Today’s Gospel of the Canaanite woman and Jesus is one of my favorite ones to explain.  At first glance it may seem Jesus has some nationalistic views that leave others out. And then Jesus compares the woman to a dog.  This is hard to explain at first glance. How can the Lord be that rude? However, at a closer look we will find Jesus was not being rude at all but was testing the woman’s faith.  The technique to do so is not typical for Jesus but nonetheless effective. Let’s dive deeper into this Gospel. First, Jesus was walking in the region of Tyre and Sidon, which already tells us of his openness to visit pagan territory.  Tyre and Sidon are both cities located outside the Jewish territory and Jesus was      walking around that district because he wanted to!  The woman from the district came, this was her hometown, this was where she lived, it was Jesus who was walking in her home turf.  When she cries out Son of David, she is making a declaration about who Jesus is, truly the Lord.  However, this is when it starts to get complicated.  Jesus did not say a word to her in answer!  As Stephanie Tanner (from Full House) would say, “How rude!”  However, there is a purpose to the silence of Jesus.  The disciples come in and asked him “Send her away.”  Sad statement that continues to happen with his disciples in this time and age.  Many are prompt to just say “Send them away” because they do not want to deal with the person asking for help.  Jesus responded in a mysterious way,  “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”   For me this is the most problematic part of this encounter because it seems the Lord is limiting the scope of salvation to one people.  We need to understand this better, because if we read it as it states, then only the Jewish people can be saved, and that leaves all Christians considered Gentiles  out of the equation.  Jesus's understanding of salvation cannot be limited. The woman was undeterred and approached Jesus.  She did him homage, unlike the disciples who took Jesus for granted.  And utter three words, that should be the crying help for every Christian in need “Lord, help me.” And yet many now are saying, “Never mind, I will take care of it myself.”
And then Jesus comes with another phrase hard to explain. He said “"It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."  Lord, please throw me a softball.  Some translators try to soften the blow saying he said “little dogs” or “puppies,” but these explanations don’t help much.  The disciples were probably very proud on how Jesus had responded but then after hearing the response of faith of the woman, Jesus stuns them again by saying, “O woman, great is your faith!”.  All along Jesus was testing the woman and her disciples.  The woman passed the test for her perseverance even when receiving curt responses. The disciples failed because they had gone along with the ride, thinking Jesus was very nationalistic, and failing to aid the woman who was in need.  Just when people think they have Jesus figured out, the rug is pulled from other their feet. This whole encounter is not about the whether one nation or group is better than the other.  It not about Jesus’ mistreatment of women, or  pagans.  It is about those who with their faith will persevere in prayer and will not be shaken based on the apparent initial response.  Let us ask the Lord to have faith that can withstand the test he sends our way, so that we may merit to receive the  miracle expected.