crumbs from your table

You might think I'm quoting a U2 song today and that's mostly true. Today's scripture reading is the basis of that song, though. It's about a Gentile woman who comes to Jesus and asks him to heal her daughter. This is one of the instances where you might think Jesus was being really rude. He doesn't console her and tell her that everything's gonna be all right. No, he tells her, it's not fair to throw good food to the dogs when the children are hungry. In essence, he's calling her a unfit for his healing. The Jews should be offered his healing and redemption first.

I think Jesus knew this woman from the moment she walked into the house. I think he knew she was embarrassed to be there. I think he knew that she had been harrassed and put down by Jews her whole life. I think he wanted to see whether she was able to forgive those who had tormented her. We've already seen that Jesus had little use for Jews who thought they had the lion's share of God's love just because they were careful about what rules they followed.

Jesus wanted to know - do you, you woman, you non-Jew, really believe in me? Do you really understand that you're not a dog? That you too are God's child? I don't think he was accusing her of being a dog, I think he was saying what she was really thinking in her heart of hearts: "This man will not help me because he is a Jew. He will write me off as a Gentile and as a woman and let my child suffer."

"But he's my last hope so I will ask him anyway."

I love her answer: "Even the dogs eat the crumbs from the children's table." She is not deterred by his rudeness. She is not thrown off because his reaction is what she expected. I think she heard the laughter in Jesus' voice. I think she knew she'd come to the right person. I think she knew he was inviting that response.

That blows me away. That Jesus could know us so well. Could know all of our cynicism and doubts and turn it around and make us acknowledge what we've known all along - we really are his. No one else's but his. All he's waiting for is for us to come running.