Syro-Phoenician Woman

 

Syro-Phoenician Woman (Matthew 15:21-28)

(Cross-reference story in Mark 7:24-30)

Lesson 3

1. Cultural, historical and theological background

   1. Cultural

      1. Although almost equal legally, women were seen as inferior except when a good wives.

      2. “A man's spite is preferable to a woman's kindness; women give rise to shame and reproach” (Sir 42:14)

      3. For most levels of society, dogs were only slightly less undesirable than pigs but were kept by the “upper class” or “rich” to act as guard dogs.

      4. For a Jew, non-Jews were unclean and contact with them limited

      5. Important: today we tend to live by Descartes' “Cogito, ergo sum” but society/culture during Jesus time was more, “I am, because we are” - community gives identity. Example: Luke 16:20 tells us that Lazarus “was laid” at the gate, not that “he lay” at the gate. Community care.

   2. Historical

      1. Jews were the only group allowed dispensation to worship their God outside of their own region

      2. Canaan had ceased to exist hundreds of years before Christ, but the term was generally used to reference non-Jew (Gentiles) in a somewhat derogatory fashion. Deuteronomy 20:16-18

   3. Theological

      1. Basic understanding that Jews were God's chosen and all others were not

      2. Following rituals in life including ritualistic prayer three times a day was rewarded by God

      3. God's “Gift” was the Pentateuch for the Samaritans and the Psalms and Prophets for the Jew

2. Rhetorical pattern:

   1. “Outer bookends” of the woman's request: first denied then granted

   2. Three inner parts:

      1. Jesus affirms his task as a good shepherd seeking the lost sheep of Israel

      2. Jesus used metaphorical language and a miniparable about children, crumbs and dogs

      3. Jesus affirms the great faith of the woman

3. Two alternative interpretations.

   1. Jesus' mission originally targeted only Jews was worthy of salvation, but after this encounter salvation and His healing power became available to all peoples

   2. A woman stood up and defied traditions demanding a redirection of God's plans

4. A more reasonable understanding that this event was also a learning moment for Jesus' disciples as he guides their understanding into a new paradigm that identifies Him as our Messiah and God's Gift, that salvation is for all mankind and that women are included in God's Kingdom.

1. Jesus uses this occasion to challenge his disciples by first bringing to light their biases...

2. The community surrounding Christ is composed of His disciples and faithful followers

3. Matthew 15:21-23a – First “Bookend”

   1. Tyre and Sidon are in the Syro-Phoenician area (Greek, Gentile) and 20 miles apart

   2. Most likely the verbal exchanges were in Greek

   3. Two barriers existed: She was a woman and an unclean Gentile

   4. Why did Matthew refer to her as a Canaanite? In Mark she is a Synophoenician and as such also presented another barrier of social class.

   5. The woman obviously knew of Jesus, perhaps seeing him before (Mark 3:7-8)

   6. Important: adding “Son of David” changes “Kyrie” from “Sir” to “Lord/Sir” - she understands that Jesus is from God

   7. She asked for mercy for herself, although it is her daughter who has the problem. It was she who was in pain. Jesus recognized that it was she who was in need

   8. Why was Jesus initially silent?

      1. That is what the disciples expected of a good Rabbi dealing with a Gentile woman

      2. Instead of telling her to go away or instructing his disciples to send her away, He is silent: her not going away at that point means she passed the first of three tests.

4. Matthew 15:23b-24 – First of three inner parts

   1. The disciples' biases and cultural norms come to the surface

   2. The woman is smart, determined, desperate and believing. She sees Jesus' initial silence as an opening to persevere.

   3. Jesus' words echo what was in His disciples' hearts: He was the exclusive possession of Jews. This is the part of the lesson where misconceptions/understandings are identified.

   4. To continue is a demonstration of faith in God and that she does not see him as one of the many traveling “magicians” and “healers” but as someone who truly has power.

