1986 - john p. meier - matthew 15.21-28
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8/13/2019 1986 - John P. Meier - Matthew 15.21-28
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http://int.sagepub.com/content/40/4/397.citationThe online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/002096438604000407
1986 40: 397InterpretationJohn P. Meier
28Matthew 15:21
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Expository Articles
Interpretation
elaborate upon this extraordinary truth which prophetic insight gave to
the world:Themeaning oflife isdiscernible notfrom something within
life,or from within human history, but only from theGod who createdit!
JOHN P. MEIER
Associate ProfessorofNew Testament
The Catholic University of America
Matthew 15:21-28
TO THETHEOLOGIAN or pastor exploring the theme of Chris
tianity and world religions, Matthew's accountof theencounterbe-
tween Jesusand theCanaanite woman hardly seems promising. After all,
the story starts with Jesus the Jew brushing offa pagan woman becausehis
mission is restricted to aJewish Israel. What this could possibly say to
Christianity's relation to world religions today is at best unclear. "Relevant" applicationsofthe text strain themost ingeniousof hermeneutical
imaginations. Yetbiblical hermeneutics does notconsist of findingor
inventingone-for-one correspondences; those rarely, if ever, exist.
Hermeneutics is possible because, by the light of faith, believers can
perceive surprising structural similaritiesindifferent encounters between
human need anddivine graceeven across thegaping chasmofcultural
shifts. Granted, in15:2128 Matthew obviouslydidnot intend totreatthe
modern problem of Christianity's relation to world religions.Yet the
theologian who approaches this story with thecontemporary problem inmind andwho watchestheenco unter between Christand thepagan with
open eyes comes away witha newvision.
But first things first: All hermeneutical projects, however grand, begin
with listening to thetexton its ownterms andwith its ownstruc tures.
Indeed, the structure Matthew has devised for 15:2128 is most in-
triguing. As is well known, Matthew's miracle stories tend to boil downthe
narrativeto asingle encounter between the petitioning wordofthe person
in need and the healing word of Jesus .InMatthew 15:2128, however,the
verbal encounter occurs four times, for particular structural and theological reasons. Scholars often point to the "law of threes" in biblical
narrative. In theparable of the Good Samaritan, for example, thereare
precisely three personswho come upon thevictim; theaudience instinc
tively knows that the climax will occur the third time round. Only with this
lawofthrees inmind can weappreciate thestructureofMatthew's story.
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The audience senses that the woman will get three chances: "Three strikes
and you' re out!" But God is not held to the rules of narrative any more than
he is held to the rules of theology. Divine grace supplies a fourth time at
bat. The four verbal encounters thus give our story an extraordinary
structure and an extraordinary theological insight.
(1) The story begins with the initiative ofJesus, as he withdraws to the
pagan regions of Tyre and Sidon. Yet, strangely, the tension in the rest of
the story springs fromJesus'refusal to take any initiative when it comes to
the natural result of his action: encounter with a pagan. It is rather the
Canaanite woman who seizes the initiative by "coming out" (symbolically?)
from "those [pagan] regions" to plead with Jesus. In a sense, the woman
already has three strikes against her before she even starts: She is a
woman; she is the mother of a demoniac; and worst of all she is a pagan
Canaanite, a member of the ancient enemy of Israel, the indigenous
people of Canaan who fought Israel over its inheritance in the Promised
Land. Still, for all her handicaps, the woman is not shy about shouting he r
need. Th e first verbal enco unter begins with her cry of "Lo rd" and "Son of
David." In Matthew, "Lord" is addressed to Jesus only by true believers,
and "Son of David" is used by the marginalized of society, the no-accounts
who recognize the Messiah of Israel, whom the leaders of Israel reject. The
woman knows full well that her insight of faith gives her no claim on the
Jewish Messiah; all she can do is beg for mercy for her tormented daugh
ter. From the reader 's point of view, the woman has a lot going for her, but
the three strikes against her seem to carry more weight with a disturbingly
hard-hea rted Christ. Jesus refuses the verbal encounter ; he speaks not a
word in reply. His first rebuff is silence.
(2) The second verbal encounter arises out of the initiative of theofficious disciples. They are annoyed with the woman's persistent cry of
faith; so, just to get rid of her, they presume to tell Jesus to grant her
request (this seems to be the sense of "send her away"). This time, Jesus
deigns to speak, but it is a word of rebuff. God has sent him on a mission
restricted to his own people Israel, who have all gone astray like lost
sheepno more so than in their refusal to recognize the Son of David.
Faced with the urgency of his mission, Jesus cannot transgress the limits set
by the Father's plan of salvation. His second rebuff is theology.
