Racial Prejudice?

There is an occasion when Jesus is reported (shockingly) as saying to a Canaanite woman: "It is not good to take the food for the children and give it to the dogs." Clearly in the context the statement was referring to the request she had made for help for her demon-possessed daughter. While such a saying may not have seemed strange to those who were already prejudiced against the Canaanites it does rather hit us in the face who have been taught that racial prejudice is wrong.

Were Jesus' words really an indication of the kind of prejudice which led to the Holocaust - prejudice which springs from a superiority quite out of step with those who consider themselves followers of Jesus and Paul? In other words was Jesus really prejudging the Canaanites? Was his epithet as vicious as it might be if used by one of us? To answer that question we need to understand Jesus' motive for the question.

He told the woman he had come in order to seek and save the lost children of Israel. He had previously had an altercation with the Scribes and Pharisees. He had, as a result, explained to the disciples the difference between a false view of defilement (by not carrying out ritual cleansings) and real defilement - that which comes from the heart. It was after that incident that he withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon where they met up with the Canaanite (Syro-Phoenician) woman. It seems significant that Matthew records only one incident (her request) from that visit to the region. Were there no Israelites there who felt the need for the Savior's touch? Or was it her response that the Savior wanted to draw to our attention?

She comes to him - a Canaanite seeking help from a Jew! Such an event was uncommon in itself. At this point all the disciples would have been watching - they had just been reminded that it is what comes from the heart which defiles. Now they see their Master reject her request! He didn't merely say politely: "I'm sorry I didn't come to help anyone but the Israelites ..." That would have been acceptable to the modern ear. He said it insultingly. "It is not right to give food, reserved for the children, to the dogs!" Plainly he was likening the Canaanite to a dog - the kind of animal which slinks around the table attempting to steal the food belonging to the people of the house.

Her response was humble and an unexpected acceptance of his apparent denigration. "True, Lord," she responds, "but even the dogs are allowed the crumbs which drop from the table." Was there an implied rebuke in her words as if to say she was (after all) better than the dogs? I believe not. On the contrary it would appear she was prepared to place herself lower on the scale than the very dogs to which Jesus referred. The obvious interpretation is that, such was her love for her daughter, she would accept any insult, any denigration if only it would be a benefit to her daughter.

Jesus, however, read more in this than merely love for her daughter. He saw the faith she had in him. He saw she was prepared to accept any assessment he wanted to make of her. In comparison with his glory she was nothing, less than the dogs which were given the right to feed on the crumbs. She was prepared to ask for that which was theirs by right, and of one who was capable of giving so much more than just food for the body. Do you consider this an exaggeration? Is this reading more into the text than is there? Then hear the words of the Lord himself: "Woman," he said, "Your faith is great, be it done for you as you wish." And, Matthew records, her daughter was immediately healed.

So, was Jesus racially motivated? The words he used certainly seemed to indicate that was true. But his willingness to recognize her faith and declare it as great proves his words were for the disciples' benefit. He had not yet finished teaching them that it is what comes from the heart which defiles - even when it appears the language shows something different. That they left the region without any other recorded event indicates that was the way Matthew saw it for, as soon as they return to the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was healing the people again - and we read of the feeding of the four thousand who had been with him for three days and had no food. This view of the incident is entirely consistent with Jesus' treatment of the Samaritan woman at the well (who was surprised that he, being a Jew would even talk to her) and the Gentiles who came to him for help.

One cannot but conclude that Jesus' whole purpose in going to the region was just to find this lady and help her while, at the same time, reinforcing a valuable lesson for his disciples. His words were designed to evoke the kind of response which comes from humble faith, the kind which bows to God's judgment, even when it is unflattering to the recipient. Such faith ought to characterize all those who have been given the privilege of being called the children of God.