I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel

 

 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 desires."  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 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.  My study Bible explains that today's story of ministry to a Gentile women from the region of Tyre and Sidon is an illustration of the Jewish orientation of St. Matthew's Gospel.   The same story of this encounter is found in Mark 7:24-30, but there are two major differences.  In St. Matthew's version here, he records Christ's words which concern the lost sheep of the house of Israel, while St. Mark does not.  Also, St. Matthew records this woman using the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, and St. Mark does not.  It says that Christ went to the Gentile cities not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees (see Saturday's reading, above).  This is confirmed in St. Mark's version, where it's noted that Christ "wanted no one to know" He was there, and here where He says that He was only sent to the house of Israel.  

 

 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 that she so identifies with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries "Have mercy on me," as she sees her daughter's well-being 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."   But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."   Christ refuses to answer, my study Bible notes, not only because she is a Gentile and His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews, but also to reveal her profound faith and love.  Several patristic accounts see this disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter -- as if they're saying, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."   My study Bible says that Jesus' response indicates that this interpretation is correct, as Jesus once more refuses to heal the daughter. 

 

 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 desires."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.  My study Bible comments that having evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, Jesus now reveals her humility.  She accepts her place after the Jews ("the lost sheep of the house of Israel"), who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  His 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.  Moreover, her ultimate acceptance by Christ also points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as little dogs (puppies), but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  

 

In a modern Western context, we might be offended and surprised at Christ's reluctance to help this woman.  But if that is true, it is because we are viewing it through a lens that is not appropriate to its place and time, nor even the aims of Christ.  Just as when we study a subject in school, advances in understanding come to those who are prepared to accept them, and who have a foundation through which to properly understand them.  So it is with Christ who has come "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" for a reason and purpose.  The "house of Israel" is the one which has been prepared spiritually for the coming of Christ.  Indeed, if we look at the whole of the Holy Bible, we understand the New Testament to be the fulfillment of the Old.  Without that preparation of spiritual history under the old covenant, Christ could not be properly understood nor received with understanding.  Although of course, the gifts of Christ we understand come to all cultures and all peoples, indeed, expanding whatever is true and good and beautiful to be found in that culture.  But that does not erase the preparation and bedrock of Jewish spiritual history, the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures, the patriarchs from Abraham who was justified by faith, and all that we know from this history.  In the case of this individual woman, we observe her growth in the story.  That is, because of the difficulties which Christ gives to her, she grows into an understanding of Christ and acceptance of His mission.  She shows her humility (the most essential qualification and foundation for Christian virtues), she shows her patience and persistence, she shows her great love.  Most of all, she shows how much she really desires and values what Christ has to offer.  If we look at all of the parables of the kingdom of heaven which Christ has told in Matthew 13, we see the great emphasis on the cherished and priceless quality of Christ's gifts to us.  In our reading from Friday, it was observed that when the disciples were running into troubles and fears as they struggled to cross the sea, Jesus did not give them immediate relief nor lessen the conditions of difficulty -- but rather He added to them just before He announced His presence (walking on the water, they imagined He was a ghost!).  According to St. John Chrysostom, in this way Christ prepares His disciples to meet challenges, and even through difficulties to bear them with courage rather than seeking immediate relief.  This is perhaps one of the most perplexing ways to understand Christ from a certain modern perspective, but if we look at His life, if we look at the lives of the disciples, apostles, and saints, we find quite the opposite:  that this, indeed, is preparation for greater things for human beings, for the growth that we are capable of reaching and expressing.  So it is with this woman, for Christ -- through His challenges given to her -- in fact draws her out, bringing her virtues to the fullness of the encounter and granting her cherished grace.  Let us bear with patience and courage our own challenges, and understand that God's love works not to make things simple or easy, but to give us growth and courage, to expand beyond our old limits and into the greater potential we have in God's sight.  For this is God's always surprising love at work in us, and so often we may not understand it until we know it and grow through it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed too 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 

 

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 too 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.  After the confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem (recorded in yesterday's reading, above), Jesus withdraws to this Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  This Canaanite woman is a Gentile, as we'll clearly read in Christ's responses a little further along.  My study Bible notes that some elements of today's reading make clear the Jewish orientation of St. Matthew's Gospel.  One of those indications is here, in the messianic title with which this woman addresses Christ, Son of David, a Jewish term for the Messiah.  Additionally, my study Bible comments on her character, as she displays immeasurable love:  she identifies so strongly with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries, "Have mercy on me."  She sees her daughter's well-being as her own and her daughter's sufferings as her own.  Jesus refuses to answer, my study Bible comments, for two reasons.  First, because she is a Gentile; His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews.  Second, to reveal this woman's profound faith and love.  

