Norsk: Jesus din søte forening at smake
REFLECTION
The text for Pentecost 16 gives some readers the willies and drives preachers to other texts. Jesus is recorded as saying rather harsh things to this desperate woman. He was not sent to her, she is not part of his mission, is she like a dog? One might ask then why did he go to SyroPhoenicia? It was, for his people, the center of paganism. He very well knew he would be confronted in this way by needy people. And indeed he was.
There is an intense exchange between the woman who wants Jesus to heal her possessed daughter and Jesus. Her logic is impeccable and Jesus realizes that, so much that he changes his mind? That is tricky for many. As God, would Jesus not have known that? My favorite NT scholar Frederick Dale Brun argues that indeed Jesus learns that his mission is to the whole world from her. That is something of a shocking exegesis, but something does happen here. If the food should go to the people it is intended for, she says, one also has to remember that at great meals, crumbs drop to the ground and feed the family pets. More are fed than those intended for it, is her basic argument. All she wants it a crumb. Jesus is persuaded and marvels at her great faith and tells her that her daughter is healed.
While this may be the deeper meaning of the account, the focus on faith needs attention. I know of only one great hymn that treats this woman, the German/Danish hymn Jesus I Long for your blessed communion, in the original to taste your communion, sung by Hans Nielsen Hauge, the great lay evangelist whose work changed Norway, when he had his great life changing experience. While he only got to stanza two before being struck down by a light from heaven, stanza four tells the story of this woman and her faith, especially her prayers. Its conclusions urges us to use her as a model for our prayer—and not give up in our quest for healing. God says Amen to our prayers!
Faith is our relationship with Jesus Christ, a two way relationshhip. As in any relationship that is worthy, we long for closer communion with the beloved. That closer communion with Jesus is our prayers. While this woman has one goal in mind—the healing of her daughter—we may simply have a longing to be closer to Christ. Thus the first stanzas which stress that we need to confess our sins and let Jesus heal that rift to bring us comfort. On the second hand, our relationship, like any, ebbs and flows. God knows that we tend to cry out more to him when we need something. Our need is not a failure of faith, but it usually drives us to the source of our faith more quickly than a sunny day. Crying out to Jesus for help brings him to us quickly, with healing in his wings.
The Canaanite Woman and her Daughter
In a far country, out of Israel,
Jesus meets a woman who believes
He is “the Lord, the Son of David.” She yells
For him to heal her daughter, she needs reprieve,
The demon never lets her rest; her cries
Irritate the disciples who beg the Lord
To send her away. He’s silent. Then replies
“I was not sent to you.” She sinks to the floor,
“Help me!” A cry as plaintive as it gets.
“Even the dogs eat the table crumbs!”
Her faith surprises him. He sees a net
Singing across the waters, the kingdom come,
Her parable opens him to all the earth,
Stunned as she sees his wonder show its worth.
(From Jesus the Harmony Gracia Grindal Fortress Press 2021
HYMN INFO
This hymn comes from German pietism which sees Jesus as Wisdom, Jesus Sophia. It was translated by a friend of Hans Adolph Brorson, Peter Hygom, a pastor near Brorson’s home. It went north quickly and received many Norwegian folk tunes. The one most popular today is a folk tune from Ryfylke in Norway. The second hymn, Just a Crumb, focuses on what poets call a synecdoche, a trope Martin Luther loved—in a small piece of bread one receives the entire kingdom of God.
LINKS
Sissel—singing with the Norwegian tradition of quarternotes
Tono Holbækmo
For more on Hauge see
NB: Another hymn on the account
