researching theology . celebrating diversity

A Pushy Woman and Other Outcasts

an exegesis of Matthew 15:21-28

a study by Wal Anderson B.A., B.Ed., B.Th.

After locating the story in Tyre and Sidon, which narratively signals Jesus' entry into Gentile territory,(1) the woman approaches Jesus. She is identified as "Canaanite," a people and religion to be avoided by the Israelites (eg. Gen 24:3; Ex 23:23; Deut 20:17), which suggests that the boundary that separates Jews and Canaanites is at issue here.(2) The literary associates, gunè, Chananaía, and daimonídsetai, reinforce the separation from Jesus, the woman being unclean on three counts, as a woman, as a Canaanite and by association with a daemon. The woman's very manner, in shouting, suggests that she may be possessed, too. From this extremely disadvantaged position, she makes a petition on her own behalf, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon."

Jesus ignores her. Of this action, Elaine Wainwright comments:

"The opening phrase of v. 23 ... is one of the most radical 'boundary-stressing' phrases in any miracle story within the gospels and it magnifies for hearers of the story their sensitivity to the opposition that the supplicant must overcome."(3)

Immediately she is given a second rebuff by the disciples. Interestingly, the disciples recommend sending the woman away but their very words, "Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us", forms a second petition on her behalf! In the action and words of the disciples we may see the vacillating actions or experiences of Matthew's own community. Are women and Gentiles to be rejected or involved out of compassion? As Matthew follows the double rebuff with Jesus' words regarding "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," the woman and her plight is contrasted with that of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." By looking closely at the woman, we may uncover more regarding "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and their concerns.

The woman is alone. She is outside of the home, which is a significant Matthean redaction of the Markan text. A lone woman, boldly confronting a man in the street, suggests that the woman may be "suspect." Her behaviour is typical of prostitutes, a female group that also crosses the boundaries of male-female relationships and approaches a social position a little more equal to that of men.(4) In this she is an extreme example of those who may seek to enter the community of faith, if the attention of that community is directed from within its own household boundaries to the open fields of the public domain. The woman's petitioning of Jesus is a sign of seeking to share the blessings and promises of the kingdom. She represents both the potential for the entry of outsiders into the kingdom and the risks involved.(5)

The woman's address to Jesus, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon," carries a significant liturgical connotation, with clear references to Jewish traditions and to Scripture.(6) She has also taken the initiative, crossing power boundaries and demonstrating the power of crossing those boundaries, for Jesus eventually answers her. In this way the issues of women's power and participation are raised, as significant issues for Matthew's community.

From verse 25 to 27, the theme of separation is maintained. The woman adopts a submissive, dog-like role and "kneels" before Jesus,(7) repeating her liturgical cry, "Lord, help me." Jesus replies with a distancing wise remark, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." The women's quick rejoinder picks up the nuances of the bread, as crumbs that fall(8) from the masters' table, and so persists in including herself in the eschatological banquet (or the Lord's Supper). In so doing she associates herself with signs of being included in the kingdom.

Matthew's account of Jesus' response is immediate. He pronounces, "Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done to you as you wish." Her faith gains her wish. However, the story has a very powerful impact, for not only has this outcast woman got her wish but she has successfully crossed the barriers of gender identity and engaged a dominant male in a theological exchange and matched him. She even managed to associate herself with the eschatological ingathering of the faithful ones. In so doing she has reversed the distance under law that marked her worthy of being ignored at the beginning of her approach to Jesus. All of this was won by persistent faith.

With the story of the Canaanite woman, Matthew's concern goes beyond validating his community's mission among Gentiles, to include a legitimation of women's roles in liturgy, theological reflection and leadership. The Canaanite woman's story tells of a lone woman crossing the barriers of gender, race, ethnicity, religion and social status, to approach, confront and engage Jesus in an attempt to enter into the blessings that she perceives as being available to her. In this, she becomes the paradigmatic mother of all outsiders, who seek a place within the mercy of the kingdom of God.

It is significant that this story of Gentile faith in Jesus is not the only incident that presents such an example.(9) Significant bearers of faith are shown in the faith of the women in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:1-16), in the witness of the Magi (Matt. 2:1-12), in the faith of the Centurion on behalf of his youing slave (8:5-13) and in the faith of the guards at the crucifixion (Matt.27:54). Together with the stories of healing other ritually, unclean "outsiders," such as the leper (Mt. 8:2-3) and Peter's mother-in-law (Mt. 8:14-17), the texts can be understood as raising the consciousness of Matthew's Jewish-Christian community regarding the manner of approach to outsiders. In presenting Jesus as a model of how to deal with rank outsiders, Matthew paves the way for addressing four, hermeneutical issues that seem to be present in his community. These relate to what is means to be "insiders" or of the kingdom of God.