5. Matthew 15:25-26 – Second of the three inner parts

   1. The woman perseveres, pleading for help, insistently (see Luke 18:1-8)

   2. Kneeling at Jesus feet: act of a devoted follower and submission to an authority

   3. Jesus uses the Greek “kynarion” - a diminutive of kyon – thus referring to either little dogs or puppies. Not as insulting to the woman. The insult is revealing the biases of disciples.

   4. Jesus uses “reductio ad absurdum” to bring to light the theological, ethical and moral issues that His disciples were displaying. He wants them to hear and understand the woman's response.

   5. Kneeling down and continuing her pleas in spite of all the rebuke, means she passed the second of three test. (immediately followed by a final test of Christ's metaphorical statement)

6. Matthew 15:27 – last of the inner parts

   1. Rather than flee in humiliation and defeat, the woman presses on. She is demonstrating great faith and is sacrificing her all for her belief in Jesus.

   2. Her response completes the process of revealing to the disciples their limited and biased understanding of Jesus' mission and of God's love.

   3. Yes, the woman (perhaps descended from Canaanites – the most unclean) is a clean example of faith in action.

   4. The words she uses imply “little dogs” and “little crumbs” and the imagery of the table invokes the symbolism of eating at the great banquet (Isaiah 25:6-8) as well as “family”

   5. With this reply of a similar metaphor the woman shows her full strength, courage and faith, passing the third and final test with honor.

7. Matthew 15:28 – closing Bookend

   1. Jesus acknowledged the woman's faith, and caps the disciples' lesson

      1. His ministry is to extend to all peoples and genders (foretold of and stated many times)

      2. Women are worth of His care and love

      3. Even those peoples who are most unclean in Jewish eyes are worth of healing

   2. Jesus does not say, “your daughter is healed” but more like he told the Centurion in Matthew 8:13 – He had mercy on her [the daughter was healed, but of what?]

   3. “Faith” in this case is demonstrated by the woman's unfailing confidence in the person of Jesus as the agent of God's salvation for all, both Jew and Gentile.

      1. She showed humility by lowering herself to the place of a dog

      2. Her deep faith/trust that a small amount of “His Food” is enough

      3. Her wisdom and courage to persevere when it seemed all were against her

8. Final notations:

1. This is a complex story of determination, strength and faith of a desperate and brave woman

2. This is also an example of how Jesus used such situations to teach his disciples and introduce concepts and ideas that were radically different than what they had been taught.

3. Reinforces the paradigm that Christ brings forgiveness, life and healing to all mankind

4. Although some may interpret this episode as Jesus reformulating his mission on earth, it makes more sense to believe that He already knew his mission and was using this encounter to teach us how complete God's love is for all of us.

Supplement Matthew 15:21-28

Additional understandings:

*lesson about perseverance (Persistent Widow parable in Luke 18:1-8)

*Model of salvation -

The Gospels tell us that salvation comes from the Jews (God's plan for us developed through His work with and through His chosen people... First through one man [Abraham], then a family [Jacob's], then a nation [Jewish people] and finally to the whole world through Christ)

We must come to the Lord with humility. “You are not worthy to be in God's presence. Confess that you are a sinner, worthy only of His eternal wrath and call upon Him for mercy and grace.” - hence the metaphor about [little] dog and scraps.

If we recognize our sin-filled nature and how unworthy we are in God's eyes but have the faith to still seek an undeserved forgiveness and grace through Jesus Christ, we will be saved.

*The woman knew of Jesus because he had already visited Tyre and Sidon doing “Great Things”

*Matthew's identification of the woman as a Canaanite was/is an issue since Canaan had ceased to exist hundreds of years before but was used to place her as the very lowest of all people – a racial slur.

Summary of the Canaanite (Syro-Phoenician) Woman

- Christology: Jesus reminds us of God's historical plan for our salvation (“from the Jews”)

- Women: The woman demonstrates faith, perseverance and the steps of salvation

- Incarnation and mission: Jesus states His mission: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” - but He had already done miracles for non-Jews (see Matthew 11:20-24), so the statement may have been a test (for the woman, or the disciples, or both?) Tyre and Sidon were Greek territories (Did Christ speak Greek?)

