaanite woman.
And once Jesus sees in this woman a faith that is utterly dependent on the mercy of God, he says, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” This woman is an ultimate reminder that our faith doesn’t work because we are better than everyone else. Our faith has nothing to do with where we are on the social ladder. Our faith isn’t about responding to hatred with more hatred.
Rather, our faith works when we are humbled to the point where our only option is to beg for mercy – a faith that the world is given at the foot of the Cross of Jesus where all are confronted with the total destruction of human sin and arrogance.
I don’t have to tell you that we live in a divided world, a divided country, a divided church. Over the past week, it has become apparent to me that the religious people in this country are just as divided as the 1st century Jews and in many cases just as arrogant. We are divided between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Zealots. I’ll let you sort out who’s who today.
I don’t have to tell you that we live in a divided world, a divided country, a divided church. Over the past week, it has become apparent to me that the religious people in this country are just as divided as the 1st century Jews and in many cases just as arrogant. We are divided between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Zealots. I’ll let you sort out who’s who today.
But sorting out who’s who isn’t the question before us. Rather, the question before us today asks, “Who is the Canaanite woman?” Who, on the outside, is reminding the Church of her true vocation to convey the mercy of God in Christ? Odds are this person isn’t well liked. This person doesn’t have a radio show. She doesn’t have any money or power. This person is the last person most of us would pay any attention to.
This person is begging for mercy in a world where the favorite child is jumping up and down screaming because they didn’t get the snack they asked for two seconds ago. And this person would gladly eat the crumbs that fall from the favorite child’s Oreo cookie wrapper.
There is no question that the Church should stand up to the forces of evil which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. There is no question that the Church should denounce racism and white supremacy and ISIS and any group who believes they are superior than another. But we also need to pay attention to our heart.
We need to pay attention to how this violence and hatred is infecting our own hearts. We need to pay attention to what biases are brought out in us as we watch the news. We need to pay attention how we, too, are complicit in the systems which hold others down. And I hope, as we pay attention to our heart, to our weakness, to our sin, our daily prayer becomes, “Lord, have mercy on us all.”
Ultimately, we need to gather underneath the cross of Jesus Christ. We need to gather in that place where we are humbled, where our need for mercy is made abundantly clear. We need to gather in that place where we recognize that the only way forward is to bear with one another in weakness and cry, “Lord, have mercy on us all.” We need to gather in that place where our Lord responds, “Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
May God open your eyes to see the Canaanite woman begging for mercy in your midst and may her faith bring you to the Cross of Jesus Christ where all are moved to cry, “Lord, have mercy!” And may the God whose property is always to have mercy release you from your sin and death so that your life may bear witness to a faith that believes in a mercy that has the power to save us all. Amen.
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