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Last updated on
Aug. 26, 2002
The Canaanite Woman's Faith
Delivered August 18, 2002
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: Matthew 15:21-28
Main Idea: Jesus honours persistent faith–faith which refuses to be discouraged, faith which humbly yet tenaciously petitions Jesus for mercy, faith which looks to Jesus with expectancy and trust.
Purpose: To challenge the listeners to persist in their prayers, with passion, humility and expectancy. To encourage the listeners that Jesus honours such faith.
Introduction: Today's gospel lesson is unique, for it tells the story of the only time that Jesus and his disciples journeyed beyond the borders of Israel. Other than this one excursion, Jesus' entire ministry, including his trip to Samaria, occurred within the boundaries of the Roman province of Palestine. But now for the first time Jesus and his disciples venture beyond traditional Jewish territory. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to discover that there in the hinterland, on this unusual trip, in the district of Tyre and Sidon, we meet one of the most remarkable persons in the gospels, the Canaanite woman. She possessed a rare strength of faith in Jesus, a tenacious faith the like of which Jesus didn't again encounter until after his resurrection. In fact, she is only one of two people in all four of the gospels whom Jesus declared to have "great faith." Today I want to tell her story, for the faith of this outsider, this Gentile woman, is extraordinary. Her faith is worthy not only to remember and to honour, but also to hold up as a model to emulate.
The encounter with the Canaanite woman: Now, for their part, Jesus and his disciples didn't leave their homeland in search of further ministry opportunities. This was definitely not a missionary expedition. Rather, for Jesus this sojourn to another land was a time of deliberate withdrawal. Back home his popularity was steadily rising, and it became increasingly difficult for him to spend any amount of time alone, whether in rest or in prayer and meditation. Wherever he went, the crowds would seek him out and find him. So before heading south to Jerusalem, and the waiting cross, Jesus decided to retreat northward for a while, perhaps we could say he was taking a vacation, to the district of Tyre and Sidon, along the beautiful Mediterranean coast, what is now modern day Lebanon.
But Jesus' much desired solitude did not last long. A Canaanite woman from that region came to him and started shouting, "Have mercy on me Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon." Jesus simply ignored her, he didn't answer her at all, he didn't even say a single word. But the woman wouldn't relent. She kept shouting, and she kept pleading on behalf of her daughter, and Jesus continued to ignore her, until finally the disciples couldn't stand it anymore. They approached Jesus and "urged him to send her away." The disciples are not quite as cold hearted as this English translation makes them appear, for implied in their request is that Jesus eliminate this nuisance by healing her so that she would then surely leave them alone. Eugene Peterson brings this out in his translation when he has the disciples say, "Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy." But Jesus replied, "I was sent only to help the people of Israel–God's lost sheep–not the Gentiles" (v. 24, NLT).
And that's all he said. He still didn't directly address the woman. At this point we could imagine that she might well give up, she had humbled herself, she had taken a big risk and was rejected by this group of 13 men. But she didn't. She loved her daughter too much to walk away. Rather, she went down on her knees before Jesus saying simply, "Lord, help me." Finally Jesus broke his silence, and spoke to her, answering, "It's not right to take the children's food and throw it away to the dogs." If that was not a discouraging reply, there never was one. The woman might have wished at this point that Jesus had remained silent, for surely that is better than being called a dog. But once again the Canaanite woman was not put off, and with an intriguing display of courage and wits she took his words and turned them to her advantage replying, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Touche! This remarkable response melted away all of Jesus' apparent resistance, and left him in open admiration of her, to the point that he not only said, "Woman, your faith is great," but also"Your request is granted." And instantly her daughter was healed. What a remarkable confrontation, as remarkable as the one last week between Jesus and Peter walking on the water. And both accounts have much to teach us about faith.
Jesus' reluctance to help: But before we consider her faith any further, and before we consider some of the many challenges it holds out for us, we must examine Jesus' strange reluctance to help her. For if we don't do this, his actions and words during this incident may leave us feeling so uncomfortable that we can't hear anything else. That has happened to me before in my own devotional reading of this text, I became so caught up with Jesus' bizarre behaviour that I missed one of the most beautiful stories of faith in the NT. So before we go on, let us attempt to answer this question: Why did Jesus act and speak as he did?
One commentator I read suggested that Jesus in his humanity was simply irritated at the interruption, which led him to behave as he did. Another took the opposite position and suggested that Jesus spoke as he did, especially the reference to dogs, with a twinkle in his eye and laughter in his voice, much like we might affectionately say to one of our children, "Why you rascal you!"
