Biblical narrative of Jesus' response to the Canaanite woman, who asked him to heal her daughter in the Gospel Reading of Wednesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time (Matthew 15:21-28) is often misunderstood - as if Jesus were "ethnocentric". But is that so? The narrative also gives a lesson on Jesus' pastoral ministry and the importance of persistence in our faith and love, as well as, a wit.
Jesus did not administer his ministry flatly to all.
In fact, his ministry had its priorities, and one of the priorities was given
to the Israelites over the Gentiles. Also, in his teaching, a priority was
given to his disciples. Even among the disciples, his priority was on Peter,
James, and John. Jesus was not for
so-called “equality” but with certain preferences and priorities in his
pastoral activities. However, this does
not mean that Jesus excluded certain groups of people over Israelites or over
his disciples. He started his public ministry in where needs were greater. So,
he began preaching the Gospel, proclaiming the Kingdom at hand, healing the
sick, and raising the dead, in Galilee, where he grew up and was familiar.
It was around the middle point of his 3-year-long
public ministry, having worked throughout the Galilee region, upon his baptism
and fasting (Matthew 3:13-15:20), perhaps, Jesus felt like having a little
break with his disciples, away from Galilee and Israelites. And it has been
quite stressful to Jesus because a lack of faith among the people of his
hometown, Nazareth, prevented him from performing many miracles, making him
feel like being a prophet without honor (Matthew 13:53-58), and because John
the Baptist was beheaded by Herod Antipas (Matthew 14:1-12). Jesus certainly
mourned the death of John the Baptist as he withdrew privately by boat to a
solitary place (Matthew 14:13). But the crowds in great need kept following
him, not giving Jesus a chance to be alone to mourn. To this, Jesus was not
annoyed but moved with compassion for them. So he healed the sick among them
and fed them miraculously out of five loaves and two fish to their complete
satisfaction (Matthew 14:14-21). Afterward, Jesus had to rescue Peter from
drowning and rebuked him for his little faith (Matthew 14:22-36). Then, he had
to argue and pointed out the hypocrisy of Pharisees and teachers of the Law,
who accused Jesus and his disciples for not washing hands before eating (Matthew
15:1-20).
After all these busy and stressful days, Jesus was
able to get away from Israelites in Galilee, whom he had been ministering, for
self-care with his disciples. So, together with them, Jesus went to the region
of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21), where the majority of residents were
Gentiles. Then, a Canaanite woman of the area came to Jesus, cried out to him
for his mercy on her daughter, who had been suffering mentally and spiritually,
saying:
Have
pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon (Matthew
15:22).
Note that this pagan woman called Jesus, “Lord, Son of David”(Matthew 15:22). This
indicates that she was aware of and believed in Jesus’ messianic divine nature
even though she was not an Israelite. It was likely that Jesus’ reputation as a
great healer had spread beyond Israelites communities in Galilee.
Perhaps, the disciple took the woman’s action as
annoying. Jesus came all the way to the
region of Tyre and Sidon, to have a bit of respite from his busy ministry
schedule. Then, this Canaanite woman came and asked him to do some healing work
for her daughter. Perhaps, it was like Bob in the movie, “What about Bob?”,
pursuing his psychiatrist all the way to his family vacation site! So, the disciples suggested Jesus to send her
away (Matthew 15:23) so that their “vacation” would not be disturbed any
further, However, Jesus did not dismiss her right away. Instead, he struck an
enigmatic conversation with her. So he said to her:
I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew
15:24).
The Canaanite woman did not belong to the house of
Israel, for which Jesus was sent to care. And she was just reminded by Jesus,
whom she called “Lord, the Son of David”, just as those who belong to the house
of Israel. Perhaps, the situation to
this woman was like rushing to a clinic for her daughter’s urgent need of care
but only to find its door was closed. Imagine yourself as in such mother’s
situation, desperate to find a physician to treat your sick child, gasping for
a breath due to high fever. Would you go home just because the clinic’s door
was closed? What would happen to your child, then, if you gave up simply
because you came to the clinic when it was not in operation?
The Canaanite woman knew the physician was in the clinic, though its door was closed – though he was off duty. But she loves her daughter so dearly and wanted to make sure that the daughter would receive adequate care from the one who can heal. Because love is patient and king (1 Corinthians 13:4a), selfless (1 Corinthians13:5) and bears all things (1 Corinthians 13:7), her love for her daughter endures and overcome all challenges on the way.
So, the Canaanite woman, as a steadfast believer of
Jesus as the Lord, as well as, the Son of David, and as a loving mother to her
daughter, she came closer to Jesus and did him homage and said:
Lord,
please help me (Matthew 15:25).
Once again, the Canaanite woman called Jesus as
“Lord”, as if she were an Israelite who believed in him.
To this, Jesus responded another challenge to her,
saying:
It
is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs
(Matthew 15:26).
