Clothesline 312 “Even the Crumbs”

The story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman always gives me pause. “Lord, help me,” she says, to which Jesus replies, “I came for the chosen people, not for you.” Jesus sounds rather unsympathetic and harsh, doesn’t he. “Lord, I need your help.” “Sorry, I didn’t come to help a person like you.” Does this mean that there are some people not worthy of God’s time, not good enough for Jesus’ healing touch? Now that’s a scary possibility! Thankfully, it’s not true.

To understand Jesus’ words, we need to recognize the significance in that this woman is from Canaan. Does that place ring a bell? That’s where God sent Abraham when he told him to leave his home and go to a new land… the land was Canaan. This was to be the new home of the Israelites. But before they could take possession of the land of Canaan, God himself commanded the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites, to kill them. Can you even imagine such a thing! Well, there was a reason. God told them to do this, not to steal their land but to punish the Canaanites for their outrageous wickedness. Once again every evil deed has a consequence, just as with Noah and the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah and Pharoah with his chariots. God destroyed the entire world and its inhabitants with a flood, saving only those who followed the commandments of God. He did the same when he destroyed the evil inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. He caused Pharoah and his chariots to drown in the Red Sea, while trying to recapture the chosen people. And then, we come to the Canaanites. They worshipped idols and they indulged in what Scripture calls “shameful and abominable acts”; they practiced human sacrifice. So as God had done in the past, he does it again. Evil has a consequence.

And hundreds of years later, a woman from Canaan, a place of evil, approaches Jesus for help. Is it any wonder how Jesus reacted the way he did? But that’s not the end of the story. The woman is simply an offspring of the evil Canaanite race, such evil of which she had no part. And her faith is so strong, her belief in Jesus is so great, she cries out: “Lord, help me.” And while Jesus’ responses could have dismissed her out of sheer frustration, she continues. “Lord, help me,” she says. “What I have isn’t for you. My place is with the children of Israel.” And surely in the power of the spirit, this rejected woman responds, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Isn’t that extraordinary?! She acknowledges the fact that the Israelites are indeed the chosen people and she devalues herself to the point of an animal licking up the crumbs that fall from the masters’ table! She says, “Yes, Lord, I know I’m not that important in the scheme of things, but my faith in you tells me that you will hear me and help me.”

Do you ever feel like that at times, that you aren’t really that important to God, that you aren’t worthy of his help? Well, the truth is that you aren’t worthy of God. Yet, God in his infinite mercy, has chosen to create you, love you, and redeem you by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. None of us is worthy of the love and acceptance of Jesus, but he has chosen to love us anyway, to care for us, and to die for us—in spite of our sinfulness. Doesn’t that give you all the courage and strength you need to face each day? He made you in His image, he loves you, and he walks with you every day of your life. That’s a promise you can count on!