I was reading Matthew 15:21-28 last night and read a story I had read before. This time something really bothered me. A Canaanite woman came up to Jesus asking for him to have mercy on her. She had a daughter who was possessed by a demon.
Matthew records that Jesus "did not answer a word." He snubbed her, blew her off, he ignored her. I was amazed. Jesus usually acknowledges people who seek him out, it's in his character, right?
This woman persisted to the point that Jesus' disciples came up to him and asked him to do something about her. Jesus said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." Wait, I thought he was sent for all mankind. He talked with the Samaritan woman, the centurion and others. What is going on here?
The woman throws herself at Jesus' feet and pleads with Jesus, "Lord, help me!"
Jesus said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." Did he just call her a dog? He is referring to all Gentiles here, but that includes this woman.
This is toward the end of Jesus' ministry while living among men. He has narrowed his focus and his strategy has changed. He spends the last months of his life trying to connect the lost sheep of Israel to the kingdom.
In Matthew 10:5-6 Jesus went to his twelve disciples and told them, "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." He has narrowed the people he wants to reach to only the lost sheep of Israel.
But something happened with this woman that changed his mind. After he called her a dog, she said, "Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table." She plays along, accepts what he said and even uses the dog analogy. Then she says to Jesus, "All I want is a crumb Master."
She knew who she was talking with and knew that a crumb would be enough. That is some serious faith. She understood that all it took was faith as large as a mustard seed so she asked for a crumb.
Jesus was moved by her faith. He answered her saying, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." Even though he began to focus on the lost sheep of Israel, he was not going to ignore this person who had a complete understanding of the man Jesus.
Next post I will address the the idea of "the lost sheep of Israel.
1 comment:
It's fascinating when Jesus does things that are not socially acceptable to us today. If this conversation had occurred with a pastor in place of Jesus, the guy would have been fired.
There's something wonderful about the honesty that Jesus lives out. He's blunt. It's tough for us to be blunt because we have our preconceptions and flaws that flow into how we deal with people, but sometimes, there is a call for such honesty, where God is telling you to do something, which in turn may cause you to have to say "no" to someone else.
Good post, Bake!
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