Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

This encounter between our Lord and the pagan woman whom we have come to know as the Canaanite woman (her ancestors being the Canaanites driven out by Israel from Canaan Land for their abominable practices, among which was child sacrifices) has tickled the imaginations of many over the years, ranging from misogyny on the part of our Lord to the image of playful child-like banter between them regarding her status as a “pup.”  First, our Lord is no misogynist.  All we need do is to read the Gospels honestly to dispel such allegations.  And, secondly, it is highly doubtful that the exchange between our Lord and this Gentile woman was playful banter, at least the kind imagined by Hollywood nowadays in search of the jovial Jesus.

Of course, we might be wondering why Jesus has opted to enter into the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon.  It is also curious how this leads then to His encounter with this pagan woman whose daughter is possessed by a demon.  Her daughter’s severe need becomes the impetus for this encounter between a pagan Gentile and the God of Israel.  All hope seems to be lost until this Jesus invades this Gentile territory, igniting in this mother a fire only God Himself can quench.  Unlike her forebearers who offered up child sacrifices to their false gods and goddesses, she offers her child up to the God of Israel, to this Jesus, Whom she somehow knows as “’Lord’” and calls by a very specific Messianic title, “’Son of David’” – a title that even Jesus’ own people did not bestow upon Him, but this benighted Gentile does!  Is she playing Him?  No.  She is on a very serious mission on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter.  She thrusts herself upon the Lord and His Disciples, bent on gaining an audience with this Jew.  She asks, not for healing, but rather for mercy.  “’Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David!  My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.’”  This is her prayer, a prayer dependent upon the mercy of God’s Messiah, despite the obstacle that she is not of the house of Israel – a fact that Jesus points out.  She is not one of the sheep of Israel for whom He has come before all others.  She – and her child – are Ausländers – outside the Covenant people of God: people of the uncircumcision, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, without hope, without God, without mercy, dead in sin, and surrounded by the darkness of death (Ep. 2:11-12; 1 Pe. 2:10).  She and her sorely vexed child are up the creek without the proverbial paddle.

But, she is undaunted.  Her daughter needs salvation; she needs salvation.  She yearns for the mercy of the God of Israel despite having no birthright claim, despite her illegitimacy.  Is this a last ditch effort?  Perhaps.  But, then again, who of us hasn’t turned to God as a last resort – and we are supposed to be people of the Faith who go to Him first!?  Her faith may not be perfect (is ours?), but it is nonetheless there in neophyte fashion of some sort.  And, Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of God Most High, knows this.  For you see, beloved, we must keep in mind at all times that we are dealing with the God-made-flesh.  This is the Christ prophesied of old by Isaiah, “’A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; but will bring forth judgment in truth . . . and in His Name the Gentiles will hope’” (Is. 42:3-4).  It is this Messiah that God has given “’as the light of the Gentiles,’” says the Prophet,

‘to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners who are bound, and those who sit in darkness from the prison house.  I am the Lord God; this is My Name.  I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to carved images. . . . .’ (Is. 42:6-8).   

“’[I]n His Name the Gentiles will hope.’”  “’Lord, help me,’” this bruised reed and smoking flax cries out to the God of Israel from Whom salvation comes.  However, He reveals Himself to be greater and does not limit His mercy solely to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  For, “’in His Name the Gentiles will hope.’”  It is true that our Lord was sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as He says, but it doesn’t stop there.  Israel, as the called and elected people of God, is the first beneficiary of the Messiah’s coming, but not the sole recipient of God’s mercy and salvation.  It begins with them and it ends with us.  St. Paul reminds us of this very fact in his Epistle to the Romans.  To Israel “pertains the [divine] adoption,” he says, “the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the service [worship] of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, . . . .” (Rm. 9:4-5). 

But, God does not limit Himself only to the people of the First Covenant.  The Apostle reminds us, Israel’s tragic rejection of the Messiah becomes our salvation, our inclusion, our grafting into the tree, thus confirming the prophetic Word (2 Pe. 1:19):

‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’  For there is no distinction between Jew or Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  For ‘whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Rm. 10:11-13).

This is precisely what we see unfolding here today in this encounter between the God of Israel-made-flesh and this pagan woman.  The window of God’s grace and mercy has been opened to this soul in anguish and in desperate need.  “’Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David!’ . . . ‘Lord, help me.’”  The overflow of God’s mercy now is poured out upon those who did not know God, but now have found mercy (Is. 65:1; Rm. 10:20).  The grace of the God of Israel overflows, spilling out upon us all.  The crumbs fall from the Master’s Table and, behold, we who are most unworthy nevertheless partake.  Israel’s loss is her gain . . . . . . . our gain. 

All along, beloved, the Lord had no inkling to deny His mercy to this woman and her beleaguered child.  He did, however, find it necessary to refine her neophyte faith in His silence and seeming disinterest, using the history of Israel and the Gentiles to His advantage and her answer to prayer.  The “Lord’s response is a matter of timing,” St. Hilary of Portiers says, “not a conflict of His will” while St. Augustine says that He was “toning up her desire, not refusing her a favor,” concluding with this observation, “See what progress she made in a single moment.”  “’[I]n His Name the Gentiles will hope.’” 

I am reminded here of another story, similar to hers, it seems to me.  It is that of the Patriarch Jacob who once wrestled with God.  Jacob’s encounter with God happened on the eve of his meeting with his brother, Esau, whom he had not seen in a very long time and with whom he had parted company on ill terms.  In the interest of preserving his family, Jacob divides them, sending them on their way, just in case Esau decides to seek revenge.  Jacob is left alone at night, and the Scripture says that “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.”  Seeing that he was not prevailing against the Patriarch, this mysterious man touched the socket of Jacob’s hip, causing it to go out of joint permanently.  Yet, Jacob would not let go, adamantly refusing to do so despite the man’s command.  “’I will not let thee go,’” Jacob declares, “’unless thou bless me.’”  Learning the Patriarch’s name, the man said to him, “’Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast prevailed with God, . . .’  And [the man] blessed [Jacob] there.  And Jacob called the place Peniel [that is, The Face of God]: ‘For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved’” (Gn. 32:22-32). 

Jacob wrestled with the pre-Incarnate Son of God and prevailed (Athanasius the Great; Hilary of Portiers), refusing to take “no” for an answer until he was blessed.  The faith of Jacob prevailed.  And his faith becomes the faith of Israel – the very people who take his name – and the faith of Israel becomes the faith of this Canaanite woman who, in like fashion, wrestled with the true and living God and prevailed there in that place for the sake of her daughter.  She comes face to face with God Himself in the flesh and is blessed.  But, she had to hang on and not lose heart, just like the persistent widow in one of our Lord’s parables (Lk. 18:1-8). 

Great is her faith.  Robust is her faith.  Sturdy is her faith because she dared to wrestle with God Whose love compelled Him to come into this world so that “’whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have Everlasting Life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved’” (Jn. 3:16-17; 1 Tm. 1:15-17; 2:4).  “This,” beloved, “is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, . . . .” (1 Tm. 1:15-17).               

Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

PROPERS:

1 Tm. 1:15-17

Mt. 15:21-28