Reflection: August 16, 2026
Jesus attracted a lot of attention for healing the sick and feeding 5,000 (the gospel from two weeks ago). When he crossed the Sea of Galilee – covering part of the journey by walking on water (last week’s gospel) and when Peter, too, walked on water and began to sink, Jesus admonished him, saying, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" - he had come to Gennesaret.
After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. (Matt 14: 35-36)
But not all came to wonder or be cured. Some Pharisees and Scribes were there to watch him suspiciously. Matthew began this chapter with the words, Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break tradition ...? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’
Matthew’s note, that they came from Jerusalem – a hard four-day journey on foot - implies that this was a delegation sent to investigate Jesus. They had not been passing by but were there to see if he followed dietary rules, among other things. They were ‘building a case’ against him.
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This is where Sunday’s gospel (Matt 15:10-28) begins, referring to the dietary laws.
Then Jesus called the crowd ...and said... “Listen...: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
Rather than address the Pharisees and Scribes directly, Jesus made their question a platform for instruction for the crowd. He rejected the way they prioritized tradition over human need.
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. ...”
Jesus not only turned the argument inside out... saying, it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles ....but he referred to the Scribes and Pharisees as blind.
But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”
Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ... 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.”
Jesus distinguished between ritual defilement and moral defilement. He focused attention on the interior life and intentions of each person, not on the externalities.
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The gospel continues,
Jesus left that place and went to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
Tyre and Sidon were pagan lands. We can’t be sure from the text whether he went there to escape the crowds, or the Pharisees and Scribes or to find solitude. Another possible implication is that Jesus’ ministry and offer of salvation included Gentiles. Yet this development would mark a change. When Jesus had sent out his twelve disciples on a ‘training’ mission,
Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and sickness. ...These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matt 10:1, 5-6)
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Just then a Canaanite woman ... started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
Canaanite is an ancient synonym for pagan. Yet the woman had obviously heard of Jesus and addressed him respectfully as Lord, Son of David.
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.”
Jesus’ words seem harsh, especially given that the woman had addressed him formally and had knelt before him, humbly. The assumption is that the children refer to the people of Israel and dogs refer to Gentiles.
She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” (See the concluding note on crumbs from Jean-Pierre de Caussaude)
The woman was not put off. She persisted, cleverly. She argued that Gentiles as well as Jews are fed by God.
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
Her great faith contrasts with Peter’s little faith, when sinking in the water as he approached Jesus in the chapter immediately before this.
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· How do you reconcile Jesus’ not answering the Canaanite woman, initially, then speaking insultingly to her? Is it possible that Matthew is making a point, since he addressed a Jewish-Christian community that saw their role as privileged? Does her persistence in petitioning him make a difference? Can you see Jesus’ healing of her daughter as a validation of not only her faith but the possibility of inclusion of Gentiles?
· As Gentiles, how do we see the Jewish Jesus? After all, Christianity is now, largely, a “Gentile” religion? Do we have the same humble approach as the Canaanite woman? Have we transformed Jesus in our minds into a Western European or North American figure?
· How do you imagine Peter reacted when he heard Jesus praise the ‘great faith’ of the Canaanite woman... recalling his own little faith as he was sinking? Was he confused, thinking that Jesus had come only for Israel? Did this experience eventually help him understand that salvation was meant to include Gentiles? Peter began to speak to them: “... God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-35)
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Those who abandon themselves to the Creator always lead mysterious lives and receive from the Creator exceptional and miraculous gifts by means of the most ordinary, natural and chance experiences, in which there appears to be nothing unusual. The simplest sermon, the most banal conversation, the least erudite books become sources of knowledge and wisdom to those souls by virtue of the Creator’s purpose. That is why they carefully pick up the crumbs which clever minds tread underfoot, for to them everything is a source of enrichment. (Adapted from Jean-Pierre de Caussade)
Peace,
Deacon Michael