There may be something to either one of these responses, but they both can't be true at once! Rather than engage in conjecture, I think the best answer we can give is the one Jesus himself gave to his disciples: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Jesus' self-understanding of his earthly mission was that the Jewish people were his priority. This is a recurring theme in Matthew's narrative, this concept that the gospel belongs first to Israel. We see it in the fact that Jesus was born a Jew, in Israel (he wasn't born in Africa or Asia or Europe); we see it in the fact that only on this occasion did Jesus ever go outside of the boundaries of Israel; we see it in 10:5-6, when Jesus sent the twelve disciples out on a mission trip with these words: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." And of course we see it in today's text. As Charles Cousar tells us in his commentary, there can be no equivocating on the point that Jesus understood his ministry to be first and foremost to Israel, the historic, covenanted people of God (Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary based on the NRSV–Year A, Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, p. 450).
This does not mean that in Jesus' mind the good news of the Kingdom was not for everyone. But what it does mean is that Jesus knew he was working on his Father's time line. Outreach to the Gentiles was also part of God's plan–but only after the Jews heard the message of the kingdom. Indeed, only after his crucifixion and resurrection did Jesus give the great commission to his disciples, in the final words of Matthew's gospel, "Go and make disciples of all nations." That was part of Jesus' plan, but when our story took place that time had not yet arrived. Could it be, then, that Jesus didn't know what to make of this strange Gentile woman who burst onto the scene in such an untimely manner? Could that be why he ignored her? There is much to be said for that, but...but it still doesn't explain his calling her a dog, does it? As far as that is concerned, it helps somewhat to know that the Jews commonly referred to the gentiles as dogs. Therefore when Jesus remarked, "It is not right to take the children's food and feed it to the dogs," he was saying in effect, "it is not right to take ministry and resources that are intended for the children of Israel and give them instead to the Gentiles." But that still doesn't change the fact that Jesus chose to use this harsh metaphor for the Gentiles. Yet even here, he is softening the blow somewhat. For Jesus doesn't use the common word for dog, which in those days were the filthy scavengers that roamed the streets; rather, he uses the diminutive form, the form which was used to refer to the small dogs which some people kept as household pets.
Finally, I think it also helps to bear in mind that Matthew's gospel is written primarily with a Jewish or a Jewish Christian audience in mind. While we are shocked at what we consider to be Jesus' poor treatment of this woman, a Jewish reader in Matthew's day would have been shocked for just the opposite reason, that Jesus treated her so well. For Jesus not only eventually spoke to this Gentile, and a female one at that, but in the end he ultimately granted her request.
The Canaanite Woman: A Model of Faith: With those explanations we must return now to the Canaanite woman, for her faith is truly at the heart of the story. As we proceed, we must remember this: that while our theoretical explanations for Jesus' behaviour may ease some of our discomfort, this woman didn't have the luxury of our vantage point. She asked for help, and was ignored. She persisted, but only to the irritation of the disciples. She heard Jesus say that his mission was not to people like her. And when she bent down on her knees before him, and begged Jesus to show mercy to her daughter, she experienced being labelled, together with her people, as dogs. But still she didn't give up, "Yes, but even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs of food that fall from their Master's table."
With that brilliant response the woman emerges as an impressive model of faith. Are you interested in learning about great faith? Then pay attention to this incident, for as we said earlier, only on two occasions did Jesus pronounce someone's faith as great, and this is one of them.
Faith and Persistence: What was it about her faith that made it great? Surely the first characteristic of it is persistence. Her persistence permeates this story from start to finish. She absolutely refused to allow discouragement to stand in her way. Last week we saw that constancy is a key characteristic of faith–not only beginning well, like Peter did on the waves, but also ending well. Today we see that persistence, which is closely related, also characterizes strong faith. Persistence does not give up when an answer is not immediately granted. Persistence is willingness to try again and again no matter how discouraging circumstances may appear. It was through her persistent pleas to Jesus that the Canaanite woman was able to obtain from him the blessing that she as a mother needed. This is reminiscent of the parable Jesus taught his disciples about the widow and the unjust judge (Luke 18:1-8), the lesson of the parable being that the disciples should always pray, and not lose heart.
Sheer persistence can sometimes open doors that nothing else can. I read this week about a man whose subscription to National Geographic had expired. He had received several renewal and expiration notices, but ignored them. Then one day the computer responsible for handling subscription mailings malfunctioned. The man, a rancher in Colorado, received 9,734 separate mailings informing him that his subscription had expired. This got the rancher's attention. He dropped what he was doing and travelled 10 miles to the nearest post office, where he sent in money for a renewal–along with a note that said, "I give up! Send me your magazine!" There is something about multiple request that brings answers. For reasons known only to God, that is also true in prayer (citation: Stand Firm, September 1999, p. 19).
