Scripture Readings: Isaiah 56.1,6-7; Romans 11.13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15.21-28
The woman came and knelt before Jesus, saying, “Lord, help me.” Jesus said in reply, “It’s not right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord , even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” – Matthew 15.25-27
A woman asks Jesus to cast a demon from her daughter. Jesus refuses, saying, “It’s not right to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.” In Jesus’ mouth the putdown is a shock. In effect, he is calling her a dog. “Don’t cast your pearls among swine” is a similar insult today. Christians must have used to against nonJews who become believers.
The daughter’s demon is less a problem than the mother’s ethnicity. She is not one of us; she is one of them. Jesus is in Tyre, a city on the Mediterranean Coast, Lebanon today. She is a Gentile, a Canaanite woman, and to many Jews in Jesus’ time a dog. Dog in this story is a belittling term for outsiders, a label that expresses prejudice against nonJews.
Uncharacteristically Jesus, who helps everyone who comes to him, refuses to help this mother, refuses to bring God’s liberating love beyond his own people. Matthew’s version of this story makes the Canaanite woman a woman of faith.
In Mark’s telling of this story the woman sasses back when Jesus refuses to help. “The dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs,” she says. Dogs have a place in her household. Both children and dogs eat from her table. She teaches the teacher, widens his view, and for saying this Jesus frees her daughter. Her comeback makes space for children and dogs, Jews and Gentiles, at the same table.
Matthew’s version transforms the woman’s table into the master’s table. Jesus heals her daughter because of her great faith. In both versions Jesus changes the meaning of a popular saying that excludes Gentiles and welcomes all to his table.
What boundaries in Church does your experience call into question?
What boundaries or prejudices have you encountered and broken down in your life?