Crumbs from the Master’s Table
As I explained to you, the passage from Matthew’s gospel is preceded by a controversy between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees.  The scribes and Pharisees put great stock in certain ritual actions, such as washing of hands.  However, in Jesus’ response, we hear only about what defiles, or what makes a person unclean.  We don’t actually hear what makes a person clean or pure—pure in heart, in the sight of God.
And, in order to find that answer, we have to consider Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, because, at least part of the response is there, of what makes a person pure of heart; and that is...one’s faith.  Perhaps one could also say that it is the Holy Spirit also who makes our hearts pure.
The Canaanite woman is perhaps an unusual candidate to teach this lesson to us and to the disciples.  The disciples’ initial response to the Canaanite woman was not showing—shall we say—great respect for her.  They were in her territory; they were in a part of the earth north of Israel; they were, therefore, not in the land of Israel, but in Phoenicia, present-day Lebanon.  But, despite that, they saw a person who was not one of them; she was, in fact, part of that ancient people that the Israelites had displaced when they came into the promised land, after being delivered from slavery in Egypt.  All of those Canaanite people were known as those who practised “abomination” before the Lord.  (That is the language of the Old Testament, speaking of their religion.)  The Canaanite woman was a descendant of those people, [and therefore, one could say, “unclean” in their eyes].  Also, they couldn’t expect a lot from her, in terms of her contribution.  So that was their response to this Canaanite woman.  In fact they wanted Jesus to tell her to disappear, because she was a source of annoyance to them, shouting after them.
Now, we look at the Canaanite woman herself, and we find, actually, quite a remarkable human being—a human being with what would appear to be exceptional person strength.  Here was a woman who recognized that there was something quite special about Jesus.  She called him, “Lord,” she called him, “Son of David,” and she brought her problem to him—namely, her daughter, who was sorely oppressed by a demon—“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me, for my daughter is oppressed by a demon.”
The response that she got from Jesus was an absence of response, no response, no word.  And then, the disciples were saying to Jesus, “Get rid of her; tell her to leave.”
And Jesus said to his disciples, or maybe he was thinking out loud, “I am called only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  In other words, this woman, it would appear, was not part of the picture of Jesus’ ministry.
But the woman did not give up.  In fact, she came closer to Jesus, and said, “Help me, Lord.”
However, Jesus’ response to her could have been taken by her as being downright offensive, because he said to her, “It is not fair that the children’s food be thrown to the dogs.”  How are you to take that?  However, the woman did not back off.  She said, “True, but the dogs can have the crumbs that are dropped from the table by the children.”
And, it’s at that point that Jesus remarks to the woman, “Woman, great is your faith; and be it done to you as you have wished.”  And her daughter was healed.
The woman, then, acts with extraordinary determination, tenacity, and also, one could say, imagination, in her response to the situation, where she is confronted with men, Jewish men, not of her own people, even though they’re in her own terrain.  And she is also confronted by off-putting—to say the least—remarks or comments.
So what about Jesus’ words or lack thereof?  What do we make of, first of all, his failure to respond to the woman’s initial call to him, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me, for my daughter is severely suffering from a demon.”  Lack of response.  What are we to make of that?  And then what are we to make of Jesus’ comment in this situation where he is being approached by a Canaanite woman?  What are we to make of his words, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel?”  What are we to make of those words?  And, finally, what are to make of the words of Jesus, when he says, “It’s not fair to throw the children’s food to the dogs.”  Well, what are we to make of that?  That encounter has puzzled a people for a long time, ever since that experience has been part of the church’s memory.
And I think the usual response to it is that something else is going on here.  For one thing, Jesus allows certain openings; there are openings for this woman to go further in her request.  But, perhaps there is something even more than that going on, because, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, when the disciples, who became apostles of Christ, went out beyond Jerusalem, beyond Judea, beyond Samaria, to the ends of the earth, what happened was that they came and ate with people who were non-Jews.  They befriended them.  And, therefore, one is tempted at least to believe that what we have here is a sign that, despite Jesus’ initial lack of response, God was present, or the Holy Spirit was part of this encounter, so that the woman could make her response, and believe that she could have that response listened to, and dealt with—just as people, at a later time, when they called upon the Lord, would be saved; God would respond to their call through Christ.
And, likewise, in the words of Jesus, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”—despite those words, isn’t something more going on here?  Isn’t the reality of God’s Spirit saying something else to this woman?  Namely that, I too can be part of this saving reality, this kingdom of God, which is embodied in this person, Jesus of Nazareth?  Just as, later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it wasn’t just an “in-group” of Jews, and then everyone else was on the outside.  No, through faith, all people were included in the one people of God.
And, when Jesus says to her, “It is not fair that the children’s food be thrown to the dogs,” isn’t something more going on there, as well, in the sense that each of us finds, through our faith in Christ, that we are given a crumb; we are given a way in which we can serve our neighbour and serve God?  It may not look very dramatic, very wonderful.  But we are given a crumb.  And that crumb is wonderful, because it is our contribution to the kingdom of God.  And all persons are given of that.  So, despite this put-down, apparently, this woman was in the process of being raised up.
And Jesus raised her up, finally, by saying, “Woman, great is your faith.”
Perhaps we can identify with the Canaanite woman, whom the disciples were ready to send packing, because what happened to her can happen to each one of us.
But perhaps it is also good to look again at the disciples, because the disciples are bit like what we are.  The disciples are people who might believe that “we are in possession of what is right, and other people are somehow lacking in that, and therefore we do not reach out to others, as Jesus would do in normal circumstances—reach out and respond to people.”
Could it be also that, in the church, we are sometimes not as good as we could be at welcoming people, who come in the door, who are different.  Not necessarily all that different, but new; people who are not accustomed to being here.  And this passage is a challenge to us to be such welcoming people.  As well as caring for others, being interested in others, we are also called to be welcoming people.
And, sometimes, we may feel that we are the only ones—we have a sort of monopoly on gifts, gifts of the Spirit from God.  Well, perhaps, we ought to think again, and honour and encourage the gifts of others, with whom we come in contact, whether it’s here, in the Church, or elsewhere in the community.
The passage is concerned with purity.  That is the initial issue.  And purity of heart comes from faith, and the power of the Spirit.
But purity of heart is also lived out as we are interested in our neighbour, and show enough interest to go and greet such a person, and find out something about their lives, say, “Hello! Bonjour!” and carry on the conversation.  Purity of heart is also expressed, in light of God’s own approach to us, in a welcoming way, including others—not seeing ourselves as an “in-group”, and others as being on the outside; but, seeing ourselves as people who are to welcome others into the kingdom.  And purity of heart is recognizing that God has given us a crumb, whereby we serve God and our neighbour; but others too are given a share in the kingdom, a part to play, and we ought to encourage them.
So, purity of hands is one thing.  Purity of heart is another.  Faith is part of the picture.  But living out of that faith is another part.  And may we exemplify that.