There is a good book out there, the
recently released book called, “What is the Bible?” by Rob Bell,
the former pastor of Mars Hill Church. It's very easy to read, and
although he says a few things we Catholics could not agree with, it
is worth reading and kind of fun as well.
One of the things he keeps emphasizing
is that the Bible was written by human beings, not by God. And human
beings were writing in the context of their times, and to a specific
audience, and they thought the way people thought in those days.
Inspired by God, of course. Free from theological error, of course.
But never intended to be a recipe for salvation, a guidebook to get
you to heaven. I leave it to you to read it and see what you think.
But it got me thinking about this
Sunday's gospel. Many interpreters use this story along with a few
others to remind us that God wants everyone to be saved, he wants
everyone to be admitted to the heavenly banquet. There are others
who say that this story shows how human Jesus was, because here is a
point where he learned that gentiles could have saving faith as well
as Jews. And then there are always those who are shocked at Jesus'
words about children and dogs, and go to great lengths to show that
Jesus really was using a word that meant “Puppy” and he knew the
woman would come back with a witty reply and all would be well.
But remember, Matthew is writing to
Jewish converts to Christianity – people who at that time probably
continued to honor many Jewish laws and customs, people who weren't
quite at the stage where they saw Christianity as a new religion,
people who still were distrustful of Gentiles. And that's why
Matthew in his gospel constantly shows Jesus as the new Moses who
gives a new law; the new Elijah who gives a new critique of society.
And in the gospel passage just before this one, Jesus disciples had
been castigated by the Pharisees for eating without washing their
hands, and Jesus had pointed out that it wasn't what you put into
your body that defiled you, it was what was in your heart. And
that's when he meets the Caananite woman.
Now Caananites were people who lived
among the Jews who were descended from the original inhabitants of
that part of the world. They were kind of like Native Americans –
tolerated but not integrated. The Samaritans were bitter enemies
because they practiced a perverse form of Judaism – but the
Caananites were mostly ignored. And that's what is so shocking about
this episode. She cries out, over and over again. It just wasn't
done. She had no right. If she were to sit by the road and beg,
okay. If she were to sell the produce of her garden in the
marketplace, fine. But to yell out and call attention to herself was
shocking.
Now remember, it is Matthew writing to
Jewish Christians who still keep Jewish laws, who still practice
dietary and purity rules. And that meant ignoring or shunning those
who weren't like them. And this woman has all the marks of impurity.
She is a Caananite, she is a woman, and she is unclean by
definition. And she dares to call out.
So at first Jesus acts just as
Matthew's audience would – he ignores her. As she keeps up the
noise, Jesus continues to act in that manner, telling her he was
sent to the Jews, not to anyone else. So far, so good, that's
exactly how a good Jew should behave. Of course the next step, if
she persisted, would be to call the authorities, or resort to
violence to get this woman away from the good people.
And that's when things change.
Because after the little dialogue about children and dogs, Jesus
proclaims her great faith, and grants the miracle she requested.
So why did Matthew put this story in
his gospel?
I think a clue may be in the words
Jesus speaks: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
I think we Christians see break
between the “Old Testament” and the New. God tried really hard
with the Jews, but after failing over and over again, he gave up on
them and turned to the gentiles. That's us. But that makes God a
failure. The reality is that if you really read the Bible, you see a
pattern. God begins with Abraham, and over the course of
generations, the descendants of Abraham learn more and more about
this God that is totally unlike any God humans have conceived of. He
is a God that wants to be in relationship with his people. He wants
to form them and bring them along and make them into something
special – a people who are not only in a loving relationship with
Him, but who are there to show the rest of mankind that there is
another way to live, that there is a way to break the cycle of war
and poverty and all the terrible things human beings do to each
other. God formed his people to be the leaven in the world. He
didn't form them to take them to himself and leave the rest of the
world to fend for itself.
And Jesus was sent only to the lost
sheep of Israel. The Israelites referred to themselves as lost sheep
because ten tribes had been lost in the various raids and
subjugations that had happened, and the remaining Israelites had lost
the land that God had given to them. But these were the people that
God had been forming, and God continues to form them in the person of
Jesus – the last lesson he teaches them. The first two generations
of Christians were mostly Jews, and these are the people to whom
Matthew is writing. And they haven't forgotten all their Jewish
ideas – that they should stand apart from the world, that they
should work on their own personal and communal holiness; and with
that stance they start to feel like they are special. And Matthew
tells about Jesus, who shows in this encounter that great faith can
be found even among pagans, and God loves them as well; and that
maybe Matthew's Christians need to imitate their Savior.
And we are still at work showing the
world that there is another way to live, a way God has been teaching
his people for generations. And we are the remnant, we are the ones
who are supposed to be a beacon to the gentiles. We are part of
God's ongoing plan. It's a great responsibility, and a great
privilege. And so we too need to listen to the Caananite woman who
calls out to us.
