Seasons of
Elijah-Cross-Moses
Third
Sunday of the Cross: Matthew 15:21-28
THE FAITH OF THE CANAANITE WOMAN
INTRODUCTION
Though Jesus started his ministry with the
lost sheep among the Israelites, he did not deny the request of the
Gentiles for help. He made them express their faith in him as the “Son
of David.” Jesus’ disciples could learn from him on how to deal with the
Gentiles. Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus entrusted the
disciples to preach the good news to all the nations. Faith and
persistence in prayer without losing hope are the qualities we note in
the Canaanite woman’s request for help. Like the Canaanite woman, let us
also keep our faith and prayer. And like Jesus, let us be compassionate
to those who need our help.
BIBLE TEXT
(Matthew 15:21) Leaving that place, Jesus
withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. (22) Now a Canaanite woman
came from that area and began to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity
on me! My daughter is greatly tormented by a demon.” (23) But Jesus did
not answer her, not even a word. So his disciples approached him and
said, “Send her away: see how she is shouting after us.” (24) Then Jesus
said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the people of
Israel.” (25) But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus and said,
“Lord, help me!” (26) Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread
from the children and throw it to the little dogs.” (27) The woman
replied, “It is true, sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which
fall from their master’s table.” (28) Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great
is your faith! It will be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at
that moment.
INTERPRETATION
(Matthew 15:21) Leaving that place,
Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
While Jesus was continuing his ministry in
Capernaum, his popularity among the nations and opposition from the
Jewish leaders grew. After a dispute with the Scribes and Pharisees on
cleanliness and defilement followed by addressing the crowd on the same
topic, Jesus moved to Tyre and Sidon, a pagan region. It was to avoid a
premature attack on him at Capernaum and to be free for a while from the
public and the Jewish authorities. It is probable that he had gone only
to the borders of Tyre and Sidon because he had ordered his disciples,
“Do not go into Gentile territory and do not enter a Samaritan town.”
(Matthew 10:5).
Tyre and Sidon
Tyre and Sidon
are 20 miles apart and are now in Lebanon, north of Galilee.
The inhabitants of Sidon must be the descendants of Sidon who was the
firstborn son of Canaan, the grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:15). Now the
city is in Lebanon and known as Saida in Arabic, meaning “fishing.”
Sidon was the northern border of the ancient Canaanites (Genesis 10:19).
Tyre is 20 miles south of Sidon on a rock
island at the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The name Tyre came
from the Semitic word “sr” meaning rock.
Tyre and Sidon were the principal cities of
Phoenicia that lay on the coast of Galilee. Though Joshua had allotted
these cities also to the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:28-29) at the
conquest of Canaan, the Israelites never conquered the people there
(Judges 1:31-32). “So the Israelites lived in the midst of the
Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The
Israelites married the daughters of these people, gave their own
daughters in marriage to the sons of these people and served their
gods.” (Judges 3:5-6).
Tyre contributed supplies and personnel for
the construction of David’s palace in Jerusalem. “Hiram, king of Tyre,
sent messengers to David with cedar trees, carpenters and masons to
build a house for David.” (2 Samuel 5:11). “Besides logs of cedar beyond
number, since the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought cedar logs to David
in great quantities.” (1 Chronicles 22:4). These were for the
construction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Assyrians
attacked the ten tribes of Israel around 740 B.C. and exiled them to
various parts of their empire. The tribe of Asher was also among the
lost 10 tribes of Israel. Jeremiah (27:3–11) and Ezekiel (26:7–14) had
prophesied the surrender of Tyre and Sidon to Nebuchadnezzar. The
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years (585–572
B.C.).
After returning from Babylonian exile when
the Jews started construction of the second Temple in Jerusalem (521-516
B.C.) under the leadership of Zerubbabel, they sought the help from
Tyre and Sidon for construction materials and personnel for the Temple.
“They gave money to the masons and the carpenters. They also gave food,
wine and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians to bring cedar trees from
Lebanon to Joppa by sea, according to the authorization of Cyrus, king
of Persia.” (Ezra 3:7).
(22) Now a Canaanite woman came from
that area and began to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My
daughter is greatly tormented by a demon.”
Mark also narrates the same incident (Mark
7:24-30). According to him, the event happened in Tyre at a house where
he was intending to take rest (Mark 7:24).
Behold
A Canaanite woman
Mark presents the
Canaanite woman as “a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth.” (Mark
7:26). The Assyrians (722 B.C.) and Babylonians (586 B.C.) exiled the
Israelites and scattered them among other nations. Alexander the Great’s
invasion (333-321 B.C.) brought the Greek people, their language, and
culture among the Israelites. Thus, the Jews and Greeks were living side
by side in the Roman empire. The Greeks were Gentiles, though not all
Gentiles were Greeks. This Canaanite woman who approached Jesus was a
Canaanite descent with Greek religion, culture, and language.
