Prejudice and discrimination between different groups of people is as old as human history. There was plenty of it in the history of the Israelites. Isaiah stands out as a prophet recognizing the universality of God’s love and redemption. We hear today one account of many where he emphasizes the universality of God’s kingdom.
The message of Isaiah had been pushed aside by the time of Jesus. In the gospels we hear many times of the prejudice of the Jews against the Samaritans. Canaanites were even worse. But it is still shocking to hear Jesus speaking in the same terms: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” The woman asking for help is one of the dogs.
This is the same Jesus who tells the story of the “good Samaritan”; who sits chatting to the Samaritan woman at the well; who infuriates his friends and neighbors by pointing out that there were plenty of Jewish lepers when Elisha healed the foreigner Naaman.
Something doesn’t add up. Despite the appearance that Jesus is going along with the prejudice of his time, is that really what we should be seeing here?
Let’s remind ourselves that the evangelist is telling us a complete story. I don’t think the story is that despite Jesus’ prejudice the woman wins out and gets what she wants. Yes the woman gets what she wants, despite her embarrassing protests and the disciples wanting to get rid of her. But how does Jesus play into this?
Jesus also sees the complete picture. It’s absurd to think he is expressing his own prejudice. He expresses the prejudice of the people around him to make a point, to allow the woman to make her claim, to demonstrate that she also is the recipient of God’s love and compassion. He knows she is loved. What’s more, he knows that she knows this.
So we might also ask, when Jesus notes her faith (as part of his lesson to the prejudiced people around him), what does she have faith in? Obviously she has faith in Jesus. But she also has faith in herself. She is strong. She is willing to push past the embarrassment of the disciples, she is willing to accept with utmost humility Jesus’ rejection, and still she argues her case.
The story of the faith of the Canaanite woman isn’t just a story of the power of faith leading to healing. It’s a story of faith making a person, referred to by those around as a dog, able to stand her ground and insist on her dignity. For those of us whose faith comes cheap, who don’t have to hold out for the health for our families in an uncaring society, for food, for freedom, for dignity, we can stand in awe of the power of faith.