August 10th

Gatekeepers

            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.

Matthew 15:21-28

            When I was leading a college ministry, this was routinely one of the most troubling passages that I taught.  Is Jesus refusing to heal someone?  It looks like Jesus is saying “no” to a woman in need.  Did Jesus just call her and her people dogs?  That doesn’t sound right.  Did the woman just talk Jesus into healing her daughter against His better judgement?  What is going on here?

            If there is one group of people that I really want Jesus to connect with and champion, it would be the parents of children whose bodies and minds are not working right.  Who knows what kind of diagnosis this woman’s child would have received if they were living today, but it would have been something.  I want Jesus to hear her story, to hear her plea and offer healing before she finishes her first sentence.  I want Him to praise the child’s purity and the mother’s selflessness and offer them a life that is free from sickness and madness…I want Him to give them hope and to give it freely.

            But that is not what happens.  She pleads and He does not answer.  She comes back louder and stronger and He says that they are not a part of His mission.  He has been sent for bigger and better things.  That is an incredibly polite and gentle dismissal…but it is a dismissal all the same.  We have to fight the state and the borough and the schools and the insurance companies…does this mean that we have to fight God as well?  Clearly, I do not think that is the case, but I understand those people who think that it is.  There are times where it seems like the cosmos is lined up against our kids and the One who created it all does not seem to be in any kind of rush to make our lives better.

            I’ve read a few different commentaries to see if there are any great insights as to what is going on between this woman and Jesus.  Some commentators say that Jesus is intending to heal the child all along; He is simply testing the woman to make sure that she realizes that He is God, not just a simple street magician.  Some say that He was probably speaking in a gentle and joking tone in order to have the woman understand that He did not mean what He was saying.  Those options both seem much more patronizing and manipulative than the Jesus that I see in Scripture.

            What if Jesus was not being coy?  What if this interaction was not just Him manipulating someone to see if they would worship Him in the right way if they were desperate enough?  What if this interaction was more for the Gatekeepers of the Kingdom than it was for the woman with the sick daughter?  The disciples were deeply annoyed by the woman’s constant whining.  They asked Jesus to send her away but He would not.  The 12 knew that their master was preparing to go to Jerusalem.  They had gone to Tyre and Sidon in order to get out of Israel and prepare themselves for whatever endgame lay in store for them in the Holy City.  And interrupting their planning and preparation time was this woman who had a sick kid.  Lots of people had sick kids.  Jesus cannot be bothered by your small problems…He has a world to save!  They just wanted her to go away so that they could focus on the mission.

            What if Jesus was quiet at first so that one of His disciples could heal the child?  They had gone into the countryside casting out demons in previous chapters.  What if His words about his mission and his calling and children and dogs were intended for the ears of His disciples?  What if Jesus’ affirmation of the woman’s great faith was intended for them as well?  One of the greatest challenges of the early church came as these very same men tried to decide whether the Gospel could be true for non-Jews as well.  They argued over this not once…not twice…but over and over again.  Did they ever pause in their debate to think back to this woman and Jesus’ love and affirmation of her?  Did it ever dawn on them that the lost sheep may have been more than just people who looked and talked like them?

            Our government has gatekeepers.  Our schools have gatekeepers.  Our churches absolutely have gatekeepers.  These are the people who keep the chaos and the undesirables out so that the body of Christ can be focused on fulfilling its mission.  They can be pastors or secretaries or elders or just people who are passionate about the church doing what it is supposed to do.  We will never be gatekeepers because our lives are too filled with chaos and confusion and improvisation; we empathize too much with the woman who would not relent until Jesus had healed her child and we will choose her every time over the board-approved strategic plan.

            Will there be disagreements between you and the gatekeepers?  Definitely.  Will there be conflict?  That depends on how much you are each willing to invest in your church.  Is there any hope of getting along?  Absolutely.  Jesus was the bridge between the faith of the mother and the faith of the disciples.  He can do the same for us.

A moment to reflect:

Who are the gatekeepers in your church?  Are you friends or partners or adversaries with them?  How do you think you could become more friendly with them without compromising what you believe to be true?