Matthew 15:21-31 and Mark 7:24-37
Holy Week this year is Spring Break week for our Avanza kids. Normally we try to tie our Avanza Bible lessons to our church calendar, but we will be a week early in covering Jesus’ crucifixion since we won’t meet the kids during Holy Week. To set the stage for Jesus Passion, we’ve been focusing on Jesus’ humanity – His love of people, His sympathy with their distresses, His willingness to be interrupted while on a particular mission. It’s a shame that today’s reading about the Syro-Phoenician woman is not one of the stories covered in our Jesus Storybook Bible. It shows Jesus’ most human side (in my mind, tied with Jesus and the woman with the 12-year hemorrhage). This Gentile woman first begs something from Jesus, then argues with Him when He refuses her request, then receives her request when He gives in and relents – the woman’s daughter is healed. This story comes to mind regularly for me just before Communion at Sunday services when we pray the following prayer: We do not presume to come to this Your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Your abundant and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Your table… We gather up the crumbs under His table as we live our lives this day and every day, knowing that great riches, great glory await us when we see Jesus face-to-face. But today’s crumbs are a veritable gold mine for those of us who know Him!
See also: May 30 / Matt. 15:21-31; May 31 / Mark 7:24-37
The story of the Canaanite woman is interesting to me because Jesus has compassion and heals the woman’s daughter even though, as a Phoenician, the woman would not have been a believer in the true God of the Israelites. She definitely believed that Jesus was a healer, but perhaps did not have enough knowledge of Judaism to draw any further conclusions beyond that. Out of concern for her daughter, the woman showed real grit in arguing with Jesus and made a good point about the crumbs falling from the table. Jesus must have appreciated her resolve to do whatever it takes to try to get her daughter healed including approaching a holy man of another faith and arguing with Him after being told that she was not one of His flock. Jesus shows compassion and appreciation for her determination by rewarding her effort with a miracle. Interesting.
We are much like that woman – outsiders to the Jewish faith. To this day the Jews disavow Jesus as the Son of God. I did, however, once hear a Rabbi exclaim, “Ah, Jesus; he was one of our best boys.” Sent to save all mankind, we are the beneficiaries of God’s love for all peoples, through Jesus, aren’t we? And no, we don’t even deserve the crumbs from His table…
Amen to the “crumbs being a gold mine”!!