I Can't Believe What Jesus Said!

Matthew 15:10-28

 

        What do we do with Matthew chapter 15, verses 24 and 25? Jesus responds to the desires of a Canaanite woman by saying, “I did not come for your sake. It is not fair to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

I have been preaching from the lectionary for a long time. This is the twelfth time I have been challenged with the opportunity to find the good news of the gospel in these words. Early in my ministry I avoided this text. It was easier to preach on the suggested Old Testament scripture. With the exception of Christmas, I have more sermons on Joseph and the reconciliation with his brothers than any other passage in the Bible. Eventually I decided to try come to terms with this difficult, perhaps inflammatory statement from the lips of Jesus.  It has not been an easy journey. I glanced back at some of my earlier attempts and they were not pretty. No matter how I approached the text, Jesus called a woman a dog. That sounds hateful because it is hateful. I realize the words fell from the lips of one raised in a society that treated Canaanites, particularly Canaanite women, as less than human.   But that does not make it right. Furthermore, it was Jesus who spoke those words. So what do we do with this passage?

Maybe it helps if we back up to the beginning of the story. Jesus once again was in hot water. The disciples were concerned that the Pharisees had taken offense at something Jesus had said. Imagine that. A sermon was preached and not everyone agreed with the preacher. I used to live under the illusion that every word I spoke was embraced by folks as a pearl from heaven. How devastating to discover this might not always be the case. Imagine how hard this reality must be if you are Jesus?

From the beginning Jesus was proclaimed to be the savior of the world. Yet from the beginning there were those who questioned every word Jesus spoke. This weighed on the disciples. They did more than follow Jesus. They loved him. But they respected the Pharisees. They were the teachers of the Torah. They were the moral leaders of the community. Their endorsement would go a long way making Jesus’ ministry legitimate.  Yet at every turn in the road, the Pharisees and Jesus seemed to be in conflict.

Our text begins with Jesus declaring the Pharisees to be like blind guides who were leading the blind into a pit.  Peter, not believing what he had heard responded, “That sounds like a parable. Could you explain it?”

Our English translations have cleaned up the response but in the original Greek Jesus asked Peter if he was too stupid to understand the obvious.

Jesus then explained his statement in a way I think all of us can understand. “When you eat garbage, it goes to the stomach and eventually out into the sewer.  But when garbage is in your heart, it leaves the body by way of the mouth.  The heart is the origin of murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and slander. What the Pharisees proclaim comes from the evil in their heart.”

In case you are wondering, the list Jesus referred to are the last six commandments. Jesus refused to be held accountable by those who claimed to be teachers of the Law while their slanderous and hateful words constantly broke the Law they pretended to uphold.  

We can see that Jesus was furious. And who can blame him? He was being attacked from all sides. Even the disciples wanted Jesus to see the problem from the Pharisees point of view. Finally Jesus made the decision to leave town until everyone, including himself had cooled down. They went to Tyre, a village in the land of Canaan. All Jesus wanted to do was rest and figure out how to deal with all the anger that gravitated his way.

But peace and quiet were not to be found. A woman recognized Jesus and starting shouting, “Son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is possessed. Please heal her.”

Jesus did not respond. He acted as if she was not there. So she cried out a second and third time. She hollered so loud it annoyed the disciples. One of them shouted at Jesus, “This is supposed to be vacation. Please tell that woman to shut-up.”  And that is exactly what Jesus did. He looked at the woman and replied, “I was sent to bring good news to the children of Israel. So please leave us alone. ”

But she was persistent. “Lord, my daughter is sick. I know you can heal her.”

Imagine being Jesus. First the Pharisees are screaming at him. Then the disciples won’t give him a moment to breathe. And finally this foreign woman demands his attention. He finally had enough. He looked right through the woman and screamed, “Why should I take food from children and give it to a dog?” 

As Jesus turned to walk away and she replied, “Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs from the master’s table.”

No one talked like that to Jesus. Yet this woman refused to be stopped by boundaries of ethnicity, heritage, religion, or gender.  And the one who was tired, the one who was dismissive, the one who probably bristled at her antagonistic tone, recognized her voice as coming from the heart of God. Jesus turned and said, “Your faith has saved your daughter.” Then Jesus returned to Galilee and preached the gospel to everyone he encountered.

I could make some grand theological statement about this being a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. The one who spoke with the heart of the Son of David began to see with the eyes of God.

I could approach this text from the standpoint of the writer of the gospel of Matthew. He was writing to converted Jews building a church in Greece. This story reminds them that the law and compassion of God reaches across every conventional boundary.

But we know the Bible is a living document that continues to transform us. In this story, we are Jesus. We have experienced the righteousness of God. We can clearly identify what is good and evil. But sometimes we get weary when folks challenge what we know is right and pure and descent. Sometimes we want to turn from the chaos and run away to find peace and tranquility. And sometimes we do, only to encounter an insignificant person in the eyes of most folks who believes in us, who trust in us, who finds their courage in us, and wants us to stand up on their behalf. But we are tired and we are wounded and we just don’t have the energy to succumb to another’s agenda. And so we scream out at them hoping they will just leave us alone.     (stop)

THANK GOD THEY RESCUE US BY SCREAMING BACK.

That is when our vision clears. That is when our hearts are lifted. That is when we realize we must reenter our broken world because God put us here for a holy reason. Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled”. And then he added, “Neither let your heart be afraid.”

These are troubling times. We can’t afford to be caught on the sidelines. We need to return to the storm. That’s where we find the Canaanite woman. That’s where we find Jesus. And that’s where we will find our souls.       Amen.