While we’re in the Christmas season and focusing on the incarnation I have been wondering whether Jesus made mistakes.
It’s a question worth asking especially when you consider the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 or Marks’ version in Ch 7 of his gospel.
I’ve been chatting with ‘R’ who is new to faith and trying to make sense of it all. (We do take a lot of stuff for granted in churches). He asks the simple question, ‘why is Jesus rude to her?‘
It’s a good question. It’s a question someone new to faith would ask because we have been conditioned over the years to screen out those errant thoughts.
But Jesus sure does seem rude. He begins by ignoring her in v. 23, then when his disciples want to get rid of her they call him over and ask him to step up. ‘Shoo this woman away Jesus!’
Jesus responds that at this point his mission is to the ‘lost sheep of israel’. I can wear that response, as he is speaking of the focus of his mission at that point (although his time at the well in John 4 doesn’t sit so well with that thinking.)
The woman doesn’t allow him to fob her off. She comes back and asks very simply ‘Lord help me…’ Her daughter is demon possessed and she is desperate. She has already acknowledged him as the Messiah, when she said, ‘Lord, son of David have mercy on me.’ She knows who she is speaking to.
V. 26 just sounds like Jesus was tired and frustrated. ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’
Was he just having a bad day? For a person known for compassion and kindness to outsiders, why is he giving this desperate woman a rough time?
Everything I have explored around this section of scripture refers to the woman’s persistent faith as the notable point. No one seems to engage with Jesus’ words here or if they do it is utterly unsatisfying.
My friend, R, has concluded that Jesus got it wrong here. He was off script and missed the mark. It doesn’t seem like a social blunder (getting their pronouns wrong…). We don’t even need to translate the words into our vernacular to make sense of it, as a reference to a woman as a dog is always offensive. Yeah maybe he was referring to all Gentiles, but still not cool.
Which of course raises the question as to whether Jesus can get it wrong without sinning. We believe in a sinless Jesus – which I will admit is tricky when we consider him as a child/teen – but perhaps then the question comes as to what we consider ‘sin’. If we start with the premise of Jesus as sinless then we have to find an explanation for his behaviour here. My friend didn’t know we hold that view so he is wondering how we reconcile it with the Jesus in this story.
In the end Jesus does accede to her request and heals her daughter but the path there feels a bit awkward at best.
So there is a genuine question – love to hear your reflections.
I’ve always found Jesus answer in this to be obnoxious and no amount of focus on the woman’s persistence, or fancy reframing that dogs were treasured pets works for me (and I do not believe that dogs were ever regatded like that at that time in Israel).
The encounter also suits at odds with multiple sequential stories in Luke of Jesus willingly and rapidly responding positively to people who request healing, many of whom have no faith, do not know who Jesus is, or who are similarly outside the Kingdom.
yep… puzzling hey… glad it’s not just me being a dummy!
I remember how striking a Richard Rohr homilie was which flat out called this as racist behaviour, I think it was the first time I’d heard someone in a church preaching position openly talk about Jesus having anything other than perfect behaviour.
Well worth a listen, he frames it as part of God calling all of us to mature into caring for everyone rather than just those like us: https://cac.org/podcasts/gradual-overcoming-racism-even-jesus/
It makes me wonder if that’s part of Jesus’ human experience: being called out on bad or offensive behaviour, and how you chose to respond. And Jesus response, hearing her and opening up, despite her race, despite her gender, despite the cultural views he grew up with, is the kind of character I love about Jesus.
That’s very much what I’m wondering Jason. Was Jesus figuring some stuff out as he went and his adjusted response is our example and model rather than his initial reaction?
Like you I have never heard Jesus spoken of as anything other than perfectly sinless, but it may have something to do with how we define sin and simple maturing in ‘humanness’.
Thanks for the thought
Thanks Andrew for causing us to think more deeply about how Jesus interacted in Scripture, which then shows how He then interacts with us today in our time, personally and with His Church.
I heard one speaker say that as Jesus was interacting with this woman, He was winking at her, and having a good conversation with her, and indicating all along that He would indeed heal her daughter. Which He did very happily. I think He was trying to teach His disciples a lesson in loving everyone, no matter where they come from.
You see, when we read mere words, we can’t quite hear His tone nor see His face. We just get stark words. Therefore we need to look at His character and his actions with others, and the teaching of Scripture, to give us a bit more help.
This idea of Jesus winking at her and bringing her along with Him in this conversation has opened up my eyes to how much Jesus really loves all people.
I don’t have any exegesis or hermeneutic that supports His winking, but I believe that’s what Jesus would do, and does do us.
Anyways, that’s I think…