(3) As the third verbal encounter begins, the audience senses that theclimax is now being reached. Persisting in the face of discouragement, the
woman of faith "comes" to Jesus and "worships" him (proskyne, a favorite
Matthean verb for the proper act of reverence towardJesus). She repeats
her petition with heart-rending simplicity: "Lord, help me." Like the
Psalmist, she is at the end of her rope. Surely now, importuned by a third
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ExpositoryArticles
Interpretation
request, Jesus will relent and show compassion. The audience is as disap-
pointed as the woman when Jesus smashes the law of threes and adds the
insult of a racial slur to the injury of turning a deaf ear. He repeats the
excuse of his limited mission, but now in the form of a harsh parable. He
tells the pagan that the bread of his healing and teaching ministry is meant
only for God's children, the Israelites; he may not waste it by tossing it
thoughtlessly to the "dogs" (aJewish epithet for pagans). Th e story seems
toend in disaster: The woman of faith is bereft of her request an d an aloof
Jesus is bereft of compassion. His third rebuff is sheer insult. The reade r isleft bewildered.
(4) That is where it should endby the law of threes. But a genuine
encounterof hu ma n faith with divine mercy can pu t an end to all ends and
limits, however sacred they may be to either theology or narrative criti-
cism. That is what "eschatology" is all about. This extraordinary woman of
persistent faith shows herself to be a woman of wit and humor aswell.She
deftly takes up the gauntlet of the parable cast down by Jes us and tur ns it
toher advantage. "Yes,Lord,"shesays, replying to insult with politeness as
wellas with faith and humility (cf. Matt. 5:3842!). "I accept your viewatleast for the sake of argumentthat I am a pagan dog when compared to
the privileged children of Israel, my masters. And I acknowledge that I
have no right to snatch bre ad out of the children's hands. But, after all,
even the dogs lying under the table are allowed to nibble the unwanted
scraps that haphazardly fall from their masters' table." The woman boldly
engages Jesus in a game of wits, matching mashal with mashal; and her
faith, spiced with determination and humor, trumps the Lord. Yet Jesus
hardly seems dismayed by the outcome. The reader comes to realize that
this whole verbal duel has displayed the maieutic method by which Jesus
has led this woman up four steps to the heights of faith, a faith that can
transcend the barriers of race, religion, and even the set periods of
salvation history. At the end of Matthew's Gospel, after the deathresur-
rection,Jesus willindeed tear down the barriers he affirms in 10:56and
15:24 by sending his disciples to all nations, but the desperate need of this
woman cannot wait. Her impatient faith leaps the barriers of time and
religious groups to touch directly the healing power of Christ. Salvation
history was made for man, not man for salvation history.HenceJesus' final
cry is one of approval and praise, not of weariness and defeat : woman,
great is your faith!" It is such irregular, unlawful, but allpowerful faith
that can bring healing to a possessed humanity, even if it ignores the
"proper channels" for coming to Christ.
By now, our unpromisi ng pericope has begun to show promiseeven
for such an "ungospel like" theme as Christianity and world religions. To
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Start with, the notably different roles of Jesus and his disciples suggest akey distinction in our hermeneutical reflections on this story. When one
speaks of the exclusivity of the claims of the Christian religion, one must
carefully distinguish between Christ and his church. The true exclusivity
lies in the person and the role of Jesushe is the one mediator between
God and humanity (I Tim. 2:5); no one comes to the Father except
through him (John 14:6). He alone can grant healing to the well-disposed
pagan standing before him. It is imp ortant to remember that this exclusive
claim about Christ was not hammered out by the early Christians in
ignorance of the other great religious movements around them. The
first-century Mediterranean world presented a smorgasbord of religions
and cults, from the high ethical monotheism of Judaism to the lowest
pagan magic and self-mutilation. Over against all of its competitors, the
church consciously and deliberately proclaimed the unique role of Jesus
Christa theological obsession that struck most pagans as odd. To be sure,
the church in the twentieth century has gained much wider knowledge
and sympathetic appreciation of non-Christian religions. This in itself isa
grace, not least because such widened horizons can deepen the church's
understanding of God's workings in the world, both in and apart from the
church. Still, none of this changes the church's basic faith-affirmation that
just as there is one God (the monotheism of the Shema'), so there is one
mediator (the Christology of the creed). To replace that confession with a
"broad-minded" syncretistic smorgasbord is not to reinterpret Chris
tianity but to replace it with a new gnosticism. It isJesus, and Jesus alone,
who brings the fullness of God's healing to humanity. Christianity rises or
falls on the centrality of God and the finality of Christ: Shema' and creed.
The exclusive claim of Christ does not, however, entail an equally
exclusive claim by his churchthough the church is constantly tempted to
arrogate to itself the unique and indispensable role ofJesus.The disciples
officiously try to act as middlemen between the pagan and her Lord, only
to be dismissed by Jesus. (Notice how the disciples disappear from the rest
of the story; they are neither wanted nor needed by either party in the duel
of wits.) Jesus is quite capable of dealing with the pagan woman directly.