The first question, raises the issue of universality or openness of the kingdom's blessings and promises to all people, regardless of ethnic, religious, gender and social division. Essentially this is a concern for Gentiles and their eventual participation within the religious life of the community. In this, Matthew recognises the significance of relational questions that are raised for Jewish Christians, in embracing Gentiles within the reign of God. Matthew identifies faith and movement towards Jesus, and recognition of Jesus' status and authority as Lord, as points of contact from which the possibility of inclusion may follow. As none of the examplars of Gentile faith are shown as becoming disciples or further followers of Jesus, beyond their one encounter, Matthew leaves the possibility of Gentile inclusivity within the rule of God as an open challenge to discipleship. To accept Gentiles as an integral part of the reign of God, leads to questions of overcoming the inner stumbling blocks of the community, itself.

This leads us to the second, hermeneutical question. Matthew15:21-28 focuses issues regarding the relational place of "outsiders who may become insiders" within the role of women in the religious life of the community within which the gospel took shape.(10) Traditional boundaries are crossed with such audacity, that the story confronts the patriarchal structures contained within the gospel and its community of origin.(11) Issues of women acting alone, outside of the family structures and without a male agent, are raised. Also, issues of women in liturgical leadership and of women in critical dialogue with men are raised.

The third question relates to interpreting the role of household or family within the inclusive vision of the rule of God that the gospel proposes.(12) The status of women, children, slaves anmd prostitutes is raised in relation to traditional Jewish notions of the patriarchal family. These stories signal that there are familial relationships, other than those of Jewish tradition, within which there are liberating expressions of love, mercy and faith that are life-giving and creative.

Fourthly, Matthew presents extreme views of Gentiles and women, to focus the most severe prejudices of the Jewish Christians (and Jews in general) regarding questions of inclusivity. Mercy, compassion and faith become the standards for radical inclusivity of Gentiles and women, which cross the boundaries of purity codes and Jewish, nomistic concerns. In this way, the texts served to instruct Matthew's own community, perhaps also attempting to shame them to greater faith and into doing Jesus' will (Mt 7:21-23).

This study uncovers radical texts of liberation for marginalised persons of faith, today, who may be excluded from participation by nomistic concerns of the religious people of our day. It shows faith and radical approach to Jesus as marks of inclusivity. It offers a vision of inclusivity for those who wrestle with what it means to be gay and Christian, or woman and Christian (or both). It shows how they also can cross boundaries and create new visions of inclusivity within the rule of God. In this they confront dominant and oppressive structures and cry for freedom, applying Matthew's stories as part of their inclusive hermeneutic. In this they also stand as inheritors of the questioning tradition that is contained in the early voice of Jewish Christianity, as, together they ask, "Who are my brothers and sisters?"

references:

1. Wainwright, Towards a Feminist Critical Reading of the Gospel according to Matthew, p.223; cf. Theissen, The Gospel in Context, pp. 66-67, where it is pointed out that Jews lived in the rural areas outside of the cities and Jesus was probably visiting Jews, and Saldarini, Matthew's Christian-Jewish Community, p.72, where it is stated that the territory is perhaps Jewish. Nevertheless, the narrative sense of Gentile territory or of a frontier or boundary relationship to Galilee is of importance here. It is Jesus who first crosses boundaries.
2. Saldarini, op. cit. p.73.
3. Wainwright, op. cit. p.230. The only other similar phrase relates to Jesus' silence before Pilate (Mt. 27:14; Mk 15:5).
4. Ibid. p.225.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.p. 226-227
7. The Greek word, prosekúnei carries the meaning of dog-like submission.
8. Is this a reference to manna from heaven, and a feeding in the wilderness? See Exodus 16:31-32
9. Saldarini, op. cit. p.72, interestingly, Saldarini lists only two stories as such accounts of Gentile faith, overlooking the faith of the women in the genealogy (Matt. 1:1-16), of the Magi (Matt. 2:1-12) and of the guards at the crucifixion (Matt.27:54).
10. Wainwright, op. cit. p. 217.
11. Ibid. p. 251.
12. Ibid. p. 355.

Boswell, John, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1980)

Gundry, Robert H., Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church under Persecution. 2nd Edition. (Eerdmanns, Grand Rapids. 1994.)

Kloppenborg, John S., Q Parallels. (Polebridge Press, Sonoma, 1988)

Saldarini, Anthony J., Matthew's Christian-Jewish Community. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1994).

Theissen, Gerd, The Gospels in Context: Social and Political History in the Synoptic Tradition. (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1991).

Wainwright, Elaine Mary, Towards a Feminist Critical Reading of the Gospel according to Matthew. (Walter de Gruyter Publisher, Berlin and New York, 1991)