Sunday 20 August, 2023

Reflection:  "Does God Have Favourites?"

Genesis 45:1-15

Psalm 133

Matthew 15:21-28

Romans 11:1-2a,29-32

​In today’s passages we encounter the prickly theme of people “being chosen” and it leads me to wonder:
“Does God have favourites?
Is there really a chosen nation, a chosen people and, if so, is it the Jewish nation of Israel?
I believe that God’s the Creator of us all, so how could there be favoured ones?
 
These are not easy questions to confront, or to answer.
Especially when we now know what terrible acts have been perpetrated in the past by those who believed that God was on their side – and that includes Jews, Gentiles, Arabs and even Christians.
 
Today’s passage from the gospel of Matthew is not a very long one, but it is definitely a very interesting one.
We read that Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon – which is part of current day Lebanon – and just 30 minutes’ drive south of Beirut, where, you may remember, there was a terrible explosion on the docks just a few years ago, devastating the city and the economy.
 
But back to our story from Matthew.
Why did Jesus go there? 
It was a journey of approximately 64 kilometres (which is a long way on foot) just to heal one child.
If that was, indeed, his reason for going there. 
 
Possibly he just went for privacy – we know that he liked to get away from crowds – or maybe it was to find a location where he could quietly teach and educate his disciples.
We read just a few weeks ago about how Jesus often liked to withdraw from the crowds to be alone with God and with his disciples (as we saw in the Parable of the Feeding of the 5,000).
 
When he arrives in town, he meets a Canaanite woman.
(incidentally, there was no country called Canaan, it was just a general area between the Mediterranean coast and the Dead Sea / River Jordan).
From the description of her as a Canaanite, we can discern that she’s not Jewish – not one of God’s chosen.
 
However, this Gentile woman has obviously heard a lot about Jesus, and she managed to find Jesus at his retreat with the disciples.
Unlike some of the Jews, his own people who often doubted him and tried to trap him at every conversation, this woman takes it as a given that Jesus alone has the power to heal her little daughter, who is tormented by a demon.
And because she loves her daughter, she begs and shouts and cajoles until Jesus gives her what she wants: the healing of her child.
It’s notable that, in all her pleading and shouting, the first thing she asks for is mercy and only then for healing.
 
She recognises Jesus as the Messiah (a Jewish term), who has the power to cast the demon out of her daughter.
Initially, Jesus tries to ignore her, but she’s very persistent.
The disciples implore Jesus to send her away, because she keeps shouting at them.
 
However, here we encounter a side of Jesus that might affront our modern sensibilities and political correctness when he likens her to a dog.
The words Jesus uses to argue with the Canaanite woman are not ones we expect to come from his mouth.
He tells her that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.


What can we determine from that?
Is Jesus really playing favourites (favouring the Jews over the Gentiles), or did he just enter into the debate for the ears of his disciples - to show that, even though it wasn’t his main commission whilst he was on earth, he could, and would, do miracles even for the gentiles.
 
These derogatory words don’t stop the woman and she persists - even when Jesus tries to tell her that it isn’t right for him to deviate from his appointed task - which is -  focussing on God’s chosen ones.
 
Maybe, in this encounter, Jesus has now recognised that his mission has expanded.
His response to the woman shows them that Jesus did not come just for the chosen people of Israel, but his mercy and grace now extends to everyone.
 
Again, the woman argues with Jesus, trying to persuade him that even a small amount of his goodness would be sufficient for her and her daughter.
We see her willingness to take even the crumbs from Jesus, reasoning that it would be enough to cure her daughter.
Jesus then utters the words. “Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.”
 
Here we see a miracle by long distance and the girl is healed from that very hour (not just when the woman gets home), without Jesus needing to lay hands on her.
 
It’s interesting to note the figurative language used in the passage:
·       the children represent the disciples and the Jews;
·       the children’s bread represents the benefits of Jesus’ ministry to them;      and
·       the dogs (literally, “little dogs” - household ones, not outdoor scavengers) represent the Gentiles.
 
Jesus tells the woman that his priority in being there is to instruct his disciples and it isn’t appropriate to interrupt a family meal to give the dogs food from the table.
He’s intimating, therefore, that it isn’t appropriate for him to interrupt his ministry to his disciples to give his services to her, a Gentile woman.
But the fact that Jesus seems reluctant to help her, only seems to stimulate her faith in him.
 
She recognises that he has the right to refuse her request, however and feeling no insult in the analogy he uses, she presses it a little further, saying that even the dogs under the table eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.
Her point is that the dogs get a small amount food at the same time as the children and thus the children do not have to wait.
 
She infers that there is no need to interrupt his instruction to the disciples, because all she humbly requests is a crumb, a small benefit of his grace to satisfy her desperate need.
She acknowledges that the majority of food should go to the Jews but suggests to Jesus that just a small bit of his grace will be sufficient to heal her daughter.
Jesus accedes to her pleas and tells her that it is her faith that has healed the girl.
 
Jesus had subjected her to a threefold test:
1.     a test of the sincerity of her desire;
2.     a test of its intensity;         and
3.     a test of her own integrity.
 
Her faith triumphed and her daughter was healed, leading us to wonder what we should learn from this passage?
1.     we must acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour;
2.     we must come to him, recognizing we have no claim on his grace, but we can expect him to be gracious;
3.     and when we do, Jesus himself will heal our diseased hearts, bringing us new life.
 
Great faith is the sort that takes God at his word and won’t let go until he meets our need.
Great faith can lay hold of even the slightest encouragement and turn it into a fulfilled promise.
 
I pray that we can all learn from the faith of the Canaanite woman and take each and every crumb from the words of Jesus.
 
Pastor Rick