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."
From my initial reading of this scripture, I heard Jesus telling the
disciples not to ask him to turn away a woman who followed after them. After further
analysis, however, I found him saying that he was sent for lost souls such as this woman.
But a review of the entire episode reveals a more complex story. The
woman shouting after Jesus to heal her daughter was a Canaanite, not an Israelite. When he
doesn’t answer her, the disciples urge him to send her away. Now his words, "I
was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," seem to say he is not
interested in her since, after all, she is not of the house of Israel.
In this unwelcoming situation, the woman now makes a bold move: she
comes to kneel before Jesus, asking for his help. Yet his response, "It is not fair
to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs," sounds all too much like
an allusion that she is beneath his interest — or at the very least, like a
challenge. But boldly, yet humbly, she replies, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." It is then that Jesus praises her
faith and grants her plea, healing the daughter instantly.
What is really going on here? What message, or messages, are we to
learn? Certainly we know that Jesus did come for all people, not only Israel; there’s
a glimmer of that message here, but it’s subtle, indirect. In this Lenten season, two
points impress me, and each has a corollary. First, beware the Bible citation taken out of
context; know that the real story is often richer, more provocative than the sentence or
two it might convey. Second, and most important, Jesus affirms that faith is indeed the
answer. This faith, however, is not always an easy answer.
Prayer: Lord, give me the strength and will to persevere when things
are tough, to believe in you when life discourages faith. Amen.
