Crossing Boundaries Matthew 15:21-28 Jim Zazzera, 23 May 2010, Faith Presbyterian Church Yesterday I attended my daughter s college graduation. I watched for 3 hours as thousands of students trooped across the stage to get a diploma and mark their passage into a new phase of life. Scores of people crossed a boundary from one way of being into another. Actually, it was kind of overwhelming. Life has all sorts of boundaries. Some are obvious visible boundaries. Houses have walls to keep us safe, or cool, or warm. Nations have border crossings to control who comes in and who goes out. Baseball fields have foul lines and fences. Geography has rivers and mountain ranges. Some boundaries are more subtle or even invisible. There are boundaries between cultures marked by differences in language and dress. There are boundaries that keep others away from our deepest emotions. There is a boundary that marks the transition from childhood to being an adult. There is the boundary we cross when we die and leave this earth. Boundaries can be barriers or guides. They can mark a dangerous edge or a new frontier. Boundaries can be limits or transition points. They can keep us in or move us forward. Boundaries play an important role in the Christian faith. They are depicted throughout the Bible. In a way, much of Jesus ministry is taken up with the issue of boundaries. Jesus was a person who helped us wonder. Which boundaries should be respected? Which boundaries should be crossed? Which boundaries should be removed? Today s story takes us right to the heart of that concern. So let s back up a bit and begin with today s scripture reading. The story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman is brief, but one of the most challenging passages in all of the New Testament. One reason it is challenging because Jesus doesn t act as we expect him to. Let me read the passage and then think it through with you a bit. [Read Matthew 15:21-28] Because I am always danger of always thinking I know what God is up to, one of my personal guiding principles when I look at any Bible passage is always: What surprises me here? Knowing what I know, what don t I expect? How am I challenged or even shocked by what I read and hear? Using this approach, this story gives us a lot to work with. The first thing to note is Jesus attitude and how it shifts. A woman cries out to him and how does he respond? The text is clear Jesus remains silent. It seems a bit odd for Jesus not immediately address someone in need, but perhaps he just needed time to think.
But then when the disciples ask him to send her away, Jesus says something that seems quite odd to our ears. He says I am sent to lost sheep of the house of Israel. Knowing that this woman is not a Jew Jesus chooses this precise moment to assert My mission is to the Jews and no one else. Though he is not exactly pushing the woman away, Jesus seems to imply that healing her daughter is not his job. But the woman speaks again, pleading for Jesus help. For the first time, Jesus speaks directly to the woman, and his words seem out of character, even rude. It is not right he says, to take the children s food and throw it to the dogs. In other words, How can I give up my works with God s children, the Jews, and offer something to you, a Canaanite, an unclean dog? Jesus words here seem harsh and hurtful at best. But the woman speaks one more time not to be daunted. With wit and boldness she challenges Jesus, Even the dogs get the crumbs from the masters table!! Hearing this, something cracks in Jesus attitude. Instead of putting her off, Jesus acclaims this woman s and says, Your faith is great! Your daughter will be healed. Jesus changes his mind. In these few brief verses, Jesus view of his ministry has moved from a narrow focus on the Jews to at least considering the possibility that non- Jews could be the beneficiaries of his mission of offering God s salvation. Few other places in all the NT show Jesus reaching out to Gentiles/non- Jews in such a dramatic way. In this story, Jesus has opened the door to the Gentiles, to all people. The story also compels us to consider the attitude of the Canaanite woman. The woman starts by shouting out to Jesus have mercy on me! This word shout might be better translated as scream or shriek. 1 This woman was causing a real scene. No wonder the disciples wanted to send her away. The woman was not to be denied. Yet even in the midst of her passion for her daughter s healing, she still comes to Jesus in reverence. The text says she knelt before him a phrase we see used in this gospel used to describe the attitude of the Magi to the Christ child. 2 Though the woman was asking Jesus for something she was also honoring him. The woman also acknowledges Jesus as Jewish messiah. She calls him Lord and Son of David, giving him the honor that the Jewish leadership of the time would not. She understood that he was the messiah for a particular group of people. She does not ask him to set aside who he is or why he was called. The woman knows that Jesus mission was to the Jews. Yet though she is not a Jew she does not give up. Though it may make some of us cringe, she is willing to come and beg. The culmination of this story is a desperate prayer. Because of her love for her daughter this woman will go to any length. Because of her own need, she is willing to help Jesus find a way to still fulfill his mission but to respond to her with healing grace. 1 Matthew (Westminster Bible Companion), Thomas Long, p. 175. 2 Matthew (Westminster Bible Companion), Thomas Long, p. 175.
