A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Twenty-One

Scripture Reading: Matthew 15:1-39 (NRSVUE)

We see the lack of compassion on display by the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem who would have been considered the religious leaders of Jesus' day.  They justify their lack of support for their aging parents by claiming that they already gave that support in offering to God.

As they continue to look at technicalities regarding hand washing (this was for ritual cleanliness, not sanitation as we know it today), we see the deeper concern of Jesus for the impurities of the heart.  A person could be ritually clean while harboring mal-intentioned thoughts against a neighbor.  Jesus asks people to be pure in heart (from the Beatitudes) which is more difficult - and more of a journey as we shall see.

In first century Judea, dogs looked 
more like this than like our pets

When Jesus then encounters the Canaanite woman, he engages in slander just after he spoke about the dangers of it, essentially calling the woman a dog.  Christians today struggle with this passage - especially given the theological branding of sinless that we place upon Jesus.  In going with sinless, we may have to do some interpretation on this text that is more speculation than interpretation.

Many Christians prefer to think of Jesus as being playful with her - <wink, wink> - as he uses language that would have been expected from Jews to Gentile women approaching unaccompanied by a husband, father or brother.  Could Jesus have been goading her into the answer and the faith he was looking for all along?

This is possible and would preserve the sinless state.  I think it depends on how you see Jesus - how much was he a product of his culture as a fully human being?  But also, how much range of knowledge do we afford Jesus given that he is also fully divine?  It can be complicated and there is no set computation that Christians must agree on when looking at what Jesus did or didn't know.

If we take the passage at face value, without any theological assumptions around Jesus, it appears that Jesus was able to learn from a Gentile woman rather than dismiss her haughtily, offended at her hubris.  This in itself may reflect purity in heart - it may be the most divine event in this chapter.  Can we receive something true from someone even of recognized lower status?  

We close with more healing and more feeding.  I've read that the earlier meal of the 5000 represents the tribes of Israel as twelve baskets were left over.  With seven baskets left over after this meal of 4000, I've read that this could represent the seven nations of the world - Gentiles.  Prior to this miracle, verse 31 mentions the healed praising "the God of Israel" which would be an odd designation for Jewish recipients to use.  

And so, we may see that Jesus is feeding Gentiles with the crumbs that have fallen from the master's table as we have more Jewish people fed (5000) than Gentiles (4000).  He is able to expand his reach and his love.  This would have been far edgier in the first century than we understand today.  It may just be that Jesus begins to see the Gentiles as his ancient ancestors and so does want to honor his father and mother as we saw at the beginning of this chapter.

What categories do you have for people that keep them at arm's length?  How does being in Christ help us to lower our arms?  Or maybe we could take it even farther and ask, how does being in Christ let us use our arms to embrace rather than push away?

Prayer for the day:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who did humble himself to become human, and to be born into the world for our salvation: teach us the grace of humility.  Root out of our hearts all pride and haughtiness, and so fashion us after your holy likeness in this world, that in the world to come we may be made like you in your eternal kingdom.  Amen.

  

Prayer by Willaim Walsham How, Church of England, 19th Century

Photo by Kim Bartlett - Animal People, Inc. via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.