"It
is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the
dogs." From the mouth and lips of Our Blessed Lord.
I
was thinking - that seems like an "un-Christian" thing to say to the woman, huh? More or less calling her a dog. I don’t know about you, but to my ears and
brain, this has to be among the hardest Gospels to figure out. Why would Our Blessed Lord, true God and true
man, perfect in every way, seemingly insult this woman who’s come to Him
begging for His help?
I
did some reading and the only thing I’m sure of is that nobody can say for
sure. Investigating the original Greek
language in which St. Matthew wrote the gospel, it’s clear that Our Lord didn’t
mean dogs like a pack of dogs. The Greek
word Matthew uses has a meaning more like a small dog, a pet, a member of the
family even.
And
I can relate to that because we have a small dog who’s always around the dinner
table ready to pounce on whatever gets dropped (or secretly fed to her). If that’s the case, then maybe what we take
as an insult wasn’t meant to be an insult at all.
But
then again there’s the idea, and Matthew makes this clear, that Jesus is in a
foreign district, Tyre and Sidon, and this woman is a foreigner. And not just
any foreigner but a Canaanite. The
Canaanites versus the Jewish people – a conflict of hatred that went back
centuries.
We
know from the parable of the Good Samaritan that the Jews not liking
Samaritans, but to the Jewish community to whom Matthew was writing, well, he’s
talking about someone despicable here.
And it was common for the Jews to speak of Canaanites as dogs – and not
the household pet variety – this was demeaning and an insult.
And
as an aside – Jesus is speaking here to a woman to boot – you’ll recall that it
was forbidden to speak in public to a woman, doubly so to speak to a Canaanite
woman – either would make you ritually unclean.
So
that sets the picture – Our Lord Jesus speaking to this Canaanite woman – whom
His disciples would probably have thought a dog – and after her pleading with
Him, after her outwitting Him if you will with her response – “even the dogs
eat the scraps from the table” – Jesus relents and cures her daughter at once.
This
is no doubt a story of her great faith.
Some say it was a turning point, perhaps, in Jesus’ life or so goes one
theory – when His eyes are opened not only to the lost sheep of Israel but to
all humankind.
And
it’s no doubt a story of the need to be persistent in prayer, of never giving
up. What mother would give up in seeking
a cure for her daughter, even seeking the cure from a hated Israelite?
But
I think the most important takeaway from this story is best framed in what’s
happening right now in our own country.
Just like the bright dividing line that separated Jew from Canaanite,
who is “in” and who is “out” - we have our own bright dividing lines, don’t
we? And in my lifetime I can’t recall
this much intolerance, even hatred on the lips and faces of so many, shown for
those on the other side of their line – for those “outside.” Intolerance of
anyone with a differing opinion, huh?
Think
of all the dividing lines – right, left. Democrat - Republican. American – foreigner. Catholic -
non-Catholic. Black –
white. Christian – Muslim. And I could go on. Scary stuff.
It’s almost a little comforting to know that there were dividing lines
in Jesus’ day, and Our Lord (or at least His disciples) were not immune from
them.
But
faced with this situation, what does Our Lord do? He has a conversation – with someone on the
other side of the line, someone He’s not supposed to be talking to. He stops, He listens. And He relents and heals. He praises her great faith – she who twice
calls Him Lord, and Son of David. In
place of hatred, He has sown love. He has made peace.
And
He has blurred the dividing line, if not erased it. Done something that must have shocked His
disciples, but something that certainly taught them, too, taught them a new
way.
Sisters
and brothers, He’s teaching you and me today as well. Teaching us that blurring dividing lines is
what you and I are called to do. To
focus not on what separates us but on what unites us in our common humanity –
what we all have in common. To follow
Jesus, to blur those dividing lines, cross over in conversation, and bring the
love and peace, the forgiveness of sin and the salvation bought by Christ’s
blood, which we experience here, to all.
I
was drawn in to a posting on Facebook the other day – it was entitled “50
groups of people Jesus said it’s OK to hate.”
Intrigued, I opened it, and stared reading, and scrolled down to the
listing. And it was fifty blank lines,
numbered one to fifty. Meaning Jesus
gave us the OK to hate no one.
“Love
your enemies, pray for those who persecute you,” He commanded us. It is incumbent on us, His followers, those
who are to be light to the world and salt of the earth, to shine the light of
His love into the darkness all around us.
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