One final thing about this woman, it is she who changes Jesus mind. Though she comes with humility, She comes with the courage of a truth that she knows deeply. She believes that God she sees in Jesus can and will reach out to her and her daughter. Because of this faith and trust, she will not give up. And Jesus relents. Changes his mind. And offers her God s grace. As one writer put it, Jesus himself learns a clearer and wider understanding of the will of God, by experience. 3 Though it may sound unbelievable, this woman plants seeds of greater openness in Jesus. And so we come to the boundaries that are being crossed here. In fact, this is really what at the heart of today s message. The story starts with Jesus crossing a geographical boundary into Tyre and Sidon, a land that today is part of southern Lebanon, a place that at that time might be considered the most Godless of all places. 4 We are not told why Jesus entered there, presumably to minister to the Jews who lived there or maybe to get away from the crush of the crowds in his homelands. But he enters there nonetheless. Maybe this offers us some hint of where we should look for Jesus in our world today. Next, the woman herself crosses a huge boundary by being bold enough to simply address Jesus a Jew (which she was not) a leader (which she was not), and a man(which she obviously was not). This kind of crossing would have caused considerable shock to those listening and watching. The Canaanite woman refuses to be held back patriarchy and the racial/cultural tension of her world. 5 That the disciples urge Jesus to send her away is mere confirmation that she is doing something unheard of. In return, Jesus also crosses that same boundary by being wiling to speak to this woman. In some ways his conversation in speaking with her is actually more profound than the healing of her daughter. And though Jesus is first put off by the woman and even rude to her, in the end he addresses her with kindness and praise. Still you might wonder, what is so radical here? What is so profound in this story? Let me suggest this. This Canaanite woman represents what might be called the dangerous other in Jewish society. She was a symbol of all that was evil, and unclean, and against God. At that time the term Canaanite was a bit anachronistic the Gospel of Mark simply calls her a Greek, by race a Phoenician from Syria. But the term Canaanite calls up the historic enmity between this group of people and the Jews. By speaking directly with this woman, Jesus makes her his equal 6 By speaking directly with this woman he has chosen to engage the dangerous other in his world. By speaking directly with her, he has forever eliminated a boundary that would keep people like her away from God. 3 Matthew: A Commentary: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28, Dale Bruner, p. 97. 4 Matthew: A Commentary: The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28, Dale Bruner, p. 97. 5 See Dylan s Lectionary Blog. http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/08/proper_15_year_.html 6 See Dylan s Lectionary Blog. http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2005/08/proper_15_year_.html
In fact, it was this boundary the dividing line between Jews and non- Jews that was one of the most important and difficult issues for the fledgling Christian movement in the first century. So many boundaries are crossed here in this story. Between Old and new. Between male and female. Between Jew and Gentile. Between friends and enemies. If we take this story as a guide it seems that Jesus has little respect for the boundaries of his world. Christian faith is thought be some to be a religion of boundaries. Of rules and dos and don ts. Of who is in and who is out. Of labeling those we must keep away from. Of deciding which people are God enemies and which are God s friends. But what if our faith is primarily about crossing boundaries? What if Jesus work is about crossing over borders and breaking through walls? What if our work in his service is about celebrating the fact that all people are welcomed into God s presence? Who is on the other side of boundaries that we draw in our world? Perhaps it is the young Pakistani Muslim we are unwilling to trust because he looks a bit too much like someone we saw on the news. Who is on the other side? Maybe it is the Spanish- speaking child whose language keeps her on the fringes of a room full of classmates that have no idea of the life she has lived. Who is on the other side? Could it be the young woman who has found that her art is the only safe place that she can explore all the questions she has about her life and sexuality? Who is on the other side? It might be the man who has just been released from prison into a community that really doesn t care about (or believe) his rehabilitation and doesn t want him anywhere. Who is on the other side? Is it the woman who wanders the streets to find a warm place to sleep and does her best to address all the voices that crowd into her head? Who is on the other side? Who is on the other side of the boundaries we create? Is it just possible that to Jesus these boundaries would not be barriers but invitations to reconciliation? Many of you know that through the centuries, the Christian church has had a tradition of icons, of religious art. Icons are intended to be windows into the holy, with scenes of our faith and images of holy people. Our Orthodox brothers and sisters, including our Ethiopian friends down the hall, make icons central to their life of worship to this very day. I have a favorite modern icon I want to show you here.
The painter talks about this icon as a tribute to the Christ who is among the least of us and on the margins of this world. He goes on to say The icon does not make clear which side of the fence Christ is on.. 7 It is interesting to think about it that way. Where is Jesus in this image? In a way Jesus stands at the edge of all boundaries, and we can not always be sure what side he is on. Perhaps, at times, he is on both sides. And perhaps when the boundary is an affront to the will and purpose of God he is working to eliminate it. Today is a day we celebrate an obliteration of boundaries. On that first Pentecost we see Jews drawn from all nations of the globe to receive God s Spirit and be drawn into the love and mission of Jesus the Christ. Cultural and national differences became unimportant and the fresh winds of the Spirit drew people into one people serving God in Christ. Baptism itself, which we celebrate and renew today is also a removal of boundaries. In it we affirm that we are no longer separate from God. In it we join with brothers and sisters across time and space. In it we cross the boundary from death to life. Jesus calls us all to faith. Not faith in boundaries and distinctions and borders and differences. But faith in a living God who is willing to cross or destroy any boundary to get to us. We see it in his interaction with the Canaanite woman. We see it in the amazing diversity of people he called to himself in Pentecost and calls to himself even now. We see it in our invitation to be baptized, to die to one life and rise to a life with God. 7 https://www.trinitystores.com/ (see Robert Lentz, Christ of Maryknoll )
Next Step Questions See if you can retell the story to each other before reading it. What is jarring about this passage? Is this the Jesus you thought you knew? Why or why not? How does this change/modify/confirm your view of Jesus? (Now read Matthew 15:21-28 to each other and see if this changes your ideas.) What is a boundary to you? Why do we have them? How are boundaries helpful? In what way are they problematic? Who are the dangerous others in your world? What would it take for you to be in relationship to them? Do you think in his life on earth Jesus learned and grew? Why or why not? If not, what might this say about Jesus humanity? How do you think Jesus viewed his mission? Does he change his view in this incident? Have you ever been asked to cross a boundary? Why did you do it? What risk did that entail for you? In what ways are you like this Canaanite woman? In what ways are you not like her? Why do you think Jesus acclaims her as a woman of great faith? This is one of the most unique and troubling stories in any of the Gospels. Why do you think the Gospel writer chose to include it? What boundaries were crossed in the Pentecost event? What boundaries do we cross in baptism? Are these crossings a risky thing? Are these crossings a good thing?