Jesus on a Learning Curve
August 13, 2005 – 4:49 pm | by Duncan Macleod
Jesus left and went to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon.
Suddenly a Canaanite woman from there came out shouting, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is full of demons.” Jesus did not say a word. But the woman kept following along and shouting, so his disciples came up and asked him to send her away. Jesus said, “I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep.” The woman came closer. Then she knelt down and begged, “Please help me, Lord!” Jesus replied, “It isn’t right to take food away from children and feed it to dogs.” “Lord, that’s true,” the woman said, “but even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.” Jesus answered, “Dear woman, you really do have a lot of faith, and you will be given what you want.” At that moment her daughter was healed.Matthew 15: 21-28 (Contemporary English Version)
This could be a disturbing story.
On the one hand is the thought that Jesus could be so rude. From the perspective of the worldview I’m in, Jesus comes across here as parochial, xenophobic almost. But so does the dominant culture in which Jesus lived. There was a sense of God’s favour resting on the chosen people only. Other people are seen as dogs, unclean outsiders.
Some might say that Jesus here is just testing the woman, to see if she has enough faith to break through the cultural barriers that would prevent her from experiencing God’s grace.
On the other hand is the possibility that Jesus is on a learning curve. He’s been confronted by someone who takes him at his word and now challenges him to be consistent. After all Jesus has been talking about purity coming from inner attitudes rather than outward cultural habits.
What I see here is the dynamic exploration of his mission. It reminds me of the emergence of calling portrayed in The Last Temptation of Christ, in which Jesus starts off with the angry prophetic approach shared with John the Baptist. He moves on to the development of the importance of loving relationships. Finally he discovers the call to walk towards the cross.
Dynamic discovery of mission challenges the expectation that Jesus was inerrant and infallible. If we run with Jesus being without sin we have to think carefully about what we mean by that. Jesus would have learnt from experience like anybody else. As a child he would have stumbled as he learnt to walk. As a carpenter he would have gradually improved in competence. As a preacher he would have developed his skills of communication, learning from responses in the crowd.
Of course the good news here is that Jesus is prepared to work cross culturally. He’s open to dialogue. He’s able to honour faith from anyone, no matter what ethnic background they come from. He’s prepared to break out of the classic expectations around what he will do and with whom he will relate.
Take a look at Darren Wright’s post on “The Thing About Dogs“.
