Rebuffed By God?

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: May 8, 2005
Rebuffed By God?
by Dan Trygg

"And going out from there Jesus withdrew to the territories of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from those regions came out and was crying out, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely demonized.’ 23 But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples, coming near, were urging Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’ 24 But answering He said, ‘I was not sent if not to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ 25 But coming, she knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 But answering He said, ‘It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little-dogs.’ 27 But she said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little-dogs eat the little-crumbs falling from the table of their masters.’ 28 Then answering Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that hour." Matt. 15:21-28

It is important, once again, to see the context. Of the lessons I hope you learn from these studies in Matthew, the importance of examining the context is one of the most significant to incorporate in your study methodology. The twelve had recently come back from their missionary journeys, assigned to them by their Master. Since returning, they had been inundated with the activity of preaching and healing the seemingly unending flow of people who came to them in distress. Jesus had suggested that they cross the Sea of Galilee to get some time for rest and to process what they had learned. When they arrived on the other side, however, they found a crowd of probably more than 15,000 gathered, people who had seen them out on the water and had hurried on foot to meet Him at landfall. Again, they brought their sick and afflicted with them. Jesus ministered to them the remainder of the day, and returned at night to the other side. In the morning, once again some people recognized Him, and sent word throughout the countryside, so that people came flocking to Him again. Among them were some Pharisees and scribes, who tried to pull Him into a conflict at mealtime over a supposed impropriety of His disciples. Having dealt with that issue, the narrative moves immediately into this story. The Greek is structured in such a way so as to make clear that this is a continuation of this few days of hyper activity, not a separate, unrelated storyline. This background is crucial to understanding Jesus’ behavior in the account of the Canaanite woman.

Leaving the crowds and pressures behind, Jesus leads His troupe of followers to the areas around Tyre and Sidon, about 40 miles to the northwest. This was Gentile territory to the north of Galilee, the areas which had been the headquarters of the ancient Phoenician empire, whose glory had long-since faded in history. Though not directly expressed in the narrative, this seems to have been Jesus’ method for finding a place where they could rest in relative obscurity. The regions of Tyre and Sidon lay along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. While there was a main roadway that led into that area, and beyond, the King’s Highway and the other main caravan routes were considerably to the east, running directly north from the Sea of Galilee, with arterial routes veering off toward the east. Most of those who would have come into, or out of, Palestine would have taken those thoroughfares. Clearly, Jesus had chosen to bring His disciples to a region where they would likely not be recognized. If this were not clear enough from Matthew’s account, Mark’s version tells us plainly (Mk. 7:24).

The woman in the story was a Canaanite, a Syrophoenician by birth (which simply means she was born in that area, called by some Syrophoenicia, a compound word derived from Syria and Phoenicia). She is also referred to as a "Greek" in some translations, but the word "Hellenes" was often broadly used by the Jews to describe non-Jews or "pagans". It is important to remember that Canaanites had originally settled all of that area, and down into Palestine. The original tribes of Canaanites living in Palestine became very immoral and worshipped false gods. Many were guilty of human sacrifice, especially of children. Under God’s direction, they were mostly killed, or driven out of the land and displaced by the Israelites under Joshua. The significance of a Canaanite calling upon Jesus for help is that she would represent the most unclean, unacceptable of persons in the mind of legalistic Judaism.

Putting Matthew and Mark’s account together, Jesus was not completely successful in escaping notice, even though He stayed at someone’s house. She heard He was there, and came to ask for help for her daughter, who was severely demonized. Apparently, Jesus gave her no answer for some time. She must have waited to speak with Him, and then followed Him whenever He went out. Matthew’s version implies that she was crying out loudly for Him to help her, but He said nothing to her. Finally the disciples came to Him and asked Him to "send her away" or "release her" or "dismiss her". Their intent is not clear. They had seen so much of the miraculous. Certainly this request would have seemed to be a very small thing for Jesus to do. Were they asking Him to give her what she wanted, so she would leave them alone, …or did they just want Him to tell her to go away? In any case, she was shameless in her pursuit of Him. To the disciples, she was an embarrassment. They wanted Jesus to deal with her in some fashion.

