Faith is a mystical, supernatural gift. It can be described as a commitment to God's revelation, His provision for bringing that revelation to life in His people. It does not yield easily to examination from our Western perspective, and modern teaching often mistakes the manifestations of faith as the thing itself. This is hardly new, for Jesus faced it often in His ministry.
The Covenant of the Law was never intended to save souls, but to exemplify faith as manifested within the circumstances of the Nation of Israel as they prepared to conquer and occupy the land God had promised through Abraham. Reading between the lines of Moses' books, we see a call to the soul to embrace God, a call for faith which transcends the mere rote provisions of ritual observance (1 Samuel 15:22-23). However, it was obvious to anyone most of Israel never got it. Thus, immediately after publishing the Covenant, Moses had to sit as judge over the endless disputes between Israelites. Very little of it required a word from God to zero in on the heart of the matter, and those few were recorded in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. The rest was a matter of keeping the peace according to the basic principles of Creation so the nation could survive as a means to revelation.
Of course, the wrangling did not end with Moses. It would be natural in the Semitic races to maintain an oral record of decisions based on the Law. Jewish tradition alleges a specific lineage of passing this oral body down through named individuals, including the likes of Joshua, Jeremiah, Ezra, Hillel, Gamaliel, and so forth until it was finally committed to writing after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. So in Jesus' day it was still mostly oral, and it's obvious He had been exposed to some of this material. Perhaps a portion of it really was the genuine tradition of the ancients, but very little of it seems to actually derive from faith. Most of it reflects a very worldly viewpoint, though perhaps nonetheless wise at times. In Jesus' day, this "tradition of the elders" had been elevated to reverence above the actual Law of Moses.
This was blasphemy, of course. When the Pharisees and Scribes raise the issue with Jesus regarding His disciples, that the men didn't observe the traditional ritual rinsing of hands before meals, it was no small thing in their eyes. So anxious were these men sent from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to compel obedience to this human tradition, they threatened transgressors with excommunication, giving them the status of heathens. Jesus responded in kind, showing how the same traditions were evil, a violation of faith and obedience to the plain meaning of the Law. The rabbin had developed a legal exception to the normal expectation adult children would provide support and comfort to their aging parents. It was a simple matter of declaring their property dedicated to God, via the Temple, as a trust. That is, a man could live comfortably on his wealth during his lifetime, but upon death it all passed to the Temple. This became an excuse to withhold support from family members, so as to preserve the maximum value of the estate, never mind the man might live high in the meantime. God would not accept on His altar the proceeds of crime, and this was criminal neglect. Jesus pointedly hammered His questioners as hypocrites, quoting from Isaiah about empty lip-service to the Law as a direct prophesy of the Pharisees and Scribes.
To punctuate His point, Jesus called the crowd to pay attention to an important lesson. He spoke in an epigram, a short pithy saying easy to remember. The point was hands which had not been blessed by this man-made ritual did not so defile the food as to defile the spirit of a man when he stands before God. This infuriated the examiners from Jerusalem. Jesus used an obvious parable to answer: God did not sponsor pious extensions of the Law of Moses, since that Law in itself was a poor shadow of God's true Law. Blind as the Pharisees were to God's revelation, their opinions didn't matter. Indeed, they did more harm than good. Yet, even this simple epigram, plain enough to anger the Pharisees, puzzled His disciples. Jesus clarified the matter by showing how evil was a matter of fallen human will -- Hebrew tradition referred to the heart as the seat of the will. They had it backwards, largely because of Talmudic teaching. God didn't care about dust on the hands, but judged filth in the heart.
However, it was wise to take a break and depart from the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin and take a vacation in the Roman district of Tyre and Sidon. While thus occupied, Jesus and His disciples were confronted by a Canaanite woman residing in that district whose daughter was demonized. Unlike the self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes, this woman was well aware of her dire need and to Whom she could go for salvation. At first Jesus gave her time to express her faith, no doubt as a means to teaching His disciples. When they complained of her noisome behavior, He turned and reminded her His mission was to "the lost sheep of Israel," not the lost sheep of other nations. She responded by falling at His feet and blocking further travel. His answer was a gentle parable about tossing the children's food to puppies. Jews had long used the term "dog" to describe just about anyone from a nation they despised, particularly the Canaanites they were supposed to have slaughtered or driven out of the land under Joshua.
Rather than bridle at the implied insult, her faith absorbed the parable and turned it around: Children were messy eaters. Were there not a few crumbs on the floor? She understood the rejection Jesus faced from His own people. She didn't want what was theirs, only what they rejected. Here we see faith in action, for only by faith can parables be understood and applied. It was a lesson the disciples. Jesus rejoiced at the courage her faith engendered, and granted her request. In another place, Jesus tells a parable of faithful persistence which sounds very much like this scene. She would not have dared carry things this far had not she been empowered by the Lord.
To press the teaching further, Jesus set up another test of faith. Finding a suitable place to hold another teaching and healing session, Jesus waited as the normal crowd gathered. They carried those in need of healing, and all were amazed at the problems Jesus could remedy. It was in part a response to their faith in bringing cases otherwise regarded as hopeless. Faith exercised cannot help but bring glory to our Lord.
However, they were in a remote place, and after three days of this it was time to consider other types of physical needs. Jesus explained the crowd needed food, because if He sent them away now, they would not be strong enough to make it home. A lot of good it does to heal people, then leave them to starve. He placed this quandary in their hands. Again they failed, for they were still looking at it from a worldly perspective, discussing food supply so far from farms or markets. Had they forgotten already, after the previous miraculous mass feeding? Jesus asked what they had on hand. What made a small snack for the group was enough, as before. Also as before, several thousand were fed, and there was enough left over the feed the disciples for a few days.
The highest law of the Kingdom of Heaven is faith. While Jesus and the Apostles taught it was best to obey the laws and customs when you could, by no means could they be equated with God's Law. As used by the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day, the Talmudic teachings were blasphemy, imparting spiritual blindness. It raised human traditions above God's Word. Faith trumped that tradition. Further, even the Law of Moses was merely an example, for the Canaanite woman's faith trumped that, as well. It was the Old Testament which required Jesus to restrict His earthly ministry to Israel, but which also permitted Him to respond to her faith. That faith trumped the very laws of nature, too. By faith were people healed of the most devastating conditions, and thousands were fed full from a snack. By faith in the hearts of people God shows He rises above human logic, and cannot be constrained by human understanding.
Return to Matthew
Index
[<-- Previous]
Ed Hurst
27 October 2007
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)