The Rev. Richard W. Budd, Ph.D., Rector
The Church of the Good Shepherd,
Richmond, VA
13th Sunday of Pentecost, 8-14-05,
Proper 15, Year A
Isaiah 56:1 (2-5) 6-7; Psalm 67;
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
A Study in
Spiritual Paradox
I worry at times about how we get our Scripture on a piecemeal basis, Sunday
to Sunday. The plan is good. If we come to Church every Sunday and read the
Daily Office every day, over a three-year cycle we will have read most of the
Old and New Testaments. But the down side is, we lose continuity and often
view our Sunday Gospel, for example, in isolated pieces. Most of the time that
doesn’t matter much—this particular Sunday it might make a difference.
Let’s do a brief review. Within a short time, Jesus has learned of the death
of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod, watched his ministry grow as
witnessed by the feeding of the five thousand, and was finding it increasingly
difficult to find time for teaching the disciples much less to spend in
solitary prayer. Aware of Jesus’ growing popularity, the religious authority
began sending Pharisees to harass and attempt to trap Jesus into some sort of
blasphemy that would allow them to silence him.
The next thing that happens is a piece of scripture that our readings don’t
pick up until another cycle, but it is a watershed event. A group of these
Pharisees are sent from Jerusalem to challenge Jesus because his disciple do
not engage in ceremonial hand-washing before they eat? Jesus comes back hard
against the Pharisees, charging them as hypocrites, and with them still
present turns to the crowd and tells them you are not made unholy by what goes
into your mouth—it is what comes out of your mouth that makes you unclean.
But he doesn’t top there, he tells them “Every plant not planted by my Father
will be uprooted—so ignore them” (meaning the Pharisees). “They are blind
guides” says Jesus—to follow them is to end up in the ditch.” Harsh words for
the powers that seek to do you in, and the disciples come to Jesus to tell him
he has offended the Pharisees by his remarks. Not only has he offended them,
but his remarks are a clear break with traditional Judaism.
And so, this morning’s Gospel opens with the words, “And so Jesus left that
place . . .” Indeed, he not only left that place, but Jesus had left his own
land for Gentile territory. It is not difficult to imagine that, after the
controversy over the clean and the unclean, he was forced to withdraw from his
homeland for a time. (Mark [7:24] even says that they tried to keep the move
secret). This was a new occasion, fraught with meaning and possibility. Did he
seek rest? Was he driven into semi-exile by Herod and the hate of the
Pharisees? May we guess that he was intent to "think through" his course, now
that he had made the momentous break with "the tradition"? Perhaps he was
impelled by all these reasons. If so, the incident here recorded has the more
striking significance.
Here, Jesus would not expect to be approached by gentiles who would, of
course, not have been exposed to him or necessarily have heard of him and his
mission to the chosen people. The arrival of a foreign woman who insists upon
a hearing with Jesus is an unexpected event, a surprise, calling for a
response that says, “but I am sent to help the lost sheep of Israel—not the
Gentiles.” And when she persists, he says “It doesn’t seem right to take the
children’s bread and throw it to the dogs..”
How are we to interpret the story? There are few passages in the Gospels that
have so insistently troubled the minds of Christians as this one.
Various attempts have been made to explain its difficulties: that Jesus
playfully used the diminutive word for dogs (Kuvopla, "doggies" or "puppies"),
thus indicating that he did not real1y harbor ill-will to foreigners; or he
was simply testing the sincerity of the woman’s humility and faith. The
editors of the NIV version of the Bible simply translate the problem out of
existence by offering It is not right to take the children's bread and toss
it to their dogs.
In any event, the poor Canaanite woman! She’s an outcast, not only from the
Jews, but even from the Gentiles. At first, even Jesus resists her boldness,
for reasons known only to him.
The character of the woman is also clear, as is as well the prejudice which
Jews felt toward her. Matthew says Canaanite, thus indicating that she
was from a people of "reproach." But she had a mother's love, ready to follow
any possibility that might bring healing to her daughter. She had persistence
and quick wit. Jesus was master of retort, but she crossed verbal
swords with him; and she won him, not by the wit mainly, but by a quickness
that was born of love and faith. She was not presumptuous, but lowly; and she
believed. Matthew would tell us that faith, and an eager belief in God's
power, was her dominant motive. It brought joy to Christ in a trying time, and
it gave opening to his grace.