In the English, Jesus’ words seem to be very harsh. In the Greek, however, there are hints that He may have actually been speaking to her in kind of a "tongue in cheek" fashion. First He says, "Not was I sent if not for the lost sheep of the house of Israel." We have no way of knowing what His tone was. Was He curt or harsh? I think not. Certainly the focus of His ministry was to the Israelites, but this is not the first time He had ministered to non-Jews, even in Matthew’s gospel (8:5-13). Was He repeating out loud the expectation of the disciples, that He was their King, and therefore the benefits that He could bring rightfully belonged to the Jews, and were not to be shared by other nations? Was there a hint in His voice that He was poking fun at the very words He was uttering? By bringing up that His ministry was to the Israelites, Jesus was dialing up the old rivalry. Would she put that aside to lower herself to seek refuge from a prophet of Yahweh from the Jews, a people who had sought to destroy her ancestors? We don’t know how these words may have come across to her. In any case, sweeping aside Jewish nationalism or Canaanite rivalries, falling at His feet this desperate mother simply cried out, "Lord, help me!" She finally had His attention. It was just about Him and her, now. It was a personal appeal.
It was not uncommon for proud Jews to refer to gentiles, or any so-called "impure persons", as "dogs", a term of deprecation. If Jesus had wanted to follow this Jewish nationalistic bent, He could have used that term to insult her. Instead, He uses a diminutive form, a form used for the familiar household pet, a term almost of endearment. "It is not right to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little-doggies." Possibly picking up on His playful tone, she immediately responds with, "Yes, indeed. But even the little-doggies get to eat of the little-crumbs (a diminutive form of the word for "scrap" or "crumb") that fall from the table of their masters." Her answer reflects that she knew there was enough of God’s great provision for everyone. No one was trying to shut her out. It also recognized that the God of Israel was indeed the true God, and that He had chosen the people of Israel to be His special covenant people. That did not exclude her from coming to this great God, however. She had faith that He had room for her and would care for her need.

Upon hearing her answer, that she was not offended but actually pressed in again after the grace that she knew was there, Jesus said to her, "O woman, great is your faith. Let it be done to you as you have desired." That was enough for her. She trusted Him enough to leave her relentless pursuit of Him, and return to her home. Like the gentile centurion of chapter 8, she too did not need Him to accompany her to the sick child. She trusted that distance was not a problem for the God of heaven and earth. She returned home to find her daughter having been "cast upon the bed" but the demon was gone (Mk. 7:30).

There are many lessons to observe in this passage:

First, the humanity of Jesus is once again portrayed to us. He was intending to escape attention and get away from the unending flow of people coming to His door. So He travels a good two-day journey on foot, through a mountainous countryside, to get a little "alone time" with His disciples. No sooner did He get there than a woman begins to call upon Him. In His humanness, His plan did not produce the expected result. This is the second time He tried to get away from the crowds, with no success. As a Spirit-led human being, however, He did not get upset. He actually used this episode to teach a very strong and clear lesson to His disciples. He waited upon His Father. He waited for the right time, so that the disciples would be keenly watchful of His actions. Then, He obliterated racial and ethnic prejudices by His little role-playing, followed by His commendation to the woman and the deliverance that followed (which she evidently came back to report).

Secondly, we see that God is no respecter of persons. It matters not what race, nationality or gender a person may be, God will accept them if they come to Him with an honest and good heart of faith (cf. Acts 10:34,35). He is a personal God, who treats all of us personally, as individuals before Him. Furthermore, no matter what someone may have done or been in the past, all of that can be put aside when a person approaches God in repentance and humility, looking to Him for His provision.

Third, we see that Jesus demands that we all lay aside our former identity and humbly come to Him under the same source of provision, His grace poured out through what He has done in history through the Jewish people, ultimately culminating in Jesus the sacrifice for our sins and risen King of Glory.

Fourth, we see the single-minded, shameless faith of the woman, who pressed in after Jesus, even though He seemed to pay no attention to her, and even seemed to rebuff her. Her faith in His character was stronger than the somewhat offensive words which He parroted to her. She immediately caught on to the "straw men" which He was setting up as objections, and kept pressing her need upon Him. She was confident that He would hear her and give her what she asked. Her faith carried her through the dry times, the times when it appeared that Jesus would not respond to her. She modeled the importune faith Jesus taught about in Luke 11:5-13 and 18:1-8.