O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire

 

 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 master's 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 

 

Yesterday 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 and said, "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.  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."  Likely because of His confrontation (in yesterday's reading, above) with the scribes and Pharisees who came from Jerusalem, Jesus travels to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  Here, a Gentile woman comes to Him, and using a Jewish title for the Messiah (Son of David) begs Him to heal her daughter.  There are a number of things going on in today's reading my study Bible asks us to note.  First of all, the character of the woman.  My study Bible comments that she shows immeasurable love:  she so identifies with the suffering of her daughter that she says, "Have mercy on me," for she sees her daughter's well-being as her own and her daughter's sufferings as her own.  Also, we should note that the title "Son of David" evokes an understanding of the Jewish orientation of Matthew's Gospel.  This same story appears in Mark's Gospel (Mark 7:24-30), but one of the major differences is the use of this title for Jesus.  Mark's version confirms that Jesus has withdrawn to the Gentile cities not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees, as there we read that He "wanted no one to know" He was there.  See also Christ's statement in the next verses that He was not sent "except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

 

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."  My study Bible comments that Christ refuses to answer, not only because she is a Gentile and His ministry before the Passion is first to the Jews (as He says here) but also in order to reveal this woman's profound faith and love.  Several patristic sources see the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter, as if to say, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response indicates that this interpretation is correct, as He again refuses to heal her daughter.   Jesus' statement, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" also confirms Matthew's Jewish orientation, as Mark does not record this statement.  

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 master's 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.  As Christ has already evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, my study Bible notes, He now reveals her humility.  She accepts her place as "secondary" to the Jews in Christ's immediate ministry, who were the chosen people of God, yet she still desires a share in God's grace.  My study Bible says that Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, but rather a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman, both to the disciples and for her own sake.  Ultimately, her acceptance by Christ does point to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as "little dogs" or puppies, but rather as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  Let us note that in a culture in which dogs were not considered to be pets, these "little dogs" specifically refer to house dogs, such as puppies who would be persistently begging under a table for the crumbs of the children.

While we could read this story and be entirely offended that Jesus would refer to this woman as among the "little dogs," it's necessary that we see it from the perspective of the tradition of the Church.  Jesus affirms that His ministry during His lifetime is not yet to the Gentiles, but first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."  We can understand the meaning, and the essential nature of what it means that He is Messiah, as every teaching and parable builds upon the Old Testament and the understanding of the spiritual history and also prophecy of the faith of the Jews.  While these Gentiles shared aspects of Jewish faith, there were certain points of disagreement.  Nevertheless, we're asked to turn our eyes elsewhere, with a different perspective on the response of this woman to what we might term Christ's "provocations" to her.  First He refuses to answer, then He turns her away with the statement about being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Then He makes the statement about giving the children's bread to the little dogs who beg at table.  Even the disciples seem to encourage Him to just do as she requests.  But from the perspective of the patristic writers, He's doing this on purpose to evoke both her faith and her humility.  This would seem to be evident from His eventual praise of the woman, especially because she responds to Him with such persistence and a willingness to engage Him back in dialogue with her position.   He tells her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  This statement about her great faith is high praise from Jesus, the best He can say, for faith is what He seeks, and is the thing that unlocks and opens His capacity for healing and "great works."  It would seem also significant that what she seeks is healing for her daughter from demonic possession:  this is not a foreigner who worships other gods, but one who seeks the true faith of the living God of Israel in seeking Jesus, the "Son of David."  But what do we make of the adverse circumstances Jesus effects in His refusal that draw out both her faith and her humility.  In a modern context, we might not be able to understand what great virtues these were considered to be in Christian understanding:  faith is the key to all of Christ's works wherever they have been done, and humility is considered the greatest of Christian virtues, leading to all the rest.  In modern popular language, we might term that freedom from egotism.  And the great key here is how her struggle with Jesus results in the great blessing she seeks, and much more in the praise of her faith by Jesus.  This is something we don't often understand or encounter in popular culture; it is the sense in which the struggle with God is a positive thing.  In the story of Jacob, we read about his wrestling with an angel or man of God for a blessing (see Genesis 32:22-32; Hosea 12:3-5).  So important is this understanding that Jacob's name is then changed to Israel, which has been interpreted as "Contends with God."   Are we today capable of seeing in adverse circumstances a struggle that gives birth in us to qualities that are positive and good in response?  Can we look at difficult times as those that brought out in us virtues such as persistence, faith, and humility?  Can we see certain hardships as those that helped us to bring out of ourselves good things we didn't necessarily know were there, but were effectively "mined" such as a persistence in love, or a deeper love than we had previously understood was within us?  This is what this story reveals, and how the Church and various of its great Fathers have viewed the story of this woman and of Christ's refusal to respond immediately to her requests.  Can we see the positive in circumstances that engaged us in a kind of spiritual struggle to reveal the persons we really are?  Is it conceivable that God allows circumstances in our lives in order to bring out things from within us that are necessary and good?  This is a clue to finding meaning and significance in life, and to coming to terms with the ways we live in this world, where everything does not come easily -- and if it did, we might just miss some great treasure within ourselves.