The Woman of Canaan by Michael Angelo Immenraet, 17th century

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. – Matthew 15:21-28

 

She challenged him and I think he both knew she would and wanted her too.

She made his point.

She became the lesson.

What was her faith? It was that a rabbi from what her people assumed to be a regional, cultural, and exclusive religion whose adherents had come to feel and project privilege and exclusivity had a gift and message for her.

Jesus voiced that shared assumption and, I believe had a twinkle in his eye. He knew how she might respond to him and how he would respond to her if she did.

Perhaps he was taken off-guard by her candor, clarity, and resilience, but he could feel her persistence from the start.

She had figured out something that Isaiah and the prophets had foretold and that Jesus was laying to ground work to unfold.

Faith in Yahweh was a universal faith for all and not an exclusive faith for a few.

He was setting the stage for a universal movement of love and faith … and hers, from an unlikely place and culture, was great and an example for all.

Maybe we are all dogs and we are all children.

Maybe the right crumbs are quite enough.