August 17, 2008

"To nourish and raise children against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons." -- Marilyn French

Jesus' words to the woman in this week's gospel sound harsh. He doesn't sound like the Jesus we usually hear. He and some of the disciples are in the Tyre and Sidon area, cities on the Mediterranean Coast north of Israel. This is Gentile territory and away from the crowds that had been following Jesus. He may not have expected anyone to know him there. Scholars suggest two possibilities for Jesus' words.

One is that we don't know the tone or inflection of Jesus' and the woman's voices. He may just be toying with her, and she is going along with it but still very intent on her daughter's healing.

Matthew got this story from Mark; and in Mark's gospel, the human Jesus is learning who He is through what happens to him. In Phil. 2:6-11, it says Jesus "emptied himself" to become human. It may be that He and his disciples are being reminded through this encounter with the Gentile woman that God's message is for all people. Also, perhaps Mattew, himself a Jew, is coming to understand this. The Jews were God's chosen people, chosen to be a "light to the Gentiles" --(Is. 49:6) so that all people would come to know the one true God.

Another thought from this story is the dedication and love of the mother for her child. She is willing to go to this stranger and ask for help. Somewhere she has heard of Jesus and this healing. Again, as in so many healing stories, Jesus tells her that her faith has accomplished the healing. She is a symbol to us of God's complete, inclusive, and relentless love for all people.