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."  In patristic commentary, there are those who see the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter.  My study Bible explains this perspective as meaning to say, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response indicates that this is correct, as He again refuses to heal her daughter.  Jesus' claim, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" is yet another indication of the Jewish orientation of St. Matthew's Gospel, for neither this saying nor her title for Jesus, Son of David, are found in Mark's version of the story (Mark 7:24-30).  St. Mark's Gospel, however, records that Jesus wanted no one to know that He was there.

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.  My study Bible comments that, 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, but she still wishes a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy, therefore, was not a lack of compassion.  We should see it instead as a conscious means of revealing her virtues -- both for the disciples as well as for her sake.  Her ultimate acceptance by Christ points toward 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.  

Today's story from St. Matthew's Gospel is one more instance in which Christ cannot be hidden, and which teaches us that, even as He seeks to withdraw, His compassion is called upon and He responds with His power to heal an ailing humanity.  It is in these ways similar to the feeding of the five thousand men (and more women and children) who followed Him to a deserted place when He sought to withdraw once again from conflict with the authorities (in that instance, the attention of Herod Antipas).  In the latter case, they had followed Him and had nothing to eat when evening came.  Regarding today's story, St. Mark's Gospel tells us that He didn't want it known that He was there, as He'd withdrawn to this Gentile region in response to the criticism and conflict with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem (see yesterday's reading, above).  But He cannot be hidden, even from this Gentile Canaanite woman who pleads with Him for the sake of her daughter, who is severely demon-possessed.  This is the first hint we get of something going on here we might not otherwise notice:  she's asking for help dealing with an "enemy power."  That is, she wants help in defeating the demons who afflict her daughter.  In calling Jesus Son of David, she is addressing One whom she recognizes as a Deliverer, a Savior.  As my study Bible pointed out, He tells her that He was only sent to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."  But she nonetheless keeps pleading with Him.  And her humility is quite on display, as Jesus speaks of the puppies begging under the table for the children's food (we can imagine this image of her pestering insistence), and she responds without refuting what He says, but in acceptance, and smartly telling Him that "even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  For this persistence, acceptance, humility -- and what we can call her prayers to the Lord in pleading with Him -- she is rewarded as Jesus gives her high praise:  "O woman, great is your faith!"  We have to notice her quick wit, and consider that for all this she is made of the stuff that pleases Christ, as she won't let go of this great blessing of the Son of David in her midst.  What we find here is the creative power always on display in whatever circumstances where Christ is involved, and wherever He goes, even when He's trying to escape scrutiny.  Faith opens up pathways and new expression of God's power through Christ -- in this case, a surprising beginning at the hint of faith opening to the Gentiles.  It's important that, once again, we note Christ has one aim in mind in coming to this place, and something quite different unfolds as another opportunity for the power of God to manifest and be revealed.  For this is our Lord and the surprising reality of God that never stops opening for us, expressing creative power, finding a way through faith to give new expressions of God's activity in the world and through human beings, even those seemingly least likely.  Let us give thanks and praise. 

 

 

 

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

 

Armenian Illuminated Manuscript:  text reads "The coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room and distributing the fiery tongues to the Apostles" (with thanks to Deacon Shant Kazanjian of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church)

 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, while in His "headquarters" city of Capernaum, a ruler came and knelt down before Jesus, 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.   

