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The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter
Juan, de Flandes, approximately 1465-1519. The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55921 [retrieved August 18, 2023]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juan_de_Flandes_-_Christ_and_the_Canaanite_Woman_-_WGA12050.jpg.
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Exploring the Text: Why did Jesus call her a dog?
Jesus' words in this passage are a little difficult to process. A woman comes to him asking for healing for her daughter, and Jesus refuses and insults her. She persists and finally Jesus relents and heals her daughter. At least that is the initial reading. If we look a little deeper, we see a slightly different version.
There was a lot of animosity and even racism between the Israelites and the Canaanites. Consequently, it took great courage, and probably desperation, for this Canaanite woman to approach Jesus, an Israelite teacher. When she finally does, she gets the greeting she expected. But despite this, she presses on. She kneels before Jesus and presents her case. Jesus starts by responding to her as any Israelite of the day would, but she does not relent. Maybe Jesus was bringing the racial conflict to the forefront of everyone's mind so they would view what happens next in light of it. Maybe Jesus was encouraging her to push deeper into her faith. Either way, she continues to press in. Jesus finally relents and heals her daughter. But in doing so, he does more than that. He calls our her faith and holds her up as an example to everyone around her. The crowd started viewing the Canaanite woman as an outsider. Now Jesus elevated her to an example of faith for them all to admire. Jesus took an outcast woman and turned her into a hero of faith.
Sometimes it is hard to understand what Jesus says or does. We don't always understand his motives, but even when we don't we can trust his heart. We don't know what the Canaanite woman was thinking when she approached Jesus, but we can be confident that she left not only with a healed daughter, but also with a renewed sense of self respect and, hopefully, with the beginnings of some reconciliation.
David Dalton
Jesus' words in this passage are a little difficult to process. A woman comes to him asking for healing for her daughter, and Jesus refuses and insults her. She persists and finally Jesus relents and heals her daughter. At least that is the initial reading. If we look a little deeper, we see a slightly different version.
There was a lot of animosity and even racism between the Israelites and the Canaanites. Consequently, it took great courage, and probably desperation, for this Canaanite woman to approach Jesus, an Israelite teacher. When she finally does, she gets the greeting she expected. But despite this, she presses on. She kneels before Jesus and presents her case. Jesus starts by responding to her as any Israelite of the day would, but she does not relent. Maybe Jesus was bringing the racial conflict to the forefront of everyone's mind so they would view what happens next in light of it. Maybe Jesus was encouraging her to push deeper into her faith. Either way, she continues to press in. Jesus finally relents and heals her daughter. But in doing so, he does more than that. He calls our her faith and holds her up as an example to everyone around her. The crowd started viewing the Canaanite woman as an outsider. Now Jesus elevated her to an example of faith for them all to admire. Jesus took an outcast woman and turned her into a hero of faith.
Sometimes it is hard to understand what Jesus says or does. We don't always understand his motives, but even when we don't we can trust his heart. We don't know what the Canaanite woman was thinking when she approached Jesus, but we can be confident that she left not only with a healed daughter, but also with a renewed sense of self respect and, hopefully, with the beginnings of some reconciliation.
David Dalton