Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense 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. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that 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, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.” Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” 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.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment. (Matthew 15:10-28, NRSVue)
I have always had issues with this text, and any way you smooth it over is taking away from the fact that Jesus called the woman a dog. Jesus plainly calls the woman a dog because she is not a part of the in people. And when you say it was not meant to be derogatory, that simply does not explain it away. Oh, Jesus did not mean that. So that just means any time I say something that offends someone, I can just say, “Oh, I did not mean it that way”, and that makes it all better. No, it does not.
Jesus called her a dog, and that is inexcusable.
Jesus did heal her after she snapped back at his derogatory comment because she was not having it. She spoke truth to power and showed that inclusion is what is needed.
Do not give Jesus a pass here. He just told the disciples it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles, and then he shows it in action. He defiles himself by succumbing to the ways of society and was put in his place.
Do better.
aSacredRebel 