Now, how hyperbolic the above statement of Jesus to
the Canaanite woman is, by making metaphorical contrast between an Israelite
and a Canaanite to a comparison between a (human) child and a “dog”.
During the time of Jesus and the time of the Old
Testament, a dog was considered to be spiritually unclean, comparable to a pig
(i.e. Matthew 7:6; 2 Peter 2:22; cf. Proverbs 26:11). So was Jesus insulting a Canaanite woman’s
daughter for not being an Israelite child? Was Jesus being ethnocentric here?
At least, it may seem so – only based on reading this text in English. Now
let’s take a look at the above statement of Jesus in Greek, which is the
original language written in the New Testament.
Οὐκ
ἔστι καλὸν λαβεῖν τὸν ἄρτον τῶν τέκνων καὶ βαλεῖν τοῖς κυναρίοις
(Matthew 15:26).
And I want you to pay attention to the underlined
two words: τέκνων/teknon and κυναρίοις/kynarios κυναρίοις/kynarios.
The Greek word, τέκνων/teknon,
means “children” and the Greek word, κυναρίοις/kynarios,
which is translated in English as “dogs”, actually does not simply mean “dogs”
but this word refers rather to “domesticated pet dogs”, as well as, “puppies”. If Jesus had insulted the Canaanite woman as
“worthless of his care because she is spiritually as filthy as a dog”, Jesus
would have used the word in his language equivalent to the Greek word, κυσίν/kuons. The Greek word, κυσίν/kuons, can be translated in
English as “dogs”. But the word, κυσίν/kuons
(plural of κύων/kuon), rather refers
to scavenging dogs, as well as, predatory dogs that eat another animal’s meant
(figuratively, despised person who spiritually “eats off” others). In fact,
when Jesus said, “Do not give what is
holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot,
and turn and tear you to pieces”(Matthew 7:6), the Greek word used for
“dogs” is κυσίν/kuons, not κυναρίοις/kynarios. Therefore,
Jesus was not insulting the Canaanite woman and her daughter. By distinguishing a Canaanite child from a
Israelite child, paralleling to a contrast between a child and a puppy, Jesus
was simply expressing a portion of his pastoral priority. So, perhaps, what
Jesus meant to tell the woman was like, “First, I have to feed my child. Then,
I will feed my puppy”. There was a bit of Jesus’ wit in the above hyperbolic
statement about the priority of his pastoral ministry.
Yes, Jesus saw this Canaanite woman and her daughter
with affection by using a word with affectionate nuance, “κυναρίοις/kynarios”(pet puppies), paralleling it to “τέκνων/teknon”(children), whom he loved
(i.e. (Matthew
18:2-4). But, he tested her faith in him and her love for her daughter.
To this, the Canaanite woman responded:
Please,
Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their
masters (Matthew 15:27).
Once again, she showed reverence to Jesus, calling
him, “Lord” and respected Jesus’ pastoral priority to Israelites. So she did
not argue with Jesus on that. However, she really wanted Jesus to heal her
daughter because she so loved her and steadfastly believe in him. So, she
pushed further for the need of her daughter out of her love and faith further
to Jesus with her wit. In responding Jesus’ wit with her wit, while respecting
his pastoral priority, it was like saying, “But don’t you think you can also
feed your puppy while your child is eating, because the puppy can eat the
crumps fell out of the child’s table?”
To the Canaanite woman’s love for her daughter and
faith in him, as well as her wit, Jesus responded affirmatively, saying:
O
woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish (Matthew
15:28).
Jesus made it clear that it was her faith that moved
him to grant her wish for her daughter, seeing how her faith in him and her
love for her daughter enabled her to be a good example of his teaching on
persistence from the Sermon on the Mount:
Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened
(Matthew 7:7-8).
This teaching of Jesus to be persistent in seeking
God’s providence is illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the friend at midnight (Luke
11:5-8) and the parable of the importunate widow and the unjust judge (Luke
18:1–8), as well as, Hannah’s persistent prayer for a child (1 Samuel 1:6-28).
So, what lesson can we learn from this Canaanite
woman in Matthew 15:21-28?
Certainly, this is a story of faith and love that
endure and remain persistent, overcoming adversities, to receive God’s
providence. To such an exemplary faith and love, Jesus, who is Lord, sure
responds in petitioner’s favor, even though when it is not during his “office
hours”. Yes, Jesus is a kind of a physician
who opens his clinic door and takes in an emergency patient with some “testing”.
And the patient’s “insurance” to pass the “testing” is faith, coupled with
love.
The Canaanite woman's exemplary faith and love are also reflected in these words of James:
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom,* he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind (James 1:2-6)
Though Jesus’ pastoral priority was given to
Israelites, let us remember that qualified non-Israelites, Gentiles, could
receive the same benefit from his pastoral care. In fact, Jesus also granted a
wish of another qualified non-Israelite petitioner, a Roman centurion, whose
faith was better than that many Israelites, asking for his servant to be healed
(Matthew 8:5-13 ).
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