A Desperate Mother
A sacred narrative based on Matthew 15:21-28 - A Desperate Mother
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” I know this man can help my daughter. Why is he ignoring me? “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” I got their attention, good. “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” I know this man, this prophet, I have heard of his powers, the healings he’s been doing among his people and all people. I know he can help, I just know it. “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” I hope these teenagers who follow him around don’t send me away - I hope he hears me. I hope he sees me as more than some cast off - some lesser being - some dog as they all call us- I need him to see how much I need him.
Jesus answers the woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Shocked, I wonder why he’s saying this. I know he’s been helping many people, why did he come here, to my land, not the land of the Israelites, the land that has been an enemy of his ancestors if not to help us? I know he’s not like the temple priests who keep to themselves - who don’t raise the eyebrows of the Romans.
“Lord, help me.” I know he’s not like the others, I know he can answer this desperate prayer. “Lord, help me, my daughter…”
Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
Why is he saying this? Is he a cynic too? How does he know I’m a cynic? One of the most skilled in my community no less, two can play this game. “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” I don’t need to be your chosen, I just need some of your mercy. You’ve been healing all these people, doing these miraculous things, I’ve heard of them. I’ve been hearing your teaching about how is the motivations of the heart, not only tradition that matters. My heart sees you as the all-powerful, almighty Israelite God, of the line of the house of David, and I am begging on my knees for your mercy. I don’t need to be of the chosen, I just need the scraps of your grace and power. I see that you see me, you see me as more than a desperate woman, more than a mother, more than an outsider - you see me, my skills in cynical philosophy, even in my desperation- answer my prayer.
Jesus, the divine, breaking all the pre-conceived notions of a Jewish rabbi, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
the scripture:
15:21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
15:22 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."
15:23 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."
15:24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
15:25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me."
15:26 He answered, "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
15:27 She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
15:28 Then Jesus answered her, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed instantly.
The sermon:
Up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has given the Sermon on the Mount, which outlined how to live in a way in which was to fulfill the laws of Moses, the 10 commandments. Not just, don’t kill, but tend to the flourishing of the lives of others. Not just don’t commit adultery, but tend to your relationships in a way that the thought never even crosses your mind. Then Jesus lives out these teachings as examples in healing and miracles.
Within the book of Matthew, we have just reached a sort of pivot where Jesus, who has always been a “second Moses,” was revealed by Peter to not just be a great prophet like Moses but divine.
The very end of chapter 14, we see that Jesus arrives in Gennesaret, which is now on the Gentile, no longer the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee. The new Moses has crossed the sea and we are in a new chapter of ministry. The Gospel writer of the Book of Matthew, wants us to know what. Matthew’s (we will call the Gospel writer Matthew) original audience would have seen this cue, as they were largely part of the same culture as Jesus and the ministry of the disciples. We are not, so we rely on context to help us get the point.
The next section of scripture, Jesus is in another argument with the Pharisees, now Jesus was likely a Pharisee, he was raised in that tradition, studied, and even taught in the temple as a child. Jesus is an insider to this tradition when offering any critiques. In this first scene in Matthew 15, Jesus straight up calls the Pharisees questioning him hypocrites. They have sort of pointed fingers and criticized some of the disciples for not undergoing a handwashing ritual, this is not addressing hygiene, this is talking about going to specific places in each city and ceremonially washing one's hands before touching or preparing food, including eating.
Next, Jesus illustrates his point with a parable, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” Jesus explains as its not what goes into your mouth, if you ritually purify yourself before you eat, its what comes out of your mouth that matters. “For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”
So all of this, sort of sets the stage for the point that our Gospel writer is going to make for us in today's scripture selection. Jesus came and taught the fulfillment of the law, like a second Moses, but Jesus isn’t just a second Moses, Jesus is divine, the same essence as Creator and the God of the Hebrew bible. Jesus, more than a second Moses, has crossed the sea into Gentile territory. Tyre and Sidon as a location further makes this point to Matthew's original audiences, as they are cited in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel as places of the enemy. Jesus is in territory, while in this setting is safe, but for Jesus' ancestors as Israelites, this was hostile territory. Matthew is highlighting the difference in what is traditionally important, vs what is actually important. Bringing the discourse and parable with the Pharisees into a real-life situation.
Canaanite woman, an ancient reference to an Israelite enemy, started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” Mercy, Lord, Son of David, words of power are being invoked. This woman’s words reference Jesus as Lord of the Israelites. She is placing him in a higher place than herself and firmly within a culture outside of hers. But Jesus ignores her. The disciples are annoyed by the shouting and come to Jesus saying, shut her up, send her away. Matthew is painting a picture here, where all of this context within the Gospel is important.
