It looks like a bad day for Jesus, doesn’t it? It looks like he is acting out of some of the deep-seated prejudices of his day. In no other story, is a supplicant treated so harshly. Silence. Rebuff. Insult. Anything to dismiss the woman. Anything to not have to interact with her. You can almost hear the inner dialogue. “Oh no, not another beggar. And a hated foreigner to boot. But my mission statement says my focus is to be only on my own people. I’ve spoken that out loud. The disciples remember that. If I give in, I’ll not be an effective CEO..” It was a bad day to be Jesus, because he was caught in a trap of his own making. Twice before in Matthew’s gospel, he had spoken of his understanding of his mission – he was sent to seek out the chosen people, the Israelites. And now, this woman with a very legitimate need was making a scene – and he was trapped.

Canaanites were the ancient enemy of Israel. And it was a bloody, genocidal war on both sides, so the hatred ran deep. It’s like the line in Casablanca, “Of all the gin soaked bars she could have walked into, she had to choose mine..” Of all the people to approach Jesus in this seafaring town, it had to be her – a woman, a Canaanite, a non-believer. How to wriggle out of this? So it looks like a very bad day on Jesus part. He’d lose some honor if he went back on his word. He’d lose some of the good will of the people if he turned this woman’s very legitimate need down. Trapped. Trapped in a snare of his own making.

Or was he? I wonder. I wonder if he had come to realize prior to this incident that maybe his thinking was too small? That to just be sent to the chosen people was not enough of a task from this God of his. So is this why he traveled to Tyre and Sidon, -to pagan territory, because he knew an opportunity like this might arise? Because it would be a way to open a door that had been closed for centuries. And he could do it in a way that would expand his disciples understanding of who God is in a way that THEY would get it.

So the treatment of the woman is a testing of her faith, to see if her faith is strong enough to change hundreds of years of his people’s history. And you know that Jesus had to smile in triumph and wonder when she comes back with the riposte – “Even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the tables.” AHH! There it is. An encounter of such faith that even the disciples will understand that my Father’s love has to go beyond the boundaries that they usually want to set for their love.
It would be a tough lesson for the church to learn. You hear echoes of it in Paul’s letter to the Romans. He’s ministering to the gentile world, but his heart is still set upon the chosen people. In our own day – it surfaces in words like NIMBY – not in my back yard. Someone has to take care of the poor – but NIMBY. Someone should reach out to those less privileged – but NIMBY. It is so easy to live with a small heart – loving those who we know, whom we trust.

This ‘bad day” of Jesus becomes a huge test for a disciples heart. Who do we love? Who is it ‘okay’ to minister to? It is so easy to do it to those we know…but to approach the stranger, that’s another story. The healing of the woman’s daughter tells us that love is to know only the boundaries of those who need us, not those we would like to minister to.

Concrete challenges:
1) Pray for the courage of the Canaanite woman – the one who opened the door for a greater ministry in the church. Pray for courage to want to have a heart as large as the world. Large enough to love even the enemy, the one who is different.
2) Meet a stranger today. Strike up a conversation with someone you barely know. Step out of your comfort zone.

We gather to celebrate a love that knows no bounds. For even we, with our wayward hearts are welcome at this table. May all our brothers and sisters find the same welcome in our hearts…