Matthew 15:21-29. A sermon for class on preaching difficult texts. This passage can provoke some challenges to preachers and to discerning Bible readers because we cannot see body language and we cannot hear tone of voice and we cannot smell the freshly baked bread that might be on a table...
So here comes a spoiler alert: I’d like to suggest another way of approaching the text: imagine if the body language is open and welcoming; the tone of voice is full of humour; and the bread is for sharing out to all comers. What if:
ONE – Jesus is not being rude!
TWO – The woman is not being treated badly!
THREE – when we hear about crumbs, dogs and demons – which one of these should be grabbing our attention?
Additionally, can we find anything relevant here for us, today?
Let’s address the proposed challenges first. Why is this considered a difficult text?
FIRSTLY The disciples seem to be feeling awkward, the language is directive and abrupt, and so we feel a bit awkward too. A suggestion is that we know they have all come to the area around Tyre and Sidon for a rest, so they could be tired and snappy, and not feeling gracious or patient or at all able to minister just now. That’s relatable, right?
SECONDLY The woman – and only a woman after all – is very persistent and she approaches Jesus independently, on her own, and she calls out to him – this was not socially-acceptable behaviour. So they may feel even less able to interact with her.
THIRDLY Jesus himself has an apparent indifference to the requests of the woman, he appears to be unresponsive, he is quiet.
Is he trying to ignore her? Does he want her to go away?
> These options seem unlikely responses from this most compassionate, loving Son of God; who understands, honours and loves women as equals to men; who is known for his supernatural, powerful healing and his profoundly wise teaching.
FOURTHLY & FITHLY There are two other issues here that we should think about: the IDENTITY of the woman and the LOCATION of their meeting: the two are not disassociated – they are linked. The ethnic heritage of the woman (NB and her daughter) is noted in the two gospel accounts of this meeting: as here in Matthew 15, but also in Mark 7.
- Where Mark’s gospel describes the women as ‘a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia’, Matthew records that she is a ‘Canaanite woman from that region’
– Mark’s words seem more respectful and precise, he is highlighting that she is an alien / a stranger in the land, quite far from her native home. His intention is to keep the focus on what Jesus did in a miraculous, Gentile healing. It’s more straightforward that way.
– but Matthew gives her an identity that is both OF the land she is living in but also works to show that she is NOT Jewish, not from the accepted twelve tribes of Israel, not part of God’s chosen people. - [IDENTITY] On top of this, there is an ‘othering’ in saying that someone is a Canaanite – they symbolize being actively against the chosen people and God’s prescribed land. Because this land, at the time of Jesus, was only populated with pockets of people of the one God. The rest were Gentiles. Jesus has come here to rest, to be away from people who will recognise him.
However, just as the woman receives a loaded identity from Matthew and Mark; she herself is the one who calls out Jesus’ identity, ‘Lord, Son of David’ and at that moment, Jesus knows that she must know the prophecies, that she has come looking purposely for him, not because he is a visiting rabbi who might help, but because He is the Messiah, Son of David, the only one who can help.
- AND perhaps this is why Jesus was initially quiet. We’ll come back to this point.
- [LOCATION] I mentioned location, our fifth challenge in the text: From scripture, we read in Genesis that Jacob himself, after being renamed Israel by God, came to settle in Canaan – ‘he lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.’ In summary, this land has been fought over for the majority of its history ever since Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt. It was conquered by Joshua, and then by David, and lost again, and it has remained lost right up until today – look where Tyre and Sidon are – they are inside the border of Lebanon. Does President Netanyahu believe that Israel has a deep historical and scriptural birthright to that land? Is that informing the political moves today in the Middle East?
- D’you see? This question of IDENTITY and LOCATION is of vital importance to all of us watching and waiting and praying.
- This land has always been a dangerous, contested place to live.
- When Matthew calls this brave, persistent, God-knowing person a ‘Canaanite’ he is also loading their identity against them.
So, at a first reading, the odds look stacked against the petitioner.
Let’s take a second, deeper look at this encounter.
There is a building dynamic of communication and relationship that is revealed in this short dialogue between our crumb-gathering Gentile and the Son of God.
It is while Jesus waits, that the woman is given space to approach and to express herself, and while she speaks, she reveals what is in her heart. As Jesus has just been teaching, see Mathew 15:11, ‘It is what comes out of a person’s mouth’ that reveals their thoughts. She has a great desire to speak to Jesus for the healing of her daughter. And we would do the same, we do do the same, we’re on our knees in prayer persistently for those we love.
She has passed the barrier of her identity, the barrier of her gender, the barrier of the disciples, and she has kept her focus on:
- who Jesus is
- and the healing of her daughter.
So the preacher / the Bible reader also needs to get over these barriers, and take the journey with her, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
When we do this, we will find that there are bigger, brighter and bolder messages for us within this short encounter.
What’s the BIGGER message?
In Matthew’s version of dialogue, the persistent parent makes her request three times:
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David”
“Lord, help me.”
“Yes, Lord, yet even …”
Three requests. That’s a directional marker from Matthew – good things come in threes under the Will and Kingdom of our Trinitarian God.
At the third, request: the tension breaks – see verse 28 – “Woman, great is your faith!” a rare commendation from Jesus who is more likely to say ‘oh you of little faith’!
But, in that moment, when Jesus speaks, her daughter is healed.
So: there was great faith AND there was healing.
What’s the BRIGHTER message?
Healing was at a distance, Jesus’ command over all kingdoms and the spiritual realm is shown here, and it is as he speaks, at His Word, that the healing happens. The Will of God has moved and the salvation of the Kingdom of God has broken into her daughter’s life; Jesus’s Will and Jesus’ Word bring deliverance
The demon, a force of evil from the sin of the world, is expelled and the daughter is delivered.
The woman spoke the words of truth and had Jesus’ full attention from the start – her knowledge, her insight into WHO HE WAS was one thing, but the second thing that ‘sealed the deal’ if you like, was that she believed HE was who she thought he was!
And what is the BOLDER message?
Here is a microcosm of the Gospel in full = because of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection into eternal life = we know and we believe that all of us Gentiles can come freely to the table and be fed with the broken bread that the crumbs come from.
The broken bread is deeply symbolic of the broken body of Jesus – at the Last Supper he invited in his closest friends as he broke the bread, ‘this is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me’. [1 Corinthians 11:24]
for the bread and wine / body and blood to be taken up by anyone else beyond Jesus himself, the body absolutely HAD to be broken and the blood had to be spilt.
The crumb under the table is part of the body of salvation that leads you and I to our own personal redemption and eternal life with Jesus
Just as the Canaanite woman brought her broken daughter to Jesus and laid her out three times; WHO are we bringing to Jesus today?
- Lead into prayer and petition time
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