‘Crumbs’ and ‘fringes’
Mathew 15:21-28
In the Gospel of Mathew Chapter 15, a woman comes after him shouting almost yelling asking for a cure for her daughter. Jesus walks straight forward without even a glance at her. The disciples try to silence the woman. She is a nuisance to their tranquil moments. She is a woman and a gentile. She has no right to make such a fuss.
The disciples urge Jesus, “to send away the woman”. The only way to do that according to them is, “to give her what she wants.” But Jesus argues, “I am sent only to the house of Israel.” By this time the woman has caught up with the group, and kneeling at Jesus’ feet she begs, “ Lord, help me.” Even this plea seems to fall on deaf ears. Jesus again has an argument in defense of his inaction, “It is not fair to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
If Jesus had made this remark in our modern day, perhaps he would have been sued for racist remarks. He has enough reasons to refuse her and up to this moment, he has been winning the debate. The woman is smart. She uses the very argument of the opponent to defeat him. She exposes the fallacy in his argument. She says she is not asking for bread, nor is she asking for a place at his table. She is asking for not even the crumbs on the table. She is asking for what is often reserved for the dogs, the crumbs that fall from the table.
Jesus is confused. His defense falls flat. Not even 'a 56-inch-chested man' can refuse a request for crumbs that fall from the table. Jesus gives way to her humility, persistence and faith. Accepting defeat Jesus says, “Woman, great is your faith. Let your wish be granted”. Jesus who was apparently cold, stubborn, and unconcerned, changes course of action when faced with persistence, humility, and great faith. If a Canaanite woman could win over him, how much more we, the children of the family. Ask for the crumbs that fall from the table we will obtain enough to feed five thousand. Ask for few drops of wine, and he will give you ‘up to the brim’.
The woman suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years considered herself unworthy to face Jesus and request for a cure. Unseen, unknown, unheard, and yet in the middle of a crowd, she struggled to touch ‘the fringe of his clothes’ She got what she wanted. Another gentile, the Centurion confessed, “ I am not worthy to have you under my roof’, and he too received what he wanted. Persistence, humility and great faith will win mighty blessings from God.
Like the Pharisee in the temple, the elder son, the labourers who worked the whole day under the sun, let us not insist on our ‘rights’ and ‘worthiness’. We have no rights with God. Like the Canaanite woman, like Bartimeus, like the prodigal son, we can only ask for ‘mercy’ and for the ‘crumbs’.
Lord, I am not worthy of the high places in heaven. I am not a St Paul, or a St. Benedict, or a Mother Teresa. I am not worthy to dine with you at your table. Let me live at least on the ‘outskirts’ and the ‘fringes’ of heaven and dine on the ‘crumbs’ that fall from your table.
-Fr TVGeorge sdb
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