The people of ancient Israel believed that they were God’s Chosen people; they were special and holy in God’s eyes. They were forbidden to associate with Gentiles. They were not to do business with them or even pass through their towns. And yet, we hear in all four of the Gospels that Jesus often associated with Gentiles. It was one of the many strikes against him by the time he was led out to the cross. But, it was also a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and clearly an essential aspect of God’s plan of salvation.
We see this in the reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah that we hear today. Speaking nearly six centuries before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied that the coming of the Messiah would bring about the hope of salvation for all, even for “foreigners who join themselves to the Lord.” While the Temple at Jerusalem was a house of worship only for the Jewish people, the Church that Jesus founded would be a “house of prayer for all peoples,” including the Gentiles – all those who previously did not know the one God or his son, Jesus Christ. We hear this very clearly at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus commands his disciples to “make disciples of all nations.”
In today’s passage from Matthew’s Gospel, we hear Jesus withdraw to Tyre and Sidon, two coastal town inhabited by Gentiles. And, he encounters a Canaanite woman – a Gentile. At first, it may seem as if Jesus is agreeing with his fellow Jews about their special, separate status. He doesn’t even acknowledge her presence and then he compares her to “dogs,” a common reference that the Pharisees used for the Gentiles. But, it is clear that Jesus does this only to test her faith as he engages in a testy back-and-forth conversation with her. This kind of conversation is still common among the people in the Middle East today. In doing this, Jesus stretches the imagination of his disciples. And, the woman shows that she is able to engage in such a conversation and that she believes that even she ─ a non-Jew, a Canaanite, a Gentile ─ is intended to share in the “scraps that fall from the table of their masters,” meaning that she believes that she, too, can be saved by the King of the Jews.
We see this same kind of stretching of the imagination in today’s second reading. Saul of Tarsus was an unlikely choice to become an Apostle of Jesus, let alone one who would pursue the conversion primarily of Gentiles. As a devout Jew and, in fact, a Pharisee, Saul would have considered Gentiles to be unclean, and would have condemned them. After encountering the risen Lord, however, Saul, now Paul, seeks the conversion of all people, including his fellow Jews and the Gentiles. As we hear him explain in today’s second reading, Israel’s rejection of Jesus opened the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles, and Paul is anxious for their inclusion in the newly formed Church.
Some people in Jesus’ day spent too much time highlighting differences among people and emphasizing the things that divide them. Some do the same today, sometimes with tragic results. Just look at what is happening in our own country in the debate about what we should do with the immigrants who come to our great country for a better life. Looking through the eyes of faith, we are called to see that all are called to be children of God. Just as we are all sinners, we can all be saved. Let us try to see one another as God does and be eager to love everyone and care especially for the needy as generously as Jesus did and to lead everyone back to God, who loves us all.