“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

 

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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:

1. Being Complicit – While others are engaging in bigotry, he is complicit by staying silent.
2. Lacking Empathy – He ignores her needs because she is deemed “unworthy”
3. Overt Bias – Jesus blatantly declares his people’s superiority over others as inferiors.
4. 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?

At this point I guess I should be saying, All right! Now, Jesus is finally behaving the way I would expect him to! I should be rejoicing, but I’m just more confused, and I’m not sure I even care that he has healed her daughter.

Jesus has acted so degrading, disrespectful, manipulative, and even seemingly disingenuous to this woman, making her grovel and beg in ways I have never seen Jesus do before that I’m left wondering, Why make this poor woman go through all this to test her in her faith and then finally do what he could have done with a word when she first called out to him, correctly recognizing him as Messiah?

So, here is our invitation to come and take a deeper look at what is going on—to know the Character of Jesus more intimately. Is this just a story about a woman’s persistence being rewarded with a miracle?

Let’s take a deeper look at what was going on before this episode in Matthew 15:7-20

Jesus and the disciples were back in Jerusalem ministering to the chosen people – the Jews. Jesus has yet another exchange with the Pharisees, this time over the disciples not ceremonially washing their hands before eating bread on the Sabbath. Jesus argues that that is not what is important.

The core of his teaching to the Disciples is found in Matthew 15:18 – “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”

Jesus is teaching them that the real issue is that we have a heart condition and that sinful condition is often revealed in what we say and do.

Another interesting element to this exchange between Jesus and his Disciples is that the Disciples don’t understand what Jesus is saying. The disciples not only defend the Pharisees but ask Jesus to explain his ‘parable.’

As we know, Jesus often spoke in parables but in this case he was just speaking plainly and the Disciples were not getting it. They thought he was talking in a mysterious parable. They aren’t getting the message to the point in Verse 16 Jesus says, “Are you also without understanding still?” using the Greek word Asunetos – for foolish or dull.

So, what did Jesus the rabbi/teacher do? He said to himself, “Come on. Let’s go up to the land of dirty gentiles and see where your heart is at.” That’s where we find Jesus engaging in a critical teaching moment with his Disciples and the Phoenician woman.

What is going on with the disciples throughout this exchange? What about their reaction to all of this? Where are their hearts? And why go through all these gyrations to finally respond in the way you would expect Jesus to have more immediately responded? Let’s take a look.

• When the woman approaches, why did Jesus stay silent?
  • Answer: To allow his Disciples to respond and reflect the condition of their heart. Did they beg for him to heal her? No, they begged him to send her away.
• Why did Jesus declare, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel?”
  • Answer: He was echoing the bigotry in the Disciple’s hearts. What Jesus said was true, but not to the exclusion of the rest of the human race.
• Why did Jesus denigrate her by calling her a dog?
  • Answer: The term used by Jesus was not what was used by the Jews to refer to dirty gentiles. It is a term referring to puppies. Phoenicia was a wealthy area known for living with great excess. The wealthy were more inclined to have pets that would sit at the feet of their masters. Jesus and the woman were engaging in an exchange about a loving master and his pets. Surely, there would be enough from the master’s excess to give crumbs to his beloved pets!
• What are the disciples doing during this exchange?
  • Answer: They are cheering Jesus on thinking that he shares the same prejudices that are in their own hearts.
• How did the woman exhibit great faith?
  • Answer: By believing in Jesus as Messiah and being unwavering in the belief in His goodness and power to heal. Also, Jesus was honoring her for her tremendous perseverance against such deep prejudice she knew she would be facing from these Jews but willing to risk for the love of her daughter.
• What was the likely reaction of the Disciples when Jesus suddenly turned the tables on them?
  • Answer: The ugly sin inside them was exposed—prejudicial, judgmental, un-compassionate, uncaring hearts. It was not that Jesus was behaving in that way; it was that he was teaching by allowing the disciples to expose their true hearts to themselves. They must have been stunned and awash with shame.

What a powerful lesson on the evil in our hearts and Jesus as our hope for spiritual heart surgery.

Who is this guy, Jesus? A bigot? No, Jesus was the God/man that cared enough to boldly expose the true darkness of our hearts. Jesus was not acting apart from the character of Christ – expressions of love, joy, peace, goodness, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. His behavior had more to do with teaching a lesson to his disciples while fully intending to lovingly respond to a request for healing as he always did.

So, did Jesus ever wrestle with cultural bigotry?

Hebrews 4:15 – For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted/tested as we are, yet without sin.

So, what does His victory over this temptation mean for us?

Hebrews 2:18 – For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted/tested, He is able to aid those who are tempted/tested.

So, we pray – Lord, take this time to show us the hidden evil in our hearts and change our hearts that we may be one/united with the ability to exhibit all your Power and Love to a world otherwise without hope.

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Suggested reading on racism and being “The Church” God intended for us to be – Oneness Embraced by Tony Evans

Excerpt from Oneness Embraced (p. 258):

“If the church is ever going to make an impact on society, we must realize that we are a part of an established kingdom where God makes the rules. He has given us authority in the earth, but we are only able to exercise that authority according to His rules. Escaping those rules is as impossible as escaping the effects of gravity. Just like there are natural laws that govern nature, there are spiritual laws that govern the spiritual world. If you jump out of a window, you’re going to crash to the ground. There’s no way around it. Likewise, if we try to do church individually rather than be the church collectively, we’re going to remain powerless and ineffective. This is because a preeminent rule for being the church is that we are one. That is foundational:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

“Only when the church embraces diversity across racial (Jew nor Greek), class (slave nor free man), and gender (male nor female) lines will we be the haven God designed us to be in a world of lost people in search of a Kingdom Embassy.”