The Children of Israel

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The passages we’re looking at this morning have a common theme, one that theologians and exegetes have struggled with for 2000 years in order to get right. It’s the issue of God’s special love for the people of Israel on one hand and God’s special love for those outside Israel with saving faith in Jesus Christ on the other. Paul goes into detail about branches being broken off and grafted in. The psalms and Isaiah look at the expanding love of God that includes hope and provision for Israel and all nations. And the Gospel presents us with the a microcosm of this massive discussion in an encounter between Jesus and a mother. Having set out, as it were, with Matthew last week, we’ll continue to look at the unfolding of Jesus’ ministry and spend out time and attention there. It’s really a curious moment in Jesus’ ministry. It’s an interaction that carries lots of implications that need to be unpacked. One way to be ready for what Matthew throws our way is to take a moment and see when this moment takes place in Matthew’s Gospel. It takes place after Jesus had walked on water and saved Peter from sinking. And then between that event and our passage this morning, the Pharisees rebuke Jesus’ disciples over not washing their hands, which, beyond its obvious benefits in a pandemic, was something that was done in first-century Jewish practice largely to distance yourself from the unclean actions of Gentiles. It’s good to keep those two events in mind because they help give us a better picture of what Jesus accomplishes in our passage today.
The first thing we can notice from our passage is that we find out some details about where Jesus is taking his ministry. On the face of it, he tells us plainly that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. But the way he tells us is by way of a Canaanite woman, a gentile of gentiles, who approaches Jesus and his disciples. So the spring is already being compressed. He’s coming out strong for his love for Israel. But then there’s this Canaanite woman. And she’s crying and saying: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” He doesn’t answer her immediately. And the disciples do what they did before Jesus overruled them at the feeding of the 5000; they asked Jesus to send her away. It’s their go-to answer, apparently. They’ve got some real kingdom building to do and can’t be bothered by a large, hungry crowd. And they especially can’t be bothered by this person, who is a woman, a Canaanite, has a demon possessed family member, and is loud and hysterical. It probably didn’t help that it just been implied that they weren’t Jewish enough because they didn’t wash their hands. This was not a convenient encounter for the disciples and they would strongly prefer that Jesus just send her away. But instead of sending her away, Jesus tells her what his mission is for his ministry, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The significance of this statement is loaded. Here are some of the things it does.
It looks like Jesus is putting her off. But he’s not. Think about Matthew’s readers for a moment. Each of the four Gospels brings a different point of view in its telling of Jesus’ life and ministry. Matthew’s audience is widely recognized as Jewish. And so it would make sense that when Matthew presents his point of view in the retelling of the events of Jesus’ earthly existence, it carries a Jewish perspective as well. So Jesus’ reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” would have been well received by Matthew’s first readers, especially after Jesus had just corrected the Pharisees on a point of Jewish practice. Jesus’ makes it clear that his ministry is to the Jews.
Let’s acknowledge too that Jesus reveals that he was sent. He presents himself as one who is under the authority of God. Again, for a Jewish audience, this would have been well received. And it’s also just fascinating. We think of Jesus the King of kings, doing what he thinks best in any given situation. But Jesus, the King of kings shows himself as sent on someone’s behalf, reminding us that he is here to do the will of the Father.
So he was sent. He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And he was sent “only.” Jesus is keeping the promises made to his chosen people—to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. The kingdom of God comes from the Jews and for the Jews.
But. He still engages with this Canaanite woman. He’s not sending her away. He’s not really rebuking her. Jesus has the same name as Joshua. Matthew’s early readers would have seen a loaded interaction between Joshua’s namesake and a woman of the Canaanites. Will Joshua dispel the Canaanite? Well...Jesus does challenge the Canaanite woman, yes, but he also engages with her. And the challenge, though it might seem like it’s meant to put her off, is also an invitation to engage, for her, and for Matthew’s audience listening in, and that includes you and me too. The challenge is in the word, “only.” “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But as he challenges here, there’s some encouragement, too, because he doesn’t send her away, he engages with her.
And she is desperate. And because the door is open a crack for an encounter with Jesus—there is this window of opportunity to plead her case—she goes over to Jesus. Now let’s keep in mind what she’s already said to Jesus in the first place. She’s not ignorant of who Jesus is or of the complexity of the situation. She had already said, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” She called him Lord, long before Thomas did at the resurrection. And she identifies him with the title given to the messiah: “Son of David.” And she presents a real need, one that is not easily dealt with, one dealing with supernatural, spiritual authority: demonic oppression. She treats the messiah how the Jews would want to treat the messiah.
