This is one of those “troublesome texts” – a section of scripture which we read and say, “Huh?!?“
The Gentile woman comes to Jesus, pleads for him to cast out her daughter’s demon; and he says “NO!” Well, he doesn’t just say “no,” he says “I will not heal your daughter because you and your daughter are not worthy. After all, you’re a woman, you’re not Jewish, and you’re the wrong ethnicity.” He calls her a dog!
Now, there’s a lot of debate amongst pastors and theologians about what is going on here. The best interpretation that I have come across is that Jesus is saying this tongue-in-cheek; he is using satire to show the absurdity of the Jewish idea of purity and worthiness.
As a Jewish rabbi, Jesus inherited the religious teaching that a person is only eligible to receive the fullness of God’s gifts if that person is born a Jew, is a man, and upholds the law perfectly. But it is clear from the entirety of Christian scripture that Jesus did not believe this.
Jesus’ ministry was never confined to law-abiding Jewish males (in fact, that’s the group with whom he had the most trouble). Jesus had great compassion on the Gentiles and routinely held Gentiles up as examples of true faith.
So, why did Jesus say what he said? Because he knew that this woman would stand up for both herself and her daughter, and provide a powerful example to everyone in the room that she was worthy of God’s grace. This woman was desperately seeking out help for her child! Jesus knew she would not just shy away when presented with the argument “Well, I would help, but you’re not one of us.” By playing along with the traditional Jewish teaching, Jesus was actually demonstrating the absurdity of it.
And now, the “so what?” question. What does it matter to us that Jesus had compassion on this woman and extended her grace and healing, even though his religion told him she was not worthy?
Well, my first reaction is “thank God!” Thank God that the amount of grace we receive is not contingent on our own worthiness. Thank God because not a single person inside or outside of this church has earned the grace God has shown us.
And yet, in spite of our unworthiness, Jesus wants us to stand up for ourselves; Jesus wants us to stand up and claim the grace that has been poured out for us. It is the devil who whispers in our ear, “You are not worthy.” And to this we reply along with the woman, “You’re damn right I’m not worthy, but God wants me to have His grace anyways. If you got a problem with that then take it up with Him!”
We are worthy of grace only because we are unworthy. And this is precisely what should guide our actions in the world. This is precisely what should guide our interaction with others. We have nothing over anyone else. A man is no better than a woman; a young person is not better than an old one; a white person is no better than a black one; a heterosexual is no better than a homosexual.
And yet we are so quick to claim God’s grace but turn and keep it to ourselves. How easy it is to experience God’s grace and instead of sharing it with those in need, we look at them and say, “Gee, I would share God’s grace with you, but clearly you are not worthy. You are nothing but a dog.”
Does God grant us grace just so that we can turn and lord it over people whom we deem are unworthy? Certainly not!
There’s no way to sugar coat the message dripping from today’s scripture. Racism, sexism, elitism, and any other form of hatred for other people are all a slap in Jesus’ face.
May you have the courage to stand up for those who are being oppressed. May you have the courage to quiet your own inner voice which says, “Ugh, I’m so much better than those people!” And may you have the courage to claim God’s grace for your own life, even though people may say you don’t meet all the qualifications. Because, after all, grace is a free gift given to all people, regardless of their culture, sex, education level, or ethnic background.
Amen.
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