After all, it is he, not the disciples, who is the object of the pagan's trust and
prayer.
Granted, we cannot draw facile present-day lessons from a unique past
situation in which Jesus was physically present and the church was not yet
established. But the church must constantly remind itself that it is de
pendent on Christ, and not vice versa. If Jesus is reallyKyrios, then he is
Lord of all the world and of all men and women. The church is the special
locus of his lordship in the sense that the church alone explicitly and
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Expository Articles
Interpretation
knowingly acknowledges, worships, and obeys him as Lord. Yet Jesus
exercises his lordship over all men and women, whether they are aware of
it or not, whether they like it or not, and whether the official (not to say
officious) church is on the scene or not. The Lord is free to lavish his grace
and mercy on whom he wills (cf. Rom. 9:1516). If he sees fit, he can
sanctify pagan hearts and draw them close to himself, using whatever
"natural sacrament" or elements of pagan religion he chooses. This is what
it means to be Lord: to be sovereign in bestowing grace, both in and
outside the church . Th e church is Christ's special ins trument in the world,
but not his only one.
This is not to say that the church must not pursue her mission of
evangelization with zeal. The Matthew who shows us Jesus dispensing with
his disciples as he interacts with a pagan is also the Matthew who presents
the risen Lord commanding those same disciples to undertake a universal
mission (Matt. 28:1620). To be sure, in ways hidden from our eyes,Jesus
may continue acting to save sincere pagans apart from the church's
preaching of the gospel. We hope it is so; we pray it is so; but, of course, we
have no way of knowing it is so with complete certi tude. What we do know
from the New Testament is tha t the risen Lord wills the myriad divisions of
mankind to be overcome in one visible family of God, with one baptism,
one code of discipleship, and one Lord acknowledged openly by all his
people in his church. He who is de facto Lord of all refuses to be hailed as
such without the preaching of weak, inadequate disciples like ourselves.
The Word still insists on becoming flesh, however inefficient that pro
cedure may be.
Some claim that it is imperialistic of the church to persist in its universal
mission, as though it were some international conglomerate intent on a
hostile takeover of other religious corporations. Such a haughty, imperi
alistic attitude can beand has beena serious error in the church's
missionary activity. At times, silence, theology, and insult have become
Christian weapons in the encounter with non-Christians. Yet true mission,
true servanthood to the nations, is anything but imperialistic. Imagine, for
a moment, what would happen if the church fully succeeded in carrying
out the great commission of Matthew 28:1620, if the church so perfectly
reflected the measureless mercy of the Son of David that it drew all nationstoitself. Imagine Canaanites and Israelites, or Arabs and Jews, or all Asia
and Africa united in the one family of God. Wouldcouldthe church
look anything like it does today, with bureaucratic and theological lead
ership still very much entrenched in the first world? Would not Christian
liturgy and lifestyle undergo a sea change, as billions of Asian and African
Christians had their proper say and impact in the one church of Christ? If
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the great commission is ever fulfilled, it will mean not the imperialistic
triumph of the present form of the church but rather its death, followed by
the resurrection of a genuine world-church, catholic in a sense we can
hardly dream of. The one thing that would remain the same would be the
church's Lord: the Son of David who is the same yesterday, today, and
forever (Heb. 13:8). He is already at work in Tyre and Sidon; we obtuse
disciples have yet to catch up.
LEANDE R E. KEC K
Dean and Professor of Biblical Theology
Yale Divinity School
Romans1:1823
C
OULD ANYTHING in the New Testament be more negative and less
promising for a consideration of "Christianity and World Religions"than this paragraph? Paul on Mars Hill is much more congenial, claiming
that the God he proclaims is the one other people grope toward (Acts
17:2231). There he assures his "pagan" hearers that God has in fact
overlooked "the times of ignorance" prior to Christ and the gospel, but
here he opens with a salvo about God's wrath aimed at everybody, an d goes
on to assert that "their senseless mind was darkened." Scarcely the sort of
opening one would use at an inter-faith dinner! Did the Editorial Board, in
planning this issue, choose the wrong passage? Hardly. What this passage
can contribute to the theme should not be underestimatedan alternativeto both a self-serving sense of superiority and a forfeiture of a distinctly
Christian understanding of the human condition.
Receiving this contribution requires us to distinguish Paul's agenda
from what is often our own. Indeed, it is far from evident that he would
have understood "Christianity and World Religions." For him it was rather
Judaism and the plethora of Hellenistic gods worshipped in diverse ways,
the great religions of South and East Asia being unknown to him. More
over, there was not yet a "Christianity"a self-defined religion with its
own distinct symbol system, rites "for all seasons," canon, clergy, andsanctuaries for worship.
Paul is far up-stream, too near the headwaters, to underst and what
"Christianity and World Religions" entails. Nonetheless, what he said
about the religions he did know deserves careful consideration precisely
because of the standpoint from which he said it.
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