And Jesus gives the answer that might have been expected of the Jewish messiah: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. There’s real care in that statement, even though, on its face, it excludes. Jesus intends to have mercy, but a merciful shepherd is focused on the lost one in his flock. If the choice comes between saving a lost sheep from his own flock, or the lost sheep from another flock, the good shepherd is going to save the sheep from his own flock.
But this sheep from another flock is persistent. Jesus is the only one who can save her and her daughter. And she kneels and says, “Lord, help me.” As she descends, her desperation rings with the echo of Peter’s words, who had similarly descended, and had similarly said, “Lord, save me.” This is the first glimpse of a connection between this moment and the event of Peter walking on the water. Let’s put that aside for a moment and revisit it later.
At this point, Jesus doubles down on his challenge. Now, it might be said that if this is an evangelism technique, if it’s a challenge that’s meant to further engage with the heart, and will, and faith of this woman, and reveal it for what it is, it is still an evangelism technique that is probably best left to Jesus. Or at least, we need to remember that Matthew wasn’t writing, and Jesus wasn’t speaking to 21st century residents of Bellingham, WA. He wasn’t even writing to 21st century residents of Jerusalem. He was writing to 1st century Jews and Jewish believers. And what he says, as he doubles down on his challenge is, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The shepherd shouldn’t be saving someone else’s lost sheep when his job is to save his own lost sheep. When it comes down to it, the lost sheep from his flock need his undivided focus to the point where if there is a situation where they are going to be neglected in stead of sought after, the metaphor needs to shift. Instead of sheep, they are to be considered children to be fed, and everyone else needs to be thought of not as a lost sheep from another flock, but as a dog, vying for the food that belongs to the children. He’s saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you when I need to be helping my children.” Surely this mother understands that.
The Jews are God’s chosen people. They are special because God himself declared it. And he walked with them for generations and generations and specially formed their history. And gave them his Word, the Law, the Prophets, and means for reconciliation, so that one day, when salvation would come, it would come for them. And so when Jesus comes, he’s coming for them. The Lord is their God, and they are his people. Jesus’ mission is about more than meeting the needs around him. It seems like Jesus is acting on this archetypal level. He is God’s instrument of salvation and he needs to be there for Israel. When God’s salvation shows up in human history, his history with Israel means that it is right for him to show up in and with and for Israel. In this counterintuitive way, he shows her that he understands how much a parent cares for their children. In doing so, he shines another sliver of hope into the situation.
Because this woman who recognized who Jesus is—She calls him “Lord.” She calls him, “Son of David”—she also knows what it means to have a child who needs to eat, who needs shelter, and love. And her child is severely oppressed by the demonic. She’s not looking to take what belongs to someone else’s children. So she says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table.”
She acknowledges Jesus’ mission. She’s not trying to derail it. She’s not trying to steal someone else’s food. Unlike Peter, she’s not going to lose her focus. She is laser focused on Jesus, and she needs this one crumb.
She had given Jesus the opportunity to show the Jews who he was, that he was Lord, the Son of David, and the one with authority over the spiritual realm. Because of her, he was able to show God’s love for the Jews, that they were still his chosen people. And after revealing these important things to Matthew’s readers, including us, he answers her with words he couldn’t say to Peter, of little faith. To this Canaanite, he says, “O woman, great is your faith!” The difference between this woman and Peter is that while Peter lost his focus because of the seemingly insurmountable challenges before him, she didn’t. She saw Jesus and kept him in her sights. She acknowledged that Jesus and Jesus alone could meet her needs and she keeps her eyes on him and engages with him, even when it might have seemed like there might not be a way forward. And so here we see a hint, at this early point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, of Jesus’ favor that starts with Israel and eventually extends out to all with faith in him. Her reply shows her great faith in Jesus. And faith in Jesus is what’s needed for a gentile to be considered one of the children. It foreshadows the salvation through faith that comes later, when God reconciles the world to himself on the cross. And so she receives her response. Jesus says, “Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
This should encourage us all of us who see ourselves as unworthy of Jesus’ love, for whatever reason. Maybe we don’t fit into some mold that we think we should fit into. Maybe we’ve struggled with sin, or rather failed to struggle with sin. This moment with Jesus encourages us to be like that woman. It encourages all of us to look to him, to pursue him, to strive to see him for who he is. He may challenge you. He may test you. But if you turn to him and make him your focus, he’s not going to send you away. He proved on the cross that your reconciliation with God is real. So look to Jesus, pursue him, and know the love, acceptance, and salvation that he extends to all people, to the Jew first, and then the gentile, even to me and to you.
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