One part of Singapore’s national pledge makes us
promise to seek to be one united people regardless of race. Rightly so! And no
one should take racial tension and harmony lightly. If not well handled, a
racial riot can spark off anytime. We all have read about racial disharmony in
different parts of the world. Haven’t we? Leaders all over the world voice the
sentiment that all human must be treated equally regardless of race or color.
And most people have a strong aversion towards racism. It’s something that many
cannot tolerate, much less our Lord. Then, why did the Lord not help someone in
need just because she came from a different race? Why did He pass a racist
remark, referring to Gentiles as dogs? It seems like He was practicing
something many loath. Before we go way off, we need to re-calibrate our
bearing. The Lord’s initial response was an issue of the time table of God and not
the race.
We must know that Jesus’ primary mission was not just
to be a traveling doctor going everywhere to heal people. His coming was to
fulfil the will of the Father, to fulfill what was promised through the law and
the prophets. His specific calling, revealed to us earlier in Matthew 10:5-6,
was first to the lost sheep of Israel. That was where He sent His disciples to
then. Israel needed to know first that the promise that God made to them was being
fulfilled. The Kingdom they had yearned for was now in sight. Jesus came to
proclaim it and some, especially the disciples, must have realized by then that
He was truly their long awaited anointed King and Messiah. His message must
first go to Israel, otherwise it would imply that God had made a mistake in
choosing and calling Israel to be His special people. The New Testament
constantly reminds us that God has a special relationship with the people of
Israel. It was the Israelites that God had assigned to show the world that He
alone is God. If the world was to experience the new life God had promised, the
message must come through Israel. God must not be discredited and seen as not
keeping His word. So Jesus and His disciples did not go haphazardly into all
the world before God’s purpose in Israel had been fulfilled. He wasn’t being
racist. At this point, the time of the Gentiles had not arrived yet.
In Jesus' ministry, much of some future hope seems to break
into the present. Although His program was first to reach Israel yet time and
again we see the Gentiles being touched. Take for example, the centurion and
his ailing servant whom Jesus healed, recorded in Matthew 8. Now we have this Canaanite woman with a need. Jesus
and His disciples were in the region of Tyre and Sidon. His fame must have
preceded Him. So that the Syrophoenician woman came beseeching Him, seeking help
for deliverance for her ailing demon-possessed daughter. She even used the
title assigned to Israel’s Messiah – Son of David - to addressed the Lord. Jesus did not do a thing at
first for His mission was, as we know, still to the lost sheep of Israel first.
His disciples wanted to send this woman away but she refused to be denied. She
came bowing down with her sincere plea for help. “Lord, help me!” she pleaded.
Jesus told her that it was not time yet to give what is rightly Israel’s
portion to Gentiles. The word “dogs” is not meant to be derogatory. At least not in how the Lord used it. It was a
term used to refer to the Gentiles. The reply of that woman made her request
undeniable even if it was not time for the Gentiles. What she was saying to the
Lord was, even if it was not time to eat from the plate, as dogs, they could
pick up the crumbs that fell from the Master’s table. Her extraordinary faith
broke through. Jesus stepped out of God’s program long enough to give her what
she requested.
What do we make out of all these? Do we have a need
concerning our future and we must come to the Lord in prayer and faith
now? Do we have such a tenacious faith
and no matter how epic a proportion our crisis may be, we come with a stubborn
prayer that refuses to be denied?
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