This week I’m drawn to a story from the Bible that I’ve taught many times, but I see it from a new angle. In Matthew 15, a woman, who is not a Jew, begs Jesus for mercy. He ignores her. It’s almost as if he’s waiting to see how his disciples will respond to her. They catch the clue and they give their two cents: “Tell her to go away. She keeps crying out after us.” Jesus seems to follow this brutish advice because he says to her: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
Even so, the woman persists in begging for his mercy. In verse 25, she kneels before him and says, “Lord, help me.” She stops the flow of foot traffic. After she’s already been rejected, she continues to beg for mercy because she knows that Jesus is the only one who can give her the mercy she needs. She persists in pursuing Jesus despite the looks, the glares, and the whispers that say she doesn’t deserve God’s mercy.
Then Jesus says those awful, confusing words: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” Commentators have tried to soften it by emphasizing the fact that the word he used referred to a little dog. But, no matter how you slice it, the word dog was derogatory.
What’s going on?
Ken Bailey was a scholar who lived in the Middle East for decades. He argues that Jesus intentionally used the insulting term dog because he knew that’s how his disciples viewed her. Jesus was demonstrating to his disciples what their deeply ingrained prejudices looked like when they were acted on. It was as if Jesus said to his disciples, “Are you really okay with this? Are you really comfortable continuing to view this woman as a dog? As someone who doesn’t matter? As someone who is less than human?” Jesus was teaching his disciples something about God’s mercy. It’s so much bigger than they ever imagined. It reaches across, racial, ethnic, and cultural divides. God values all people.
I think this story speaks to our present situation. White Christians, in particular, cannot be bystanders as black women, men, and children cry for mercy. What must we do? We can start by acknowledging that prejudice is evident on both personal and institutional levels.
In the personal realm, start in your own home, in your own heart. If you have small children in the house, do you read them books that include pictures of non-white people? Do you, as an adult, have relationships with people who are non-white? Two of our kids attend Bradford Christian Academy in Haverhill, MA. One of my favorite things about the school is the diversity of the student body—a mix of black, Latino, Asian, and white students fill classrooms and hallways. Every day, my kids interact with culturally, ethnically and racially diverse peers. But they all have Christ in common. They understand that God’s kingdom is a kingdom of many shades and colors.
On the institutional level, how can your business or profession reflect God’s love for all people and actively work to create an environment where people of color are valued?
We cannot be bystanders when our black brothers and sisters cry out for mercy. Maybe Jesus is saying to his disciples today, “Are you really okay with this?”
Matthew 15:21-28
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.