Year A
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7;
Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
“It is not right to take the food of the children and throw
it to the dogs.”
Matthew 15:26
If you had asked me, “What’s the worst thing you can hear
from God when you pray?” I would have
answered without hesitation, “Silence!”
It’s so intimidating. One feels
ignored; as if God can’t be bothered by my trifling petition. But when I look at today’s Gospel I realize
that I am wrong. The worst thing one can
hear from God in prayer is rebuke and insult.
Today’s Gospel is one of those passages that’s difficult to
nail down. We know that Jesus preaches
love, and that He preaches that love for all people. We do not see Jesus as someone given to bigotry
or hate. Yet, in today’s Gospel that’s
exactly how He looks. Can you imagine if
they had modern technology in Jesus’ day?
Someone would have caught this episode in a video on their phone and had
it uploaded to Twitter long before the miracle took place. You can hear the headlines: Bigoted Jesus
Calls Gentile Woman A Dog! It has all
the hot flashpoints- a minority woman insulted by a male from the predominant
race. Modern commentators want to rush
in and do damage control. I don’t care
what cultural nuances someone thinks affects this story, that’s still what
Jesus said and I expect the woman heard it much the same way we hear it today.
Let’s take a look at this woman. She is not named in the Scriptures. She remains anonymous other than that we are
told she was a Gentile. She pleads, not
for herself, but for her daughter. She
is met with silence. Then the disciples
try to have the Lord drive her away. And
then the worst happens. Jesus addresses
her as a dog and tells her that His grace is only for Israel; not for such as
her. Undaunted, she not only doesn’t
take offense at the epithet but uses it to parlay Jesus’ words. “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from
the table of their masters.”
That’s when it happens.
The entire tenor of the conversation changes and Jesus grants her
request. Why the change? Jesus gives us the answer: “Great is your
faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” Her persistent faith
made the difference. She won over Jesus
who seemingly had no intention of helping her.
Was it all a ruse?
Was Jesus merely teasing her in order to provoke her response? Perhaps, but not likely. It may well be that Jesus knew all along He
was going to help her and chose this method of coaxing her to faith. Or perhaps it was for the benefit of all the
unbelieving Jews standing around. We
really don’t know. The intent of the
Gospel writers in relating this story to us seems to be the end of it- that she
received the answer to her request based on the greatness of her faith. There is no divine commentary on Jesus’
motives or any attempt to justify His actions.
The fact is that we really don’t know all we might want to
know about Jesus. Who would dare to say
that He knows what the divine Son of God was thinking? Rather than try to understand, or worse, accommodate
Jesus to our way of thinking, let us be content to leave some things mysteries
and continue to trust in the mercy of our Lord, which was ultimately shown by
the end of the story. Let Jesus be who
He is without our attempts to domesticate Him.
There are times when He is “wild” as the lion and we must be content for
it to be so.
But again, this line of thinking completely misses the point
of the story. It was faith that won the
day. This woman had no bargaining
power. Jesus had every right to refuse
her. Maybe that sounds wrong in our age
of entitlement. This woman certainly did
not think of herself as entitled. Had
she done so it is likely her request would have remained unanswered and we
wouldn’t be reading about her.
The question we really ought to be asking ourselves is what
is meant by “the children’s food”?
The gifts and the covenant belonged to Israel. They could have come to Jesus on the line of
the scripture and “demanded” service.
But they didn’t. Often, they were
the ones left bereft of Jesus’ blessings because they lacked the faith to
simply ask. We who are the New Testament
heirs to these same gifts and covenant blessings often find ourselves in the
same boat. How did this woman who had no
pedigree manage to win Jesus over when we so often fail? The answer is because she had humble
faith. She didn’t come to Jesus
demanding anything or laying claim to any so-called rights. She humbly begged and was willing to endure
the silence and the insults. None of
that mattered. All she wanted was a few
“scraps” so her daughter would be healed.
This is the children’s food: that all the wisdom and power
of God are at our disposal in Christ. This
is no blank check. It’s not, as some
erroneously teach, a way to make more money, be more successful, have more
things, and avoid sickness or pain.
Rather, it comes on the line of the will of God as we pray in the Our
Father- “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. When we pray on that line we can be confident
of an answer.
Then why don’t we always receive one? God is still sovereign. He has the right and the wisdom to overrule
us. However, I don’t think that’s what’s
happening most of the time. I think that
most of the time we just don’t stick to it.
After a little bit of discouragement we give up. Then we have the nerve to have an attitude
about it. That’s not what this woman
did. And the difference between us and
her is what makes all the difference!
Let me relate a story.
This past week while I was praying the Lord put 2 Chronicles
7:14 on my heart. If you’re not familiar
with that reference it says this: “If my people who are called by my name
humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their
land.” I was reminded that all it takes
to see things radically change in our world is faith-filled prayer. I can’t wait for someone else to take the
lead, I need to do it.
Later that evening my dad called. He and my mom had been reading the Bible and
they were trying to remember where a particular verse was found. He began quoting it. It was 2 Chronicles 7:14. Later that night my wife and I came across no
less than 2 more references to the same passage on social media as people were
remarking how God had brought this verse to their mind that day as well. When I was talking with my dad he said this:
“I think God wants us to pray for people to turn to Him so we can see this
coronavirus go away.” It seemed so
simple; almost childish. But isn’t that
the point? I couldn’t help but agree
with him.
I think that’s what’s happening in today’s Gospel. Jesus is chiding us as if we were dogs and He
wants to see who has enough faith to come back for more until they gain enough
scraps to see the healing of the nation.
Now you can hear something like this and think to yourself,
“How interesting” and then go on with life.
Or you can place yourself in the place of that faith-filled woman and be
changed so as to effect change.
How do we reach a point where we have faith like the Gentile
woman? I’m not sure I can lay out the
menu, but I’m confident of this. If we
imitate her humility and continually come to the Lord in faith we will see His
blessings. Let us then be determined
that we will humble ourselves and get low enough to lick up the crumbs that
fall from the Master’s Table and receive His grace for our time of need!
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