“Send her away…” is the request made by the disciples in this past Sunday’s Gospel reading. (Mt. 15:23) Yet Jesus did not come to scatter, but to gather all people together.

The Canaanite woman, a person who was not welcome in Jewish company, had boldly cried out to Jesus. Given the attitude the Jews had for many of the surrounding nationalities, in some ways, the disciples’ request sounds reasonable. When I heard that sentence during the proclamation of the Gospel, it reminded me of the feeding of the five thousand. This account is in a previous chapter of  Matthew’s Gospel (14:15), when the disciples ask Jesus to dismiss the crowds so the people can purchase food. In both instances, Jesus does the opposite of what is requested. 

To the modern ear, the exchange between the Canaanite woman and Jesus is very uncomfortable. We hear Jesus comparing this woman and her daughter to the same as being a dog! Can that be right?! Jesus wouldn’t be that cruel, would He? Our natural instinct is to assume it must be a translation error. But the woman is never named, we don’t really know anything about her except her nationality, her daughter’s condition, and the love she has for her daughter has made her very brave. She asks for nothing for herself; she does not ask to be forgiven nor does she admit to any fault. Instead she praises Jesus by addressing Him as the “Son of David” and as “Lord.”

Unlike with the feeding of the crowd where Jesus gives directions to the disciples to orderly control the volume of people by having them sit down, Jesus responds to the disciples request regarding the Canaanite woman by indicating to whom His ministry was focused on: the Jewish people. I can almost imagine the men looking at each other with puzzled expressions. Of course Jesus came for the Jews of Israelite descent, He was the long awaited Messiah and the whole Jewish nation was looking for Him to come. Yet His humble origin proved to be a stumbling block for many, but this woman, most likely having heard the miraculous actions Jesus performed, knew exactly who Jesus was. She also knew that He alone could help her daughter. 

Despite what seems like harsh words, Jesus never sends the woman away. He never tells her she is not welcome, that she shouldn’t address Him, nor does He ignore her completely. He does respond to her as she humbles herself before Him, seeking His pity and mercy. Her daughter was probably her whole world, yet she knows it would cost Jesus nothing to heal her. She uses the analogy that Jesus initiates and compares the healing of her daughter to a scrap of food fallen to the floor for the dogs to eat; it’s insignificant. And here we are over 2,000 years later marveling over this exchange and trying to figure out the spiritual meaning. 

This foreigner sought to be fed a tiny morsel from the table of life. How many times have we eaten from that table? How many times have we received the Precious Body and Blood of Christ? How many blessings have we’ve been given in our life? Do we see these as scraps from the table, thankful to be fed on meager sustenance? Or do we presume that we have a seat at the table right next to Jesus and get frustrated when He doesn’t do as we command? 

God will never send us away. He also won’t do everything we ask of Him because He loves us and will only do what will help us to have a meaningful relationship with Him in order to go to heaven when this life is over. Yet when we humble ourselves before Him, seeking His mercy and demonstrating our faith in Him, God will provide what we need, and sometimes it just might be a miracle.