What is clear, however, is that Jesus did believe that his mission was first
and centrally to his own people and Jesus was being asked to give foreigners
that which he was prevented by the Pharisees from bestowing on his own people,
and this was his first immediate response. Clearly Jesus intensely shared the
Jewish faith that God had chosen that nation as his instrument for
saving the world. Now he had broken with the "tradition." We can imagine
Jesus' agony. Was there no "opening" through Israel? When a Canaanite woman
showed more faith than the chosen people, did God intend him to fulfill his
purpose through the Gentiles?
Perhaps his silence when the woman first made her plea, and his sharp argument
with her, are the outward sign of this inward bafflement and struggle. If the
words here attributed to Jesus are verbatim, that tension of spirit can
provide the explanation of their seeming harshness.
His language to her is harsh—harsher than Jesus so it seems might use. This
supposition regarding the tension of soul in Jesus provide a sounder basis for
interpretation, it would seem, than some of the other explanations mentioned
earlier. In summary, the salient facts are He did believe that God intended
him to work through Israel. He did respond to Gentile faith. He could not be
cruel to a mother's pain. He did heal the girl.
On this understanding, the story represents a new stage in Jesus' view of his
own mission. The situation with which he is faced leads him to act on the
principle "that God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34).
The story gives warrant for the magnificent venture of the early church into
the Gentile world. The Gospels continue from here to describe a significant
ministry by Jesus in these non-Jewish lands.
Now we haven’t worked through this Bible study so as not garner some lessons
of our own here.
All the Canaanite woman was asking was to receive “the gifts of God for the
people of God.” She persisted and at last Jesus praises her for her great
faith and heals her daughter. The dialogue between the woman and Jesus
reflects our own self-inflicted spiritual dialogue when we jump ahead of what
God’s Holy Spirit often says to us. We need to have ears that hear, not ears
that itch! Jesus said to her “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
But ignoring his remarks she says, “Lord help me?”
She has little interest in politics or internal national squabbles—she seeks
something greater—more important—and she insistently keeps her focus on Jesus
and what he is able to do! While this woman from Canaan did not know God in
the way that those in Israel knew him, she believed that Jesus was special,
and though she was an outsider, a foreigner, a woman, she calls him Lord in
recognition of this specialness that she sees in him. She believes in him. And
she takes action on the basis of that belief .
She holds onto her faith in the face of obstinacy - she holds onto her faith
even though she does not hear an answer from the Lord right away, she holds
onto her faith despite the barriers raised by others, she holds onto her faith
even in the face of apparent insult and rejection from the one she believes
in, and in the end she receives the reward of faith - salvation comes into her
home.
It is, I think, it is very important to distinguish faith from other kinds of
things.
When Jesus says to her at the end of
the story "Woman, great is your faith," he does not mean - great is your
persistence
- nor great is your pushiness
- nor even - great is your need
No, what he means is great is the
hope you have in coming to me - great is the trust that led you here in spite
of circumstances.
You see we often confuse faith - the faith that overcomes barriers – with
action. And while faith most surely does lead to action, faith itself must be
in the forefront to make those actions happen.
We cannot get out in front of where the Holy Spirit is leading us—we muck up
things every time we insist on blazing the trail for Jesus rather than
following in his footsteps.
The woman from Canaan believed in
Jesus, she had faith in him,
- she believed he could heal,
- she believed that he was her hope
and he alone,
and it was this belief, this faith,
that overrode all other concerns
it alone gave her the energy to
persist in the face of opposition,
it alone supplied her with the
courage and the audacity that she needed.
We need to remember our faith if we
are to overcome barriers and receive
wholeness.
We need to believe that God cares
even when it seems God doesn't care.
We need to believe that God is life,
and love and goodness
And that life with Him is stronger
than the mightiest enemy - stronger than death.
We need to believe that God is the
source of all healing
and that he is the font all of grace
that he gives to those in need
and listens to those who humble
themselves before him and believe in him
The answer we seek may not come
instantly.
And the forces of human prejudice and
ignorance may try to drive us away.
We may even think at times that we
hear God telling us we are outsiders
- though we would be hearing wrong -
But if we hold onto our faith,
if we persist in it
God will help us.
This is the message of the story of
the Canaanite woman.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ
our Lord,
Thanks be to God. Amen