- Revelation: Jesus indirectly identifies himself as the Messiah

- The barrier: The social “separation wall” between men and women, cultural separation between a Jew and the lowest class of humans.

- Theology: Jesus reveals himself to her and the disciples and uses her to shed light on the nature of faith

- A revelation of Christ's mission: It is clear that he was sent to first redeem the children of Israel but salvation is offered to all mankind.

- The community around Jesus: This encounter is best understood when we recognize that Jesus was surrounded by a community of followers and used his situations, metaphors and parables to teach

- The “Water of Life”: Those who accept this water are called to share it with others.

- Salvation: God's acts in history to save “through the Jews” are a scandal of particularity that proves to be a blessing for the Canaanite woman and to all of us

- Christian self-understanding: Four important aspects of Christian self-understanding appear in this story. These are:

• the overcoming of gender and social taboos and norms (God loves all his creation)

• the acknowledgment that Jesus came first for the Jews, then Gentiles – a keep step in God's plans

• the idea that perseverance is an act of faith

• the concept that we must humbly recognize our unworthiness to be in God's presence.

The Woman at the Well

 

The Woman at the Well

Second lesson

Please, if you have not looked at the outline for “Jesus and Women,” do so before using the following.

Review what was presented earlier: series of lessons focusing on women (note Christian History)

• Women were almost equal in law but not socially, culturally (note Wisdom of Sirach, Mishnah from around 200 AD – compilation of oral traditions)

• Often, in John, encounters were used by Jesus to educate his disciples about women

• John pairs stories/parables of men and women

• In John, Jesus retells familiar parables but recast with women protagonists

Intro: Many different ways to look at/ study/ understand story of Woman at Well

• Salvation given to even those seen as enemies or unclean

• Salvation is for both genders

• Focus on concepts of “living water”, “bread of life”, where to worship and such

• Focus on the “I Am” statements (unique)

• Paired with the story of Nicodemus

  • Night vs Day

  • Scholar compared to someone less educated

  • Someone who wavered compared to a believer

• In keeping with theme, we will focus on woman and her interaction with Christ

• A quick look at the supplemental summary (presented at the end of the main outline)

  • Mishnah

  • Daniel T Niles

  • Ephrem the Syrian

• Point out the three challenges: B:I,c “gender” - B:II,c “political” - B:V “religious”

• Begin going over outline

Woman At The Well (John 4:1-42)

(Two important firsts and much more)

1. Cultural, historical and theological background (John 4:1-6 a reminder, setting stage)

   1. Cultural: We tend to only see through our own culture – and miss how important

      1. treatment of women (quote from Mishnah – collection of oral traditions)

      2. Nature of Jacob's well

         1. near city of Sy'char with 5 foot doughnut-shaped capstone

         2. buckets then as now are made of leather, crossed sticks at top and collapsible

         3. women worked together to help each other in morning/evening to avoid heat

         4. at noon, only social outcasts or women seeking contact with strangers

   2. Historical

      1. Battles and revenge of Jews and Samaritans

         1. Greeks had used Samaria as their base of control of Jewish territory

         2. 128 B.C. Jews destroyed the Samaritan Temple on top of Mount Gerizim

         3. Samaritan response: defiled Temple of Jerusalem on eve of Passover

         4. Jews saw Samaritans and decedents of Gentile tribes brought in to take over their land when they were in captivity.

      2. Historical importance of Samaria (Augustus Caesar, Herod the Great) + prominence of the Temple to Caesar at the top of the mountain (visible from Caesarea)

   3. Theological

      1. The term “Gift of God.” at that time meant something else

      2. .. for Samaritans is is the Torah of Moses

      3. for Jews it was the Law and the Prophets

      4. Even today, for Muslim it is the Qur'an – hence the punishment of death for defiling

      5. God was encountered in a specific place: the Temple of Jerusalem for the Jews, the temple in Samaria for the Samaritans (on the mountain top)

