Jesus and the Canaanite Woman – reflection on Matthew 15:21-28 (August 2020)

My son and his family have a large dalmatian dog called Harvey. He’s a lovely dog – very friendly and affectionate and is really thought of as an integral part of their family. He’s now rather old, so not as boisterous as he once was, and certainly can’t run as far as he used to. But one of his traits which hasn’t diminished, and which he shares with many dogs, is that he’s constantly on the lookout for food! His appetite is seemingly insatiable. When my grandchildren, (who Harvey probably considers to be his younger sister and brother, given that he was part of the family before they were born!) are eating any meal, Harvey will sit by them, unblinkingly watching every morsel of food move from their plate to their mouth, in the hope that some of the crumbs will find their way to the floor and then, of course, into his mouth. This was a fair bet when they were younger and more likely to scatter food in random directions. But even now, when the children’s table manners have improved, Harvey remains ever hopeful at meal times!

I’m sure you can relate to this description of an ever-hungry dalmatian dog, and that you are, hopefully, somewhat amused by it – and I think Jesus would be as well. When we read Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, it can seem a little shocking – wasn’t it rather unkind of Jesus to liken her to a dog?! Perhaps what we should realise is that Jesus has a keen, indeed slightly mischievous, sense of humour. This doesn’t necessarily come across from a straight reading of the Gospels – particularly from the rather serious and reverent way in which bible readings tend to be delivered in church services. But let’s just consider that here, in his encounter with this Canaanite woman, Jesus was being a little ‘tongue-in-cheek’.

Jesus had probably just left the Jewish area of Galilee and gone to the Canaanite region of Tyre and Sidon in order to ‘lie low’ for a while. He had a just had a pretty serious clash with some Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem, culminating in Jesus calling them hypocrites. Jesus knew that these clashes would eventually lead to big trouble, and even to his death – but now wasn’t the time to bring things to a head. He may have hoped for a bit of anonymity around Tyre and Sidon, but it was not to be – his fame as a preacher and miracle worker had spread even to the idol-worshipping Canaanites.

So, when this Canaanite woman’s persistence eventually captures Jesus’ attention, he says (probably still thinking of those pesky Pharisees and Scribes, and their hold over the Jews) that his mission was “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. But still she persists – kneeling before him and pleading for help. It’s then that Jesus says to her, maybe with a mixture of ironic humour and sympathy, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” In other words, within the ‘pecking order’ of a family, the food that parents provide for their children is not intended for the family pet, however much it is loved. But the woman plays along with Jesus in this half-amusing, half-serious analogy and says: “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” The result? – Jesus grants her wish; her daughter is healed.

As with several of his healing miracles, the key aspects here are both Jesus’ miraculous powers and the faith of the petitioner. “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish” he said to her. Indeed, a request from another Gentile, a Roman Centurion, resulted in the healing of his servant by Jesus, who declared, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” (this is told in Matthew chapter 8, verses 5-13). This tells us much, not only about the miracles of Jesus, but also about God’s relationship with the whole of Creation – because it’s exactly that, a relationship. The good and loving outcomes that God always wants for the whole of Creation depend on how Creation (and that includes us!) cooperates with God. So, for example, God wants us to beat COVID-19 and quell the effects of this terrible pandemic – and that needs us all to ‘do our bit’ to prevent illness and promote health and recovery, as God wishes, both through our prayers and through our actions We won’t always see ‘miraculous’ outcomes (if we did, they wouldn’t be miracles!) because not everyone or everything is willing to cooperate with God as is required for God’s ‘will to be done on Earth, as in Heaven’ as we say in The Lord’s Prayer; nevertheless, we should constantly strive for the good that God wants to be brought to fruition.

We also witness in this brief encounter between Jesus and the Canaanite woman how freely and instantly available is Christ’s saving grace. Here was a Gentile woman who had not been brought up in the Jewish faith, who had most probably spent her life worshipping idolatrous gods; and yet, a few words exchanged with Jesus, and with the faith to acknowledge his divine nature, resulted in her being granted the rewards of his merciful love. That’s all it takes to become one of the children in the family of God.