**Disclaimer** I do use derogatory language to make my point, not to offend anyone...
Before I talk about What Jesus is doing in the story of the Canaanite woman, or what Jesus is doing for me in this story, I want to start with the Canaanite woman herself. She is one of my heroes! Let us for a second let her take center stage in this narrative. Here SHE is, a gentile, “the other”, who, out of unabandoned love for her own daughter, approaches the Jewish Rabbi. She comes up to this Rabbi and she asks for him to have mercy on her and to rid her daughter of this evil spirit that has taken over her. He does not answer her. He does not even acknowledge her presence. Not only is this man a Jewish Rabbi, he is surrounded by his Jewish disciples, who quite frankly, are being assholes about her presence. “She can’t be here! Get this crazy woman away from us! Why is a Canaanite woman approaching us? Jesus, do something! Anything! She is yelling crazy things. We don’t need her here! We don’t want her here!” And for some reason, the Rabbi says, “woman, I am not here for you. I am here for Israel.” But she presses forward. She does not relent. She recognizes something in the Rabbi, and in a worshipful act, she kneels before him and pleads, “Lord, I need your help.” I can hear the desperation in her voice. She is helpless and the Rabbi is the only place she has left to go. Desperation leads her to do the unthinkable. Desperation leads her to break traditional racial and gendered boundaries and to insert herself into the midst of these Jewish men. The Rabbi, who I would think should be moved by compassion, looks upon the kneeling woman and tells her that that what he has is for his own. It is not for her, the pagan, the gentile, the Canaanite, the “other.” She is nothing but a Bitch and she is not even deserving of his children’s food. This is when I think I would have run away. This is when I think I would have been like, “you know what? I am done with this Rabbi. This is not even worth it!” Yet, to her, it was completely worth it! She was here not for herself, but for her daughter. This is why she is my hero. She looks at the Rabbi and gives it back to him. “I may be a Bitch, but bitches like me have eaten crumbs that have come from the children’s tables.”
What just happened?
Did this woman, this outsider, this unwelcome one in the midst of Jewish men, just talk back to the Rabbi? In a move that could have proved costly and gotten her killed in some circles, this woman busted through boundaries that existed to keep her out. This woman looked into the Rabbi’s eyes and said, you may not want me here, but I am here, and I need you, and I will not give up! The Rabbi finally gives in. The Rabbi even does the unthinkable as he grants this beautiful, unrelenting, passionate, woman her wish. He heals her daughter and acknowledges the fact that she had great faith. This woman is my hero because she, an outsider, was moved by LOVE, to help her daughter, a possessed girl, and she did not hesitate to break boundaries to seek wholeness and healing from this Rabbi who had been known to perform miracles before. This Canaanite woman, who herself was a marginalized person, acted on behalf of another marginalized person, and busted through boundaries to seek healing. She was not deterred when the disciples made it known that her presence was a nuisance. She did not deter when the Rabbi called her a derogatory name. She pushed forward and she persisted! She broke down racial and gendered barriers in the name of love. She persisted in the midst of seeming hate, and in the end, the Rabbi granted her the request she had brought before him.
She is my hero because I want to be her. In our churches we have seen so many people marked as “other” because of their race, their economic status, their gender, their sexuality, their ethnicity, and we have seen religious leaders and their followers be downright hateful and call them names such as, “Nigger, Bitch, Wetback, Faggot, Poor white trash” and many of us have backed down. Why? It is hard to face these realities in the church. People who are called to wholeness and healing calling us these names? It is easier to run away then to try to break down barriers. But the Canaanite woman did not back down. She did not run away. She kept on pressing this Rabbi and his followers until the Rabbi saw in her the sacred worth that comes along with being created by the Divine Creator. It was her courage that won the day. It was her courage that should move us. Yes the Rabbi declared that her daughter was healed, but it was only because of her persistence, love, and desperate abandon. Yes the Rabbi would eventually break all the powers of evil in the world, and he would claim final victory over sin and death, but right now, I am appealing to the Canaanite woman. Why? Because she is my hero in this story.
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