Are you easily discouraged? Am I? When we bring our prayer requests to God through Jesus we may not receive an immediate response, but the Canaanite woman models the potential rewards for those of us with the gumption to hang in there. Sometimes when we pray we may feel just like the Canaanite woman did, like God is ignoring us, or not answering us. But surely the first lesson in this story is to press on anyway. Impatience is fatal to our prayers. Great faith does not falter when it encounters silence, or even irritation; rather, it continues to press on with patience and perseverance.
One of the outstanding historical examples of a person of such faith is George Mueller. The following excerpt is taken from his diary: "In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every single day without a single intermission, whether sick or in good health, on the land, on the sea, and whatever the pressure of my engagements might be." After eighteen months, the first individual became a follower of Jesus. Mueller thanked God and prayed on. Five years elapsed, and then the second professed faith in Christ. Mueller thanked God for the second, and prayed on for the other three, day by day. Six more years passed before the third received Jesus. Thirty six years later Mueller wrote that the other two had not become disciples. But he also added, "But I hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. They are not converted yet, but they will be." Finally in 1897, fifty-two years after he began to pray, these two men finally became Christians, after Mueller himself had already died.
Faith and Passion: To return to our Bible lesson, it is clear that the woman's faith didn't only consist of persistence, but of persistence combined with passion. When she originally came to Jesus, she was shouting. And she kept up until the disciples intervened. Her passion was fuelled by a mother's love for her daughter. She was willing to do anything to see her healed. Her passion was also displayed in her humility, when she humbled herself on her knees before Jesus and choked out the words, "Lord, help me." She gave all of herself into her pleas for mercy, whether it was shouting or kneeling, or whether it was using her intellect to come up with such a witty retort to Jesus' comment about the dogs.
Concerning prayer, E.M. Bounds comments: "Heaven has hearkening ears only for the wholehearted, and the deeply earnest. Energy, courage, and persistent perseverance must back the prayers which heaven respects, and God hears." (The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer, p. 43).
Let's reflect for a moment on our own prayer lives: Are they characterized by earnestness and energy and enthusiasm? Do we throw the entire force of our spiritual beings into prayer? Do we attempt to take hold of God in all humility and reverence? Do we dare take the risk of casting ourselves down at the feet of Jesus? Or do our prayers come too easily, do they demand little of us, do they never leave us tired or drained, are they indifferent and complacent, are they facile and faint-hearted? The Canaanite woman had great faith because her faith was not only persistent, but passionate, her faith was a faith which took risks, which clung to Jesus and would not let him go, which demanded all of herself, for the sake of her daughter.
Faith and Expectancy: Before we close there is one last characteristic of great faith which we must examine. This characteristic is the greatest of all, it is the expectancy and the trust which the Samaritan woman placed in Jesus. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that Jesus could help her. She persisted in her petitions precisely because she had an absolute conviction that Jesus could do for her what she desperately needed. Do we share her conviction? Do we see in Jesus the same things she saw? Somehow this outsider recognized Jesus for who he was, and so she addressed him as "Son of David" and "Lord." Knowing who he was, she refused to let him go, she refused to grow discouraged and give up.
Once again in this story, just like in last week's encounter between Jesus and Peter, we see that the greatest element of faith is to keep one's hope and sight fixed squarely on Jesus. Jesus is the object of our faith, the one in whom we trust. He is the one who loves people of all nations, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether male or female. He is the one who is open to being surprised by the faith of an outsider, he is the one who gives grace to all who call upon him. He gave his life for all of us, and because he rose again he is able to pour out mercy on those who seek it. He is the Son of David, God's Chosen King, the Lord of the universe, he is all powerful, there is no request that we can bring him that he cannot fulfill. He is also more than willing to do so, for He is the Son of Man, who knows what it is to be human, who understands the things we go through, and who invites us to come to him to receive mercy and to find grace to help in time of need.
Conclusion: So let us be bold and accept Jesus' invitation. Let us take heart from the example of this marvellous Canaanite woman, and let us dare to petition our Lord with perseverance, with energy, and with submissive trust. May we too be those whose faith Jesus will one day label as great, because our prayers and indeed our very lives here on earth are characterized by a persistency that will not be denied, by a passion that consumes all of our being, and by a humble expectancy which continually looks to Jesus as the source of God's divine hope and healing in our world. Amen.