Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed.  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

- Matthew 15:21-28

In Saturday's reading, we read about an incident which occurred in Capernaum, Jesus' "headquarters" for His ministry.  While He was speaking to Pharisees and disciples of John the Baptist (see They put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved), behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  In today's reading, the lectionary skips forward several chapters in Matthew, and we find ourselves in chapter 15.

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  Of today's entire reading, my study bible notes that this is a story of ministry to a Gentile woman (Tyre and Sidon were Gentile towns on the coast north of Israel and Galilee).  It claims that today's passage is an illustration of the Jewish orientation of Matthew's gospel.  "This account is also mentioned in Mark 7:24-30, but with two major differences:  (1)  Matthew records Christ's words concerning the lost sheep of the house of Israel (v. 24), while Mark does not, and (2) Matthew records the woman using the title Son of David, a Jewish term for the Messiah, while Mark does not.  Christ went to the Gentile cities not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees.  This is confirmed in Mark's gospel, where we read that Christ 'wanted no one to know' He was there, and here, where Christ says that He was only sent to the house of Israel."  It seems to me that the fact that this reading follows yesterdays (from chapter 10) significantly teaches us about Jesus' treatment of outsiders; and moreover both of these outsiders (the woman made unclean by her bloodflow in Saturday's reading and this Canaanite woman who is a Gentile) are women and are healed through their own persistence in worship and faith.  It is through faith that their audacity to pursue Jesus comes, for different reasons and in different forms.

  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  My study bible notes here that "this woman shows immeasurable love -- she so identifies with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries "Have mercy on me," for she sees her daughter's well-being as her own and her daughter's sufferings as her own."  Here then, is another example of the things of the Kingdom:  the capacity for love and mercy.

But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  A note here tells us:  "Christ refuses to answer, not only because she is a Gentile and His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews, but also to reveal this woman's profound faith and love.  Several of the Fathers see the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal the daughter, as if to say, 'Give her what she wants so that she will leave.'  Christ's response indicates this interpretation is correct, for He again refuses to heal the daughter."

But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.  A note says, "Having evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, Christ now reveals her humility.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, yet still desires a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman, both to the disciples and for her own sake.  Her ultimate acceptance by Christ also points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as dogs, but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life." 

Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday, the day we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the tongues of fire that appeared above each disciple, as they were all gathered in one place.  In the description of this event in Acts of the Apostles (2:1-31), we're told about a "multitude" of devout Jews, from "every nation under heaven," who were living in Jerusalem at this time.  When they heard the sound of the mighty wind that accompanied the coming of the Holy Spirit, they came together, and were confused, "because every one heard them speak in their own language."  In today's reading, we begin with something that is possibly a kind of detail, but rather significant.  The illness for which this woman of Canaan comes to Jesus is demon possession.  Not only that, but we note that she tells Him that her daughter is "severely demon-possessed" (my emphasis).  In other words, this is clearly a spiritual problem, and the woman comes to Him as someone she knows can deal with it powerfully.  I think that the emphasis on this spiritual battle going on behind the scenes of this world, in the spiritual realm in which Jesus is clearly an immensely powerful force (see the reading of the Gergesene Demoniacs), gives us a certain perspective on these people who are in some way outsiders, like the woman with the bloodflow in Saturday's reading (making her, effectively, unclean and not considered fit for full participation in community) and also today's reading about the Canaanite woman.  When our focus is on this spiritual reality, in which we are somehow important agents, the site of some sort of battleground for forces we can't completely understand, then we come to see the absolute need for the whole of humanity to participate in this awareness of Christ, His message, His love, His help, and His power.  It is this truly profound perspective that makes us aware of just what we enter into when we fully seek to participate in the spiritual life, and how it creates unity among us.  On this Monday of Pentecost, we should think about this focus, and what the truly universal meaning and reality of the Holy Spirit offers to us, how it creates a picture of unity among mankind, where everyone is enlisted for this battle -- whether we know it or not.  Let us think of the profound ways the Holy Spirit can dwell in each one of us, the immense ways in which He is at work (for the Spirit is a Person of the Trinity), in each one of our lives, no matter where we are or what language we speak and understand.  This is the great challenge of the Church, to understand itself as a place of the dwelling of the Spirit, and to understand the Spirit's role in the whole of the Church as the unifier of all the parts of the Body of Christ as well as the One who gives us ultimate unity in endlessly creative diversity.  We are all a part of this battle beyond our conception and understanding; and yet, somehow, God loves us so that we are placed at the very center of importance of it all through the tremendous gift we're given.  In that unity, we each have our role to play, or not.  What connects us to the Source of the choice we're offered is our faith in that love.