Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus and his disciples have sought respite in a region beyond Israel when a Canaanite woman approaches, beseeching Jesus in a loud voice to free her daughter from possession by a demon. Jesus resists - with escalating disrespect. At first he ignores her. Next, after she continues to cry out and the disciples urge him to send her away, he declares that she and her daughter are no concern of his; his responsibility is the people of Israel. Then, when she kneels before him, he insults her and her people, likening Canaanites to family dogs. Amazingly quick-witted, she turns the insult to her advantage: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that have fallen from their masters’ table.” Finally, Jesus yields and heals the daughter.
This may be the most disconcerting, even disturbing, picture of Jesus in the Bible. For me, it is also one of the very most inspiring. In this story we gain a glimpse of Jesus as a limited human being, imprisoned by his assumption that the people of Israel were the only ones who mattered. Scripture had taught him that they were the chosen people, therefore presumably superior in God’s eyes - and therefore, in his too. Perhaps a sense of scarcity - in own time and energy - also encouraged him to ‘set boundaries’ on whom he could care for.
What is inspiring is that finally Jesus’ compassion broke through the hard shell of his resistance. He softened, he spoke to the woman respectfully, and he used his power to end both the daughter’s and the mother’s suffering.
Nor is that all. Although the Bible does not tell us that Jesus later prayed about and reflected on the experience, it is clear that he learned and grew from it. He came to realize that his ministry extended beyond the people of Israel to all humankind.
And who is the agent of Jesus’ change? The Canaanite woman. A gentile, a woman, probably very poor - she was powerless in status. But her persistent presence, her demonstrative compassion for her daughter’s suffering, and her willingness to go to any length to relieve it ultimately dissolved Jesus’ hard shell. To put it another way, she offered Jesus an opportunity to see the unseen, to feel the daughter’s pain and the mother’s love, and to learn and change from the experience. She stuck with it as long and as imaginatively as it took. For me, the story might better be titled “The Improbable Change Agent.”
PRAYER: Thank you for this story, so disconcerting and so inspiring. Help me to open my eyes and my heart, even when I am tired or distracted, and to learn and grow from my shortfalls, even as Jesus did. Help me to make use of the power of my own compassion, presence and persistence, even as the Canaanite woman did.
PROMPT: What opportunities to see and feel, to listen and learn have I missed? Can I use the power of presence and persistence to greater effect?