Would Jesus use an ethnic slur?

This week we are looking at an event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life that is recorded for us in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew where  Matthew gives us a front row seat to an event from history where Jesus invited someone to follow Him and live in relationship with Him. After having a confrontation with the self-righteous religious leaders of the day over His unwillingness to have His disciples follow their man-made rules, which we looked at last week, Jesus and His disciples withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Historically these two cities were enemies of the Jewish people. And because of the history of animosity and hostility between the Jewish people and these cities, Jesus traveled to this region to get away from the opposition that He was experiencing from the Jewish religious leaders of the day. Upon arriving near these cities, as Jesus and His disciples remained outside of the city, a Canaanite woman approached them to request that Jesus heal their daughter.

As a Canaanite, this would be a woman who was not Jewish ethnically or religiously. This woman, who was familiar with the Jewish religious system and their hope in a promise of a Messiah, called Jesus the Son of David. So this woman, fully aware of the history and animosity that existed between her descendants and the Jewish people, took the risk to approach

We looked on as Matthew explained that Jesus responded to her request with silence. Now for this Canaanite woman, this response would not have been that unusual, based on the history of the ethnic hostility and animosity that existed between the groups. The woman, however, responded by persisting in her request, which would have challenged the social and cultural expectations of the day. You see, this woman was prepared to suffer ridicule and rejection and even physical danger in order to bring her daughters need to the attention of Jesus.

Now, while Jesus listened to the woman, but failed to respond to the woman, the disciples had a much different response: "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." While Jesus listened to the woman, the disciples wanted nothing to do with the woman. Instead, they wanted Jesus to drive the woman away. Matthew tells us that Jesus responded to the disciples request by explaining, loud enough that the woman would have been able to hear, that "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Once again Jesus response would have been what would have been expected by a Jewish person to someone who was viewed as an enemy of a different ethnicity. This response would have challenged this woman as to why she was asking Jesus to do for her what she was asking Him to do. At this point, the disciples were hopeful that this woman would be on her way and leave them alone. However, that is not what happened, as we see in Matthew 15:25:

 But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

Instead of being on her way and leaving them alone, Matthew explained that this woman came closer to Jesus. And upon approaching Jesus, this woman bowed before Him and proclaimed, “Lord help me!” By using the word Lord, this woman was expressing her belief that Jesus had the power to do what she asked. This woman responded to Jesus silence and the disciples hostility by placing herself in perhaps the most vulnerable position possible in hopes that Jesus would do what she requested.

Now you might be thinking “Well Jesus is not being like Jesus here. I mean, after all, Jesus loves everyone, so why is Jesus being so indifferent and so unloving to this woman. I mean if Jesus was taking the test “what would Jesus do” in this situation, he would fail the test because he is not doing what Jesus would and should do.” Now if I have just described what is running through your mind; if you are here this morning and think Jesus is not being very Jesus like here, just look at what Jesus does next.

Because what Jesus does next is to respond to this woman’s persistence by making a statement that is one of the most shocking and stunning statements recorded in the entire Bible. As a matter of fact, the statement that Jesus makes next is so unlike Jesus that we may have a hard time wrapping our minds around the reality that Jesus would make such a statement. So let’s look at Jesus statement in verse 26:

 And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Matthew tells us that Jesus responded to this woman’s request by telling a parable: "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Now a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. To fully understand this parable, we first need to understand how Jewish people viewed dogs.

In the Jewish culture of the day, dogs were viewed as unclean animals that were not to be associated with. And in the Jewish culture of the day, Gentiles, like this Canaanite woman, were often derogatorily referred to as dogs. Jews often referred to Gentiles as dogs as an offensive ethnic slur. In our culture today, this would be similar to using the “n” word to describe a black person. The point that Jesus wanted to make unmistakably clear in this parable was that the children, i.e. Jewish people, were in a position of right and privilege, which the dogs, i.e. Gentiles like this Canaanite woman, cannot hope to share.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as this Canaanite woman. I want us to place ourselves in her shoes. You are this Canaanite woman. You have heard about this Jewish guy named Jesus. You have heard the word on the street that He teaches like no one else teaches. You have heard the word on the street that He can miraculously heal people who are sick or who are possessed by evil spirits. And your daughter, whom you love, is suffering greatly at the hands of an evil demonic spirit. And you know enough about the Jewish religious system to know that Jesus was doing the very things that their Messiah was predicted to be able to do.

So you approach Jesus and place yourself in the most vulnerable position possible, risking verbal abuse and even physical harm, in hopes that Jesus would heal your daughter. And how does Jesus respond to you? Jesus responds to you by refusing to answer your request and then calls you a dog. Jesus ignores you and then calls you an ethnic slur. You are the Canaanite woman. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond?

Now you might be thinking “surely Jesus would not have used an ethnic slur to disrespect this woman. Dave, you cannot be right. Jesus would never speak to someone in such a way.”  If that thought and question is running through your mind, here’s the thing: as much as you may want to sanitize Jesus words here, that is exactly what Jesus said. And we know that is the case because of how this woman responded to Jesus. Now this begs a second question, which is “Why? Why would Jesus say such a rude and disrespectful thing to this woman?”

Friday we will discover the answer to these questions in what the woman has to say next...