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

On Saturday we read that the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."  He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?  For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" -- then he need not honor his father or mother.'  Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.  Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:  'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"  When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."  Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"  But He answered, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."  So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  Tyre and Sidon is a Gentile region north of Galilee.  Jesus has withdrawn here out of the reach of the Pharisees, with whom He's just had a confrontational encounter (see yesterday's reading, above).   This is confirmed in Mark's gospel account of the story in today's reading, where Jesus "wanted no one to know" He was there.  It is confirmed also in Matthew's report that Jesus says He was sent only to the house of Israel (verse 24).

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 comments that this woman shows immeasurable love in her request.  She identifies so strongly with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries, "Have mercy on me."  She sees her daughter's welfare as her own, and her daughter's sufferings as her own. 

 But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  My study bible comments here that Christ refuses to answer, not only because this woman is a Gentile and His ministry before His Passion is to the Jews, but also in order to reveal her profound faith and love.  Many patristic writers see the disciples' request to send her away as trying to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter.  It is as if to say, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' own response indicates this is a good interpretation, because He again refuses to heal the daughter. 

But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  My study bible remarks on this passage in Matthew that it shows the Jewish orientation of this particular Gospel.  This story is also mentioned in Mark 7:24-30.  But there are two main differences between Mark's and Matthew's accounts.  First Matthew records these words of Jesus regarding the lose sheep of the house of Israel, and Mark does not.  Second, Matthew reports this woman using the title Son of David to address Jesus, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, and Mark doesn't.

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.   Jesus through His actions and responses (or lack of them, if you will) has evoked this woman's love and also her persistent faith.  He also reveals her humility.  She is accepting of her place beneath the Jews in the sense of Christ's immediate mission and their Old Testament status as the chosen people of God through whom salvation has come to the world.  But, my study bible says, she still desires a share in God's grace.   Jesus' hesitancy, it says, was not a lack of compassion, but rather is to be understood as a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this Gentile woman, both to the disciples and for her own sake.   Her ultimate acceptance by Christ points clearly to the gathering of Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as little dogs who eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table, but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life. 

How do we reveal our own persistence?  Can we, too, match the persistence of this Gentile woman?  Do we have the gumption to answer God back, so to speak, as she does?  Do we have the conviction born of love that she does, to withstand seeming adversity, or a "No" answer?  Are you persistent when you meet with disappointment?  Today's story really tells us how important this issue of persistence really is.  It is, in fact, depicted as an essential quality for Christians.  We might find it peculiar that it is Christ Himself who seems to block her way forward to find healing for her daughter.  He even compares her, as one who is not one of the house of Israel, to the "little dogs" who would eat the children's bread.  But she shows her great perseverance when she responds, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  And for this she is rewarded with seeming delight, Christ Himself responding in turn, "Great is your faith."  It is the profound humility she shows which in fact is so closely connected to her persistence.  In a modern understanding, as typically purveyed by images in media and popular stories, we so often are taught to associate a false kind of pride with persistence.  We might pump up our egos with self-talk about how great and perfect we are.  We might refuse to consider our own flaws in order to supposedly build character.  While it is emphatically true that morbid guilt is but the flip-side of self-centeredness, and is the opposite of healthy righteousness and understanding of God's love for us, humility is yet the highest of the virtues, and opens up the door to all the rest.   Recently, I saw a slogan someone had painted on a wall that said, "Despair is a lack of imagination."  Putting that in a Christian context, I would heartily agree, however I would put this example of the woman of Canaan first:  it's humility that really gets us out of despair and started on the road to a positive and realistic imagination that serves the good.  Without humility, we don't see ourselves, our circumstances, or even others very clearly.  Humility is a guarantee of realism, and a realistic assessment of where we start, what we can do, and in order to see the first step -- even if it's a little one -- that is right in front of us.  It is only humility that guarantees us our ideas are not swollen with self-aggrandizement, and it's only humility that guarantees that receiving a "No" answer does not defeat us.  For it is in humility that we understand grandiose ideas aren't realistic to begin with, and setting reasonable goals while looking for avenues open to us is the way to go.  Humility keep us from being dependent upon what the rest of the world says or thinks, our image in others' sight.  It focuses us instead of what we need to do to improve our own lives.  This woman finds her way through humility.  She tells Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."   She doesn't need to deny that Jesus is Lord.  She doesn't need to complain about His words.  She accepts all of that with clarity; she knows His compassion and love is there.  She takes His word and replies with the avenue left to her.  This is the key to persistence and even to imagination.  It starts with humility, the key that unlocks this door, the place of all faith in its just and right context.  Let us examine the virtue we so often are taught to overlook in an age of needing to have "superpowers" to count for something.  Instead, all we need is humility to believe we are all that Jesus would reveal us to be.