Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
When we come to church, we hope to hear inspiring and heart-moving scripture. Jesus saying, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs" to a helpless mother is not what we expect to hear from him. The account of Jesus and the Canaanite woman is one of the most perplexing accounts in all of the New Testament. The fact that the written tradition preserved it from the oral tradition is equally perplexing.
There are three parts that are hard to understand. First, Jesus ignored a helpless mother’s cry for help on behalf of her daughter. He ignored her even though she used the Messianic title, “Son of David” to address him. He should have known that she was approaching him in faith. Second, When the disciples urged Jesus to send her away, he said to her, “I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.” This is in total contradiction to the universality of the incarnation event. Third, and the most difficult to understand is Jesus’ harsh words, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." Again, this so uncharacteristic of the compassion and kindness he shows in the rest of the gospel.
The gospel of Matthew was written a good forty to fifty years after the death and resurrection. Why did the Matthean community find it necessary to include this account in the written tradition? I would like to reflect on this episode from its historical and cultural contexts and draw some practical implications for us.
Enduring Communal Problems
The Matthean community was made of a majority of Jewish-Christians and some Gentile Christian. The relationship between Jews and Gentiles was a very sensitive topic. Scripture scholars tell us that the account was included in the written tradition because cultural and religious prejudices were still present. In fact, Jewish-Gentile relationship was the most contentious and divisive issue of the early Church. We hear this in today’s second reading. Paul calls himself an apostle to the Gentiles. His most bitter opponents were the Jewish-Christian who were insistent that Gentile Christians had to first be circumcised in order to come to the faith. Paul argued that it was not circumcision that guaranteed salvation, but rather faith in Jesus Christ. His opponents bitterly opposed Paul an even tried to kill him.
Matthew’s community was not immune from the Jewish-Gentile issue and was hurting the community. But Matthew’s larger message was that Jesus had resolved the issue. As a Jew, Jesus acknowledged that revelation first came to the Jews. Hence the statement that he was sent to the lost children of Israel. But Jesus healing the woman’s daughter and applauding her faith says that the Gentiles were not excluded from the God’s plan of salvation.
The bottom line is that gospel passages like these were meant to make the case that Jews and Gentiles can exist together in the same Christian community and that the solution is to be found in Jesus’ own ministry. As God says in today’s first reading, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples” (Is 56:7). At a time when inter-religious, inter-national, and intercultural relationships are under immense strain, this passage has lessons for us. Christians, particularly, must help create societies where “all people” can live in harmony with each other.
Person-to-Person Interaction
There is an yet another eye-opening detail that makes the interaction between Jesus and the Canaanite woman even more interesting. In the time of Jesus, the Jews considered Tyre and Sidon to be Gentile territory. The Jews and Canaanites were bitter enemies. Essentially then, when Jesus went into the region of Tyre and Sidon he had entered hostile territory and crossing a cultural boundary. But the Canaanite woman also crossed a boundary – a religious one. Canaanites had their own deities. The Jews accused the Gentiles of idol worship. But the woman addressed Jesus as “Lord, Son of David!” A Gentile Canaanite woman had come to faith in Jesus Christ. On that day, two people, whose ancestors had been bitter enemies crossed barriers and talked face-to-face with each. There was a person-to-person encounter. They talked, the hashed it out, but in the end, they overcame their age-old animosity in God’s name.
We live in a time where suspicions, accusations, hate, name calling, and villainization of other communities, cultures, religions have been normalized. What is lacking is person-to-person conversations. Often, the people who rant and criticize others have actually never sat down with the people they reject. When people meet face-to-face and get to know each other, they realize that the others are just like them, have the same hopes and dreams as them, face the same fears and anxieties as they do. Most of all they realize that there is more common between them that divides them. Jesus and the Canaanite woman teach us this.
"Observe what is Right, Do what is Just"
Today’s first reading from Isaiah has yet another point for reflection. God says, “Observe what is right, do what is just” (Is 56:1). These are simple but powerful words. It is an advice parents give their children - “Do the right thing!"
I believe that the Canaanite woman and Jesus observed what is right and did what was just. They could have let the prejudices of the time dictate their actions and their interaction with each other. But what was at stake was the deliverance and the healing of a young girl. If the woman had hesitated to come to Jesus or left insulted by the words of Jesus, her daughter would not be healed. Similarly, if Jesus had chosen to serve only the children of Israel, an innocent little girl would be lost. If Jesus had not given in and shown mercy and love, the woman’s faith would have been lost.
As disciples of Jesus and followers of Christ we must always “observe what right and do what is just.” The right thing to do is have faith in Christ the way the Canaanite woman had. The right thing to do is to always come to Jesus with the humility and faith the Canaanite woman had. The right and just thing to do is love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as Jesus commands us to do. The right thing to do is the make God’s house a house of prayer for all peoples. The right thing to do is to help the helpless no matter who they are. The right and just thing to do is to overcome barriers that stand in the way of human dignity. The right and just thing to do is to shed our prejudices and see human persons in the image and likeness of God. The right and just thing to do is the not villainize people and do them harm. If we observe that is right and do what is just, miracles await the world.
The Eucharist is a Sacrament of unity and love. As we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, like him, may we "observe what is right and do what is just." Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph