Whiteboard: More than Crumbs

So that it is a piece of bread with crumbs coming off the bottom corner.

Anytime I have to explain what is drawn on The Whiteboard I feel like I've failed in the endeavor, but to be honest drawing a piece of bread is surprisingly difficult a whiteboard -- the colors are just all wrong!

Anyway, it isn't the bread that it is the important part this week. No, it is the crumbs. The crumbs are the place we need to focus, because the crumbs is where the story (and possibly even Jesus' ministry) takes a significant turn.

To set the stage, Jesus has fed the 5,000, has walked on water, and argued with the Pharisees about their harsh legalism. All of which is to say, now he is on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is to say the Gentile side (remember that "Gentile" is the New Testament way of saying "other" or "different" or "not our people"). So it is no surprise that Jesus encounters a Gentile woman; a Canaanite woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon.

It would appear that word of Jesus (and his miraculous powers and particularly his healing ministry) has spread across the Sea of Galilee into Gentile territory too. The Canaanite woman has a sick daughter, or as they said that back in the ancient world: her daughter is "tormented by a demon."

The Canaanite woman approaches Jesus and even tries calling him by his proper title when she says, "Lord, Son of David." But Jesus ignores her.

Did I mention this was a strange story?

Yes, Jesus ignores her cries at first. And so she keeps crying out to him. In fact she keeps crying out to such an extent that the Disciples pleaded with Jesus to make this woman go away. So Jesus says to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."

Strange story, right? Not what you were expecting Jesus to say. Well, it is about to get stranger.

The Canaanite woman and Jesus start to argue. Jesus talks about why you wouldn't take the children's bread and throw it out to the dogs (which is basically calling this woman and he sick child dogs, right?) and then she counters "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table."

Then something amazing happens. Jesus concedes the point. He recognizes the strength of this woman's faith and commitment and he grants her request.

I've always joked that the easy comeback is sitting right there for Jesus. The Woman says, "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table," and Jesus could have quickly retorted, "Well then the dogs need to stay outside where they belong."

But the point of the story isn't that Jesus is quick with a one-liner, or even that he respects a good comeback when he hears it (plenty of folks make a big deal out of the fact that this is really the only time in the Gospels when someone is able to change Jesus' mind). No, the point of the story is that the kingdom of God is expanding. That this religious movement Jesus is spearheading is getting bigger. That it isn't simply about one religious community hearing the power of the good news of the Gospel, but that it is about sharing it with the world, and particularly sharing it with the outsiders, the foreigners, the people that society tells us aren't worth wasting our time on.

And it isn't just about this one woman, either. The way Matthew tells the story, right after this encounter with the Canaanite woman Jesus continues along the shores of the Sea of Galilee (still on the Gentile side). Soon huge crowds surround him (sound familiar), and Jesus starts to teach and to heal (sound familiar), and with thousands of people around him he tells his disciples to take a few small loaves of bread and a handful of fish to feed the multitudes (no really, this should sound VERY familiar!). It is a mirror image of what Jesus has just done on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, on the more familiar, more comfortable, Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee -- and not his ministry is continuing on the Gentile side, on the foreign side, on the different side, on the side that is filled with people who are "not our people." It is not just crumbs that Jesus offers, it is the fullness of the good news of the gospel, and he offers it to everyone.

So we do too.

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Matthew 15:10-28

Things That DefileThen he called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’ He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ Then he said, ‘Are you also still without understanding?Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’

The Canaanite Woman’s Faith
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.