Matthew 15:21-28: A little Canaanite woman
Jesus entered the region of an old enemy of Israel. The old Phoenician kingdom centred in Tyre and Sidon came under the rule of Ethbaal, a priest of Astarte who slew his royal predecessor and was father of an infamous daughter, the princess of Sidon, Jezebel. She married Ahab, ruled the roost, turned Israel to Baal worship and scared the fearless Elijah witless. She's listed as among the great evils of Ahab (1 Kings 16). The passing years had made a difference, of course, but old memories and old enmities die hard and live long. Jews cared little for non-Jews but they harboured special feelings toward Samaritans and Sidonians (even if they were Greeks—see Mark 7:26).
Matthew reduces the entire incident to the truths he wants to stress. Jesus, in whom the kingdom of God was being revealed, entered this "foreign" region and before you know it ("suddenly" says the JB or "just then" says the NRSV on 15:22—the Greek has "look") there's a woman (apparently) following them all the way into some house (see Mark 7:24-30). As she follows she keeps calling on Jesus, the son of David (a Messianic title), to show her mercy in connection with her daughter.
Jesus keeps moving and says not a word to her. The disciples grow tired of her and repeatedly (an imperfect tense is used) ask him to, "send her away, for she keeps crying out after us" (15:23). Jesus responds to that remark in 15:24 and he is not addressing the woman; he's speaking to the disciples, so we have to wonder at the "but" with which 15:24 begins. The NIV and NRSV ignore the "but" though it's not ignored—and shouldn't be—by the KJV and others.
Here's the little problem. If they say, "Chase her away" and Jesus says, "But I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" it's a little difficult to understand his response to them. Some versions ignore the "but" and allow us to think he's addressing the woman. In other words, the disciples say chase her away and Jesus does just that by telling her he wasn't sent to help the likes of her.
But we have no reason to think Jesus was speaking to her (note the opening of 15:23). Most and perhaps all the versions have the disciples saying, "Chase her away" or something like it but that makes it difficult to understand him if he is speaking to them and when we allow the "but" to stand. "But I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" makes little sense if he's speaking to them.
I think it's better to understand that they were implying that he should grant her request so that they could be done with her. [The word used for "send away" is also used to mean release or free or loose (it's used of Barabbas) or of forgiveness. See Matthew 18:27 and Luke 13:12 where it is used of a woman "loosed" from her illness.]
Whatever we make of the word used, Jesus' response to the disciples' repeated request seems to suggest that they wanted him to give her what she kept asking for. He reminded them that his mission was to Israel. They knew that, of course, and were glad of it; but they knew he had healed a Gentile centurion's servant. Still, they had no heart for this situation because if they wanted her freed from her suffering (due to her daughter's illness) it was only so they could be rid of her.
Finally the woman gets to him and kneels before him asking for help (15:25). He tells her it isn't right to take the children's food and give it to the dogs. We read that and take offence (sort of) but Matthew records it without any sense that there's rudeness in it; he isn't embarrassed in any way by Jesus. Jesus isn't implying that she or those like her are in a class with dogs. He insists on Israel's primary place in the unfolding drama of redemption—he was never embarrassed about that truth either (compare John 4:22 for a tonally important text).
Still, though he isn't insulting her he's provoking her, knowing that she's up to it. She makes it clear that she doesn't want "the children" to be left without food—she would just like some of the crumbs that fall around the table while the children are being fed. "I'll settle for the crumbs," she shrewdly and passionately responds.
Why is he making it difficult for this woman? We need to bear in mind that she might not have thought he was doing that; because she had love for a suffering daughter that made all apparent racial slurs, racial enmity, needling remarks, or whatever, feel like no burden at all (compare Genesis 29:18-20). But she had more than that and Jesus knew it! He had met another couple of foreigners, a centurion and a woman of (probably) ill-repute and a Samaritan into the bargain and both of them showed remarkable faith. They showed faith that should have made proud Jews feel ashamed. And here is another foreigner that proud Jews wanted rid off—a nuisance at best, they thought her to be. But Jesus provokes her and brings out before their eyes what was really in her.
Had she come and politely asked for help and been given it with hardly a word exchanged we would never have known—nor would the proud Jewish disciples—that this woman indeed had "great faith". I don't believe he worked with the woman as he did, to teach her a lesson of patience and fine stubbornness (see Luke 18:1-8) though she would have learned that. He didn't commend her for her patience or stubbornness. He commended her for her great faith. Once again "the children" had seen that someone outside the family had shown such faith in Jesus as would embarrass a host of Israelites. (This "foreign" element is prominent in Matthew along with the "Israel first" notion. It culminates in Matthew 28:19, and see 8:10-13.)
Let me repeat: Jesus doesn't commend her for her love of her daughter, her patience or her willingness to put up with jibes though all those were in her. He commends her for believing that the God who sent this Saviour to Israel to feed his children would not begrudge crumbs to a needy non-family member. She believed that the God who was now showing his reign in Jesus of Nazareth and showing his faithful love to his children would know how she felt about her child. She believed that God was so showing his power in and through Jesus that just the crumbs or scraps from his table would be more than adequate for her needs.
This remarkable faith was brought out into the open by Christ's prodding. Israel had much to learn from such a woman and Christ saw to it that they got the message. Christ was for the world and not just Israel! And many outside of Israel would have a vision of Jesus that Israel would have been jealous of.
And, anyway, who's to say he wasn't smiling as he bandied words with her?
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.