2. Ten specifics to consider which make this encounter important for not only Jesus' earthly mission but for women throughout all time

   1. John 4: 7-9 – reveals Jesus' deliberate encounter as a thirsty stranger

      1. Intentional Self-emptying – allowed disciples to leave him without bucket

      2. Reasons why Jesus should not have spoken: cultural taboo and despised enemy

      3. Woman's response was both cultural and gender challenge: inflected language

      4. Not only did Jesus speak to her, but asked to drink from her “defiled” bucket!

      5. Four things Jesus did:

         1. broke social taboos: did not back away from well, spoke to woman

         2. ignored hostility, danger and 500 years of bias/discrimination

         3. reveals an approach to effective ministry by becoming a person in need (emptying)

            • needs water and has no bucket (putting woman in position of strength)

            • see Mark 6:7-13 for first “mission trip” - they took nothing with them

            • Jesus' birth – a dependent baby

            • Jesus' first encounter with Peter in Luke 5:1-3

            • Supplement quote from Daniel T. Niles

         4. Jesus elevates and amazes woman – much more than we can ever realize! The woman was not only recognized by Jesus but also brought equal to man

   2. John 4:10-13 – The Gift of God is not a thing or place but the person of Jesus

      1. for her, the “Covenant”in Isaiah 42:6 was the Torah of Moses not Jesus

      2. Jesus' word reflect Jeremiah 2:13 about “Living Water” - reusing to refer to himself

      3. Attempted redirection (political challenge)

         1. implied “our father Jacobs well given to us [Samaritan] not you [Jew]” thus invoking the centuries-old feud expecting a declaration that she [Samaritan] had no legitimate claim to well since she came from Gentile stock – Jesus as a Jew

         2. Did not make the connection between Jesus, the “Living Water” and Jeremiah ref.

   3. John 4:13-15 – The Drink that Satisfies for all time Jesus as a Rabbi

      1. Just as Jesus declined the initial gender challenge, he declined the political challenge

      2. Jesus continues with a two part statement about the “Living Water” He is offering:

         1. permanently conquers thirst and

         2. a spring for others overflowing to “eternal life”

      3. She only hears the first part and is very interested in this magical drink

         1. ease psychic pain, free her from fear of dying and lift her depression

         2. perhaps solve social issues, corruption and unsafe streets?

      4. She is doing her “religious shopping” for what she wants – she is not interested in becoming a “spring”. Much like today's consumers shopping for a church?

   4. John 4:16-17 – becoming a Spring for Others

      1. Jesus issues three commands: go, call and bring

      2. Jesus is telling a woman to witness to a man – in her culture!

      3. The woman is entertaining a new understanding of herself

      4. Her response: withhold information, skirt the issue and be evassive:

   5. John 4:17-20 – she tried escaping/avoiding consequences, then through religious challenge

      1. Jesus shifts His role to that of a prophet

      2. Sin exposed, the woman again tries to redirect to a religious challenge of where to worship, in Jerusalem or in Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim – Jesus does not scold her

   6. John 4:21-25 – De-Zionizing” of traditions

      1. In response to the question of where to worship, Jesus redefines the nature of worship

      2. Jesus again elevates the woman by treating her as a serious theologian and shares with her the most important teaching on worship in the New Testament!

      3. Note the following for the entire passage:

         1. Christology: Jesus is the gift of God (Living Water), the Messiah, the Savior

         2. Gentiles: A “half-breed Samaritan” woman are welcomed as believers

         3. The Temple: both temples are obsolete

         4. The Law: Jesus does not condemn the woman for her sins, demanding stoning

   7. John 4:26 – The first “I Am”, and it is given to a woman Jesus is the Messiah

   8. John 4:27-30 – The woman becomes the first woman preacher of the Gospel

      1. Disciples discover Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman – two strikes against Him?

      2. Traditional idiom response of, “What do you want”, is not given by them. Why?

      3. Suddenly surrounded by hostile Jews, the woman departs, but also has a mission

      4. She not only has the “Living Water”, she is on her way to be a “spring” to others of the water that quenches the thirst of the spirit – forever.

