Matthew 15:21-28
From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.”Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.”
Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.”
Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.”
He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.”
She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.”
Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
So Jesus was racist (”dogs” was a racist nickname for people from her area vs “children” for the Jews), sexist, slow to care but in the end gave in to nagging?
Or is something else going on here?
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
“Master, help me.”
I found this passage really hard to get my head around. Jesus ignored the Canaanite woman; the disciples complained she was driving them crazy, Jesus implied his blessings weren’t intended for her and even referred to her as a “dog”
What an amazing woman she is. It must have taken great courage and commitment to listen to this. I’m not sure I’d have had the stamina to stick around for as long as she did.
She was persistent - simply refused to quit, even when it looked hopeless. It paid off. She absolutely knew that Jesus was the only one who could meet her (and her daughter’s) needs.
I think there’s a lesson in there for me ………..
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Is he testing her faith? Is he doing so to teach the disciples something? (eg that faith is available to ALL people)? Did Jesus want to see how much she believed and wanted God’s blessing ….. was she willing to accept the label “dog” in order to get it? Was he trying to illustrate humility to the Disciples? Did Jesus know from the beginning that he was going to grant her the blessing, but wanted to show her and his disciples the sharp contrast between his own attitude/grace and that of the Jews - so he started by making a point of the Jews’ attitude, knowing the grace that was to come after - this would be as sharp a contrast as any.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I think he was being sexist asnd racist, and you’re just trying to put a positive spin on it. Why reinterpret the bits you don’t like?