Rights Begone

A foreigner asks for help. Jesus responds. (Eventually.)

We tend to dance around this story quite a bit sometimes. Was Jesus showing some ethnocentrism or was he just setting everyone up for a surprise? While it may be more comfortable to hope for the latter, there really isn’t any evidence in the text for it.

Perhaps the beauty of Jesus’ eventual conclusion here (helping the woman by healing her daughter) is that it is a demonstration of humanity’s ability to change.

Wouldn’t that be an incredible message for us today?

Part of what Jesus sheds here is any notion that one people group deserves something more than another. With all the talk of rights and borders and proper processes these days, in the middle stands someone(s) in need. Desperate need.

We might remember yesterday’s admonition:
Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?

The command of God…

Matthew 15:21-28

From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” But he didn’t respond to her at all.

His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”

Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”

He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”

She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”

Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.

Prayer

God,

As I start this new day, open my heart to the possibility of change within myself. Just as Jesus embraced the desperate need of the Syrophoenician woman, help me to set aside any prejudices or boundaries that keep me from seeing the humanity in others.

Teach me to respond to need with compassion, not only with rules or restrictions. Let your love flow through me to everyone I encounter, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

May I live out your commandment to love, as Jesus did, with openness and grace.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.