Thoughts for the Day

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

This account in Matthew's Gospel, that also occurs in Mark's Gospel (Mark 7.24-30) packs a huge punch! Jesus is escaping the multitudes to spend time with his disciples before heading to Jerusalem and the final encounter with his enemies. He does this in a most spectacular manner - by leaving Palestine and going to the district of Tyre and Sidon, which is populated by Phoenicians, the traditional enemies of the Hebrew people. This is gentile territory and no strict Jew would go there for fear of ritual contamination. More than that, he now associates with a woman, and a woman who is of Canaanite extraction, another ancestral enemy.

The disciples' reaction to this noisy woman is to send her away, not for compassionate reasons, but because she is annoying them. She calls Jesus by the courtesy title "Son of David", but ends kneeling before him and calling him "Lord". Jesus points out that he has first come to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel", but is persuaded because of her faith and perseverance. Note the word "dog" is an extremely derogatory term, though Jesus uses the word 'kunaria' meaning not a scavenging street dog, but a lap-dog. Her quick response elicits his admiration, and he grants her wish to heal her daughter. This whole incident seems to promise what will happen later, that the good news of the Gospel will go out to gentiles around the world through the work of the disciples.

We can learn much about faith, and about persistence in our prayer life, from the Canaanite women. We can also learn about real compassion and love for others by observing the different attitudes of Jesus and the disciples to the woman.

Lord Jesus Christ,
who healed the daughter
of the Canaanite woman,
so foreshadowing that Your message
would go out to the whole world.
Help us to be as strong in faith
and as persistent in our requests,
and may they be generated by love
for those in need..
Amen.