Setting an Example

Would you turn someone away who needs help?

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 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.’ 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.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly. - Matthew 15:21-28

At first, the way Jesus acts in this Gospel story seems cold and harsh.  He ignores the woman who begs him for help.  But on closer inspection, there may be something else going on here.

He doesn't answer the woman, until his disciples urge him to send her away.

Jesus is a teacher.  He wants his disciples to learn, so what does he do? 

He tells them he was not sent for this woman but for the children of Israel, the ones who are lost.  Could he mean them?

When she comes to beg him to help, he gives them an example of how they act toward people who are considered unclean, people like this woman.  And then he declares the woman to be of great faith.

This must have surprised the disciples who would have considered themselves better than she.

While they knew he was sent for them, they witnessed him helping someone they would have expected him to ignore, and that was the lesson.  Faith can come from anyone, and everyone can be healed.

So, what does this say to us? 

I think the message is that we should not ignore anyone.  We should see ourselves as servants to God and all his children, not just those we agree with or think are worthy.

It is easier to learn a lesson by seeing an example than by being told, and in this case, the example is powerful.  The law would dictate that Jesus should ignore the woman, but Jesus gives in to her faith.

The lesson may be that faith trumps tradition, and that is something the leaders were afraid of.

More to come...