Mark presents the woman as “Syrophoenician by
birth.” The Greeks gave the land of Canaan another name Phoenicia, which
in Greek means purple. The people in this region had developed purple
dye industry by extracting a fluid from a Mediterranean mollusk, the
murex. Purple was a commodity for royal dress. They shipped this
valuable dye to all over the Mediterranean world. The Phoenicians who
lived in the Syrian province of Tyre and Sidon were known as
Syrophoenicians to distinguish them from the Phoenicians who lived in
North African Lybophoenicia or Carthage. Thus, Matthew’s usage of
“Canaanite” and Mark’s calling of “Greek” and “Syrophoenician” are
referring to the same lady.
Lord, Son of David!
Have pity on me! My daughter is greatly
tormented by a demon.
(23) But Jesus did not answer her, not
even a word. So his disciples approached him and said, “Send her away:
see how she is shouting after us.”
Jesus did not answer her, not even a
word.
“Send her away: see how she is shouting
after us.”
The silence of Jesus could also be a test on
the view and response of his disciples, who were his trainees. Jesus
wanted to teach his disciples that they would later minister to the
Gentiles with love and compassion.
(24) Then Jesus said to her, “I was
sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.”
By these words Jesus was not rejecting the
request of a Gentile. He wanted to show that he came to fulfill God’s
promise to the chosen people, to show his priority, and to test the
woman’s faith. Jesus then healed her daughter, affirming that his
mission is also for the Gentiles.
I was sent
Lost sheep
Jeremiah presented Israel as a “lost sheep”
misled by their shepherds (Jeremiah 50:6). Ezekiel spoke of the selfish
shepherds of Israel, and God promised that He himself would rescue his
sheep. “Indeed the Lord God says this: ‘I myself will care for my sheep
and watch over them.’” (Ezekiel 34:11). Jesus, the Son of God, came as a
shepherd to his sheep, Israel (John 10:11-16).
The people of Israel
(25) But the woman came and did him
homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
The woman came
Did him homage
“Lord, help me.”
(26) Jesus answered, “It is not right
to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs.”
What was Jesus’ intention when he used the
analogy of children and dogs in the place of Israelites and Greeks? The
Israelites were the people with whom God made a covenant. So, they were
God’s first-born children (Exodus 4:22). Gentiles had only a second
place in front of God because they were after pagan gods. Jesus started
his redemption of humanity starting with Jews and then extended to the
Gentiles.
The Jews were insiders of the house like
children, and the Gentiles were like favorite puppies brought up outside
the house and not sharing equal rights with children. Jesus did not use
the word for street dogs, but for pet dogs. The Jews had the practice of
calling Gentiles dogs. However, the tone Jesus used was not of contempt
or racism but was a lovable puppy with a smiling gesture.
Jesus’ intention was not to humiliate the
Canaanite woman, because later he praised her for her excellent faith.
He was expressing his priorities in preaching the gospel. Jesus must
offer salvation first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles or Greeks. He
had already healed a gentile centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:5-13).
However, he extended his mission to the people all over the world before
his ascension by asking the disciples, “Go, therefore, and make
disciples from all nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
(27) The woman replied, “It is true,
sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their
master’s table.”
The Canaanite woman accepted Jesus’ reply in
a positive sense. While acknowledging herself as a “dog,” she looked for
the privilege of a puppy. She did not request to curtail any privilege
of the children to favor her. She believed that even a dog’s part of
grace from Jesus would be enough to heal her daughter.
(28) Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great
is your faith! It will be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at
that moment.
The woman had expressed her faith in Jesus
like the Centurion who was also a gentile (Matthew 8:5-13). She was a
child of faith, though not of the flesh of Abraham (Romans 4:16).
According to Mark, “When the woman went home, she found her child lying
in bed and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:30).
MESSAGE
1. The Canaanite woman was asking Jesus’
healing for her child. Parents should keep praying for their children to
be safe from the evil influences in their lives. Jesus will not forsake
a parent’s cry for the child.
2. Jesus’ silence at first to the Canaanite
woman was discouraging for her. However, she persisted in her prayer.
This Canaanite woman is a typical example for keeping faith and prayer
even when God does not answer our prayers according to our timing. Jesus
declined no one who asked for his help. He was testing her faith and
cured her daughter after the test.
3. The disciples got annoyed at the constant
request of the Canaanite woman for help. So, they said to Jesus: “Send
her away: see how she is shouting after us.” The willingness to help
just to get rid of the needy person is not a pleasant disposition. Our
service should come from our heart, as Jesus had in all cases.
4. The Canaanite woman was a child of God,
not by the flesh of Abraham but by his faith. Many Jews could not get
the grace from Jesus because of their lack of faith that Abraham had. As
covenantal people through baptism, we must also practice our faith.
5. The Centurion and the Canaanite woman who
were gentiles could gain healing for their beloved ones because of their
faith and persistence in prayer. Even when we deserve nothing by our
merit, faith and prayer can achieve God’s favor.
6. Jesus was compassionate to all, regardless
of whether they were Jews or Gentiles. Let us also be considerate to
all, regardless of who they are.