“Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’ But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she cries out after us.’ But He answered and said, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” —Matthew 15:21-24
In these days of tearing down statues of leaders who represented some of the worst in us (and likely some of the best in us too) are being destroyed because these people were flawed by some form of racism. Now, the notion of tearing down statues of Jesus Christ is beginning to gain traction. The issue seems to be that Jesus is often erroneously depicted as a white man.
But, what about Jesus’ character? Was he flawed with any prejudices or bigotry?
I love Jesus and I love his character for so many reasons. I love him for what I know to be his kind and gentle nature. I particularly love him for his willingness as God to come down to be amongst us as a man without judging us for our failures, but intent on saving and restoring us.
Jesus reached out in love to young, old, male, female, rich, poor, religious, irreligious, black, white, Jew and Gentile. I believe that there was not a prejudiced bone in his body. Yet, there is an episode in the Gospels that initially caused me some concern. Was Jesus behaving with prejudice and bigotry toward another human?
Was Jesus a Racist and a Bigot?
In Matthew 15:21-28, we find Jesus departing with the disciples from Jerusalem and heading northwest toward the coastal region of Phoenicia and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. They are nearing the end of their journey when a Phoenician (Gentile) woman rushes toward them screaming for help. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But Jesus just stays silent.
What? Jesus looks to be ignoring her and letting his disciples fend off this irritating woman. Even though they ignore her, she keeps crying out to the growing annoyance of the disciples. They finally come to Jesus urging him to tell her to go away and stop bothering them.
What does Jesus do? He agrees and declares, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He’s basically saying, “Yeah, you guys are right. Leave us alone woman! We didn’t come for you. I only came for the house of Israel.”
I’m stunned by Jesus’s prejudicial lack of compassion. But wait, the woman now prostrates herself in front of Jesus to stop him and pleads further for his help. Certainly, this is where Jesus will respond to her worship of him?
But, no! Now Jesus only appears to be at the end of his patience and answers her saying in essence, “Look, it’s not good to give to the dogs what should be for my children.”
My eyes bulge! Wow! He is not only rejecting her as a Gentile, but it sure sounds to me like he is degrading her, calling her a dirty, filthy stray mongrel dog, consistent with the common prejudice of Jews towards Gentiles.
But Jesus is supposed to be better than that!
But, this irritating woman won’t stop, and she responds, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Okay, True. But so what? To me, this is not much of a compelling argument.
At this point I imagine Jesus and the disciples’ kind of waving their hands at the woman saying, “Yeah, right. Go away. There are no crumbs here for you, you dirty dog” as they go to complete their journey.
But, Jesus seems actually impressed with her last statement. Based on the woman’s weak argument he does a complete 180 and answers her by saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And at that very hour, her daughter was healed.
I should be excited or at least relieved but, even in light of Jesus honoring her faith with a miracle, Jesus has engaged in 4 forms of bigotry by:
- Being Complicit – While others are engaging in bigotry, he is complicit by staying silent.
- Lacking Empathy – He ignores her needs because she is deemed “unworthy”
- Overt Bias – Jesus blatantly declares his people’s superiority over others as inferiors.
- Being Degrading – Dehumanizing another human being by referring to them as animals.
Wow! Who is this guy, and what have you done with my sweet Jesus?
Tucked In and Lamps Burning 