      5. She acts as a witness (woman!) to the people (mostly men) of her village

         1. catches their attention with the revelation/acknowledgment of her sins

         2. She does not declare Jesus as Christ but challenges the others (men) to go see and decide for themselves.

      6. Is her leaving the water jug behind significant?

   9. John 4:21-38 – “Invisible Food” to have with the “Living Water” see Amos 9:13-14

   10. John 4:39-42 – The discovery of the true “Savior of the World”

3. The next will be on Matthew 15:21-28 when we will study another encounter with a woman and recognize how Jesus used the incident as a teaching platform to further reshape his disciples views about women

Suppliment

Mishnah:

“… and talk not much with womankind. They said this of a man's own wife: how much more of his fellow's wife! Hence, the Sages said: He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna (kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire. Thus, deemed to be cursed. In rabbinic literature it is the destination of the wicked)”

Daniel T. Niles, Sri Lankan theologian

“He was a true servant because He was at the mercy of those whom He came to serve.... This weakness of Jesus, we His disciples must share. To serve from a position of power is not true service but beneficence.”

“The only way to build love between two people or two groups of people is to be so related to each other as to stand in need of each other. The Christian community must serve. It must also be in a position where it needs to be served.”

Ephrem the Syrian

“At the beginning of the conversation, he [Jesus] did not make himself known to her, but first she caught sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah. She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ”

_____________________________________

The “I Am” in John. I am the: bread of life, light of the world, door, good shepherd, resurrection and the life, true and living way, vine

Summary of the Woman at the Well

- Christology: Jesus appears as a thirsty man, rabbi, prophet, Messiah, the “I AM” and the “Savior of the world”

- Women: The new movement, centered on Jesus, elevates the position of all women, Jesus talks directly to the Samaritan woman and chooses her as an appropriate audience for profound expositions of the nature of God and nature of true worship. She becomes an evangelist to her own community and foreshadows the women who witness to the men regarding the resurrection.

- Incarnation and mission: Jesus “empties himself” to the extent that he needs the help of an immoral foreign woman. In requesting her assistance he models incarnational mission for all his followers.

- Revelation: As in the case of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, the focus of revelation is a person, not a book

- The gender barrier: The social “separation wall” between men and women is destroyed.

- Worship and the temple: True worship, “in spirit and in truth,” needs no particular geography, Neither Jerusalem nor Mt. Gerizim are relevant to it. Jesus “de-Zionizes” the tradition and declares the temple in Jerusalem to be obsolete.

- Theology: The nature of God as Spirit is revealed to the community through this woman.

- A focus of mission: Jesus accepts, cares for, takes seriously, challenges, recruits and inspires a simple Samaritan woman with a life-changing message centered in himself. A rich harvest results from this unique “sowing.”

- The community around Jesus: A Samaritan woman and her community are sought out and welcomed by Jesus. In the process ancient racial, theological and historical barriers are breached. His message and His community are for all.

- The “Water of Life”: Those who accept this water are called to share it with others.

- Religion and escape from God: The woman tries to use “religion” as a means of escape from Jesus' pressing concern about her self-destructive lifestyle.

- Prophet and priest: The voice of the prophet is incomplete without the complementary priestly ministry of true worship. (prophet reveals sins, priest offers absolution)

- Salvation: God's acts in history to save “through the Jews” are a scandal of particularity that proves to be a blessing for the Samaritan woman.

- Christian self-understanding: Four important aspects of Christian self-understanding appear in this story. These are:

• the confession of Jesus as the “Savior of the World”

• the obsolescence of the temple

• the incorporation of non-Jews into the people of God

• the deabsolutizing of the law

- Food and drink: Two kinds of drink (one passing and the other permanently sustaining) and two types of food (physical sustenance and spiritual fulfillment) are prominently featured in the story.