 

 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."  Jesus is now in a Gentile region, north of Galilee, where He has come not to preach but to withdraw from conflict coming both from the Pharisees and now the suspicions of Herod.  Our previous reading (above) was from chapter 9, but today the lectionary skips forward to chapter 15.  By this time Jesus has sent out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission (see chapter 10), and because of His great healings and growing fame and authority among the people, and His various conflicts with them, the Pharisees have begun to demand a sign (see chapter 12).  In chapter 14, we read that Herod has also begun to suspect that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead, because Herod beheaded John.  Jesus then sought to withdraw to a deserted place, but there fed a multitude of 5,000 men (and more women and children).  So by now -- due to both the Pharisees (the religious establishment) and the suspicion of Herod (who rules Galilee for Rome) -- He withdraws to this Gentile territory.  In Mark's Gospel, we read that Christ "wanted no one to know" He was there (Mark 7:24).  My study Bible notes that this story in today's reading illustrates the Jewish orientation of Matthew's Gospel.  There are two major differences between the story in this text and the one in Mark 7:24-30.  First, Matthew records Christ's words concerning the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and Mark does not.  Secondly, Matthew includes the detail that this woman uses the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, and Mark does not.   My study Bible also comments that this woman shows immeasurable love in her plea to Jesus.  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.  Jesus refuses to answer her, not only because she is a Gentile and His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews, but also in order to reveal her profound faith and love.  Many patristic commentaries view 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."  Jesus' response indicates that this interpretation is correct, my study Bible says, because He again refuses to heal the daughter.  

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.   My study Bible comments that Jesus, 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 she still desires a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, my study Bible says, but rather it was a conscious means whereby the virtues of this woman were revealed -- both to the disciples and also for her own sake.  Her ultimate acceptance by Christ, my study Bible adds, 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.  

It is very fitting in that this week of the celebration of Pentecost, our first weekday reading is this one.  To modern sensibilities, it may be offensive and strange to hear Christ speak to someone and use the term "dog" to them.  Actually in the Greek, this word is "puppy" -- meant to indicate a house dog, as one who begs under the table.  But for Christ's time and place, even still to this day across much of the Middle East cultures, dogs are animals that belong outside.  Indoor dogs as pampered pets are rather a new thing for common people, encouraged by commerce and the export of culture, and of course the kind of prosperity that belongs to a modern world and its developments.   It is also strange to us that Jesus would provoke this woman in order to encourage her faith.  But if we think about our own prayers to God, and how they may seem to go unanswered, or often are answered in the negative, we will find that God often works this way in our lives.  We are encouraged to persist in our faith and to endure and accept -- and often that negative answer turns out to be better for us (with the perception of time) than had our prayer been answered in the affirmative.  Something better or different comes along, and we find that we have changed and grown with the times, our lives have taken on a new course.  But, as the commentary indicates, often God has a way of provoking some response from us that we didn't know we had in us, a greater endurance, a new creativity, a willingness to think outside of the box of our own old expectations and certainties, or our perceived limitations.  In terms of this woman, there is yet another phenomenon modern minds may find very strange and curious that developed in the Church, and that is the tradition of the "dog-headed saint."   Quite possibly this tradition comes from the story in today's reading, but this is meant to illustrate the commentary in my study Bible, that because of Pentecost, the Gentiles are gathered into the Church, "no longer as dogs but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life."  The illuminated manuscript (above) which comes from the Armenian tradition, shows a strangely "dog-headed" person (under what looks like a door at the bottom of the illumination), who preaches the gospel to persons gathered of many nations and costumes.  This has a direct bearing on today's reading, as they are those outsiders who now even preach the gospel to the world.   While we may love dogs as pets today, we can think of a "dog-faced" person as being one not only strange to a common perspective among a group of people, but also one who is unattractive, as the expression has indicated.  But nevertheless, what is "strange" (as in "stranger" and also that which is unknown or different) is gathered into the Church, and we are all called Christian; we are all under the name of Christ.  It remains always essential to our faith to consider that it is the power of Christ -- and God's work in the world in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all -- that gathers the outsiders and makes them insiders, even making them those who preach the gospel to the world.  In all circumstances, this we must never forget as each bears an image of Christ, and even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple bears a reward (Matthew 10:42).  The most famous name of a dog-headed saint in the Byzantine tradition is St. Christopher.  His name means "Bearer of Christ."

 

 

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.