It is true, Jesus strayed
from character and degraded a Canaanite woman (in need) simply because she was
not a Jew; however, I think we need to pay more attention to the events that
led to this point. Some people
uncomfortably read past this not sure what to think about Jesus’ behavior, but in
recapturing this busy scene I think we will see that this was not just another
moment of resolute faith on someone’s part, but this is also a crucial moment for the
disciples and a playful moment for Jesus.
Starting
from the top of Matthew 15, the Pharisees confront Jesus about his disciple’s
violation of Jewish purity codes because they did not wash before eating
bread. Jesus uses this moment to expose
something in them. They were clearly concerned with purity when it came to
their “holy” appearance, but they did not care about observing more important
parts of law. He uses the example of loving your father and mother which they
say they do, but then notoriously use excuses to neglect their needs (15:1-11).
At
this point, the disciples approach Jesus and say, "Hey Jesus, you kind of
upset the Pharisees with what you said", but Jesus only reply is that they
were not the holy religious leaders they claimed to be. Peter then asks Jesus to explain the parable
to them, but Jesus says this was not exactly a mysterious story so how is it
you don’t get it? Yet, Jesus obliges
them and says, as plainly as possible, what goes in your mouth does not matter,
but it is the things you say and do that are direct reflections of what kind of
person you really are on the inside.
It
was only after this that they then came across the Syrophoenician (Canaanite)
woman whose daughter was possessed. Notice that even in a time
when there were cultural observances prohibiting a Canaanite woman from talking to a
Jewish man, she obviously had heard enough about Jesus’ character that she was
willing to risk it and plead for her daughter.
To our surprise Jesus first ignores her, but if we pay attention I think
he is testing his disciples. In fact the
bigger shock should be that even after Jesus's explanation that what is in their heart is what defiles them, they say, "Jesus send her away so we don’t
have to hear her incessant crying!" Wow,
way to step-up fellas…
Now,
in the following lines it turns comedic so try imposing a sarcastic tone with
what Jesus says. Clearly ‘“I was sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, ‘It is not good to
take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”’ But then she seems to
catch on to the playfulness and quips back with, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs
feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus dropping
pretenses says, “O woman, your faith is great!”(15:21-28).[1]
It
seems to me Jesus was possibly flaunting stereotypes and self-righteous
behavior to exploit the defiling thoughts of contempt his followers had for the
Canaanites, or women, or even both. Nevertheless,
because this is text and we cannot hear the author’s inflections or naturally
pick up on good-natured teasing in first-century lit., we must watch-out for
these moments. Life is happening in these stories and it is anything but
void of changing temperaments, demeanor and relationships.
[1] Note that Mark has almost
this exact same story, minus the disciples, but he seems to be doing something
similar in a more subtle fashion
