Sermon 14th August 2011
Sermon Pentecost P9 Taupo
Matthew 15:21-28
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
This story in Matthew is Matthew’s view on the relationship between Christians and Jews. Matthew’s view is quite different from Paul, and different from the writer of Mark’s gospel. The issue is this: Do Christians need to follow the Jewish customs and laws? Were the words and message of Jesus for the nation of Israel, or was his message for all the nations of the world?
We need to remember that Jesus was a Jew. For Matthew the Jewish Jesus was primary. The early Christians were Jews. So after the death of Jesus, those Jews who became Christians had to work out whether to continue following the Jewish customs and laws, or whether to leave their Jewish practices behind and develop Christian ones. Matthew wants to retain the Jewish laws and customs. The gospels were written and compiled after 70 AD. And each gospel reflects the thoughts and customs of that early Christian community. Between the death of Jesus and the compiling, early Christian communities would gather for worship each week. Those who wanted to retain their Jewish customs would worship on the Sabbath, that is from Friday night to Saturday night, and then worship as Christians on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. When they gathered for Christian worship, they would recite prayers and their memories of what Jesus said and did. They would sing hymns and listen to the leaders telling the story of Jesus. Eventually this oral tradition was written down and later collated into the canon.
It is clear from comparing the gospels with each other that each local worshipping community shaped their story to say what they wanted it to say. For example, verse 24
‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’
This verse is not found in Mark’s gospel, and is an addition by Matthew.
The significance of this is that when reading the New Testament, there are a number of voices speaking not just one. The danger is that if we take what Matthew says, without looking at the other gospels, we have a distorted view. We need to read the whole not just some selected texts. To put it another way, proof texting a theological view is unreliable. Pulling a verse from here or there is simplistic and misleading.
Now the Canaanite woman is not a Jew. She is a descendant of the ancient Canaanites, the bitter biblical enemies of Israel whose paganism had often led Israel into idolatry. They were cut off to prevent Israel and the rest of the world from being corrupted (Deut. 20:16-18).
Deuteronomy 20:16-18
But as for the towns of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breathes remain alive. You shall annihilate them—the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—just as the Lord your God has commanded, so that they may not teach you to do all the abhorrent things that they do for their gods, and you thus sin against the Lord your God.
Now this is a view of an Old Testament god that is militaristic and vengeful. The legacy of this was that the religion of Israel was that their god was a national god, not a god for humanity. And the question for the early Christians was whether Jesus and what he stood for was to continue this legacy.
Now verse 24: ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ declares the absolute priority for Israel being the mission of Jesus. It begins by excluding the Gentile woman.
However the woman is persistent. Perhaps this is a side theme of our story. The woman persists. She kneels before Jesus and asks for his help. The reply from Jesus is rude and exclusive.
He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’
He views the status of the Gentile woman as less than a dog.
She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’
This reply brings Jesus around. He changes his mind, and recognises her faith. Her daughter was healed.
Matthew includes the gentile woman in his healing work. But even so, it is really only in the last four lines of his gospel that Matthew unequivocally states the universal nature of the gospel. There is a view that this was added later, but it states:
Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…
There is a practice in America of the Presidents saying: “God bless America”. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don’t stop there. God’s blessing is for us all. God’s blessing is for all nations. I want to suggest to you that includes people in nations of other faiths. God’s blessing is to China, Iraq, Indonesia.
The consequence of Jesus accepting the non-Jewish woman is to accept all non-Jewish women. I recently heard the story of a person who had a mental health problem and was banned from attending a particular church. The question is then whether at communion or an ordinary service of worship, when we welcome people do we really mean it? Yes he might need a minder, or a companion to help him, but if we ban him, we are breaking that welcome that all who need it can come to the table.
The story of the woman who challenged Jesus applies to today in another sense as well. It gives permission where women who are excluded from equality in the church to challenge the rules of male supremacy. After all if Jesus changed his mind, can not we today change our minds?
It is quite a powerful story, is it not?
John Howell
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