Jesus answers the woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This response would not have raised an eyebrow to those familiar with temple Priests at the time. They kept themselves separate, they dealt with their people and the affairs of their people, that’s how they stayed holy within their law and traditions and why the Roman Empire allowed them to still operate with the power they had. They didn’t deal with the affairs of other people.
To us, this seems harsh, but to the original audience, there’s probably nothing to see here, move along. But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” I think this woman is now, appealing to someone higher than a Jewish teacher. I think that Matthew is operating within a double meaning, I think this is a prayer, and Jesus the divine is being appealed to. Matthew tells us next that Jesus answers, perhaps something that would have been completely innocuous to the Matthean community, they called the Gentiles dogs all the time. Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
The woman, praying, humbly, to her God, said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table. I don’t need to be your chosen, I just need some of your mercy. You’ve been healing all these people, doing these miraculous things, I’ve heard of them. I’ve been hearing your teaching about how is the motivations of the heart, not only tradition that matters. My heart sees you as the all-powerful, almighty Israelite God, of the line of the house of David, and I am begging on my knees for your mercy. I don’t need to be of the chosen, I just need the scraps of the omnipotent grace and power you possess and give freely.
Jesus, the divine, breaking all the pre-conceived notions of a Jewish rabbi, recognizes this mother, begging on her knees for the health of her daughter, and answers her prayer. “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
The Matthean community, for whom this Gospel was written, was a specific group of early Christians, they were likely nearly all Jewish. Likely their parents were Pharisees. They had seen the temple, the holy place where they could go and offer atonement and worship to Yahweh, destroyed by the Roman empire when they were children. These would have been a community made of people who’s parents, or themselves, had seen all their preconceived notions of how to operate within their faith, demolished. The are the first generation to have to wrestle with how to be Jewish, without a temple. What is the law with no temple? How do we stay holy without a temple? What traditions do we hold on to? What traditions do we need to let go of because of the realities of living in Empire? Do you think they would have been appealing and wrestling with God? Do you think that they may have turned inward within their community as a way of protection? Ancient enemies would have been dangerous again. Why did Yahweh let this happen to us? What do you think this message would have said to its original audience?
A woman, an ancient enemy, prays to Jesus, while also recognizing him as Lord, and as from the line of David, she prays to Messiah. And Messiah, not acting like Moses, not acting like a rabbi or priest, hears her, recognizes her, and heals her daughter. This story is what opens up Jesus' ministry to not just the Israelites, but to the Gentiles, to us. We know the rest of the story, of how Jesus, the embodiment of God, submitted to death, for everyone, not just the chosen. We know the story of how Jesus, who is greater than time, than death, than any Empire or Temple that will rise and fall, rose from the dead. This story is where Jesus' ministry, and all divine and humble things that Jesus will do become for us. This moment, in Matthew, is where God’s kingdom becomes for everyone.
This woman, in this story, is us. When we recognize that God is God and we are not. That God’s grace is so encompassing, that we don’t need to be God’s chosen, we don’t need to compete and put others down trying to get more, because the scraps from the floor are enough. Even the left over mercy and grace of God is enough. We can be terrible, we can be dogs on the floor, and it doesn’t matter, we are given the grace and love and salvation of God, regardless. When grace is so big, it doesn't matter how big or how important or how broken, any one of us is, because relatively, the difference, our differences are insignificant. That is the kingdom mindset. God is so much, all the rest of us have enough, and all the rest of us, are the same.
Lastly, because God is so big, because God is God and we are not, that doesn't mean that God doesn’t personally hear our prayers. The woman in this story knows God’s promises to God’s chosen, she knows that Jesus is God, and she knows that God keeps God’s promises. She knows in her heart. She advocates for herself, loudly. She proclaims her place in the kingdom and claims her scraps of God’s grace and power with enthusiasm. She’s obnoxious about it, she’s disruptive about it. She kind of argues with God. Part of her worship is recognizing that God is big enough to handle her humanity. God is big enough to handle her hard stuff. Her wrestling with demons, her innocent sick child, she doesn’t let God off the hook about it. She takes these very hard things in her life, boldly. When you have hard things in your life, give them to God.
When you take your hard stuff to God, recognizing that God can handle it, that is worship. Maybe God won’t magically change the situation, but in worshiping God in a way that recognizes that God can handle all of you, the best and the worst things in your life, you are recognizing that God is God and you are not.
We will never understand why sin and evil exist, why human suffering exists, but in recognizing that God is God and you are not, and trust that just like the woman in the story, God will keep God’s promises.
In our very human way of “holding God accountable,” we are faithfully relying on God’s promises. We are practicing our faith. Holding God accountable is writing our own sacred narratives. It is holy and ordained work.
