Today’s Gospel passage is one of the most confounding passages that I have come across. It has always seems to me as if Jesus is out of character—as if he was having a bad day. I simply don’t understand why he would address the Canaanite woman a way that seems so harsh. My inclination of course was to find explanations from people who are much smarter than myself.But fortunately or unfortunately I have never found an explanation that has completely
satisfied me.

Now, why would it be fortunate that I haven’t found a completely satisfying explanation? Because it teaches me a very important lesson within the spiritual life. Maybe the problem isn’t how Jesus responds to the Canaanite woman. Maybe the problem is with my own lack of understanding of the situation with which I can be so quick to judge, and of which I have such a very limited understanding of.

This situation reminds me of a simple, but very enlightening, moment from one of my classes at the seminary. We were speaking of the discovery of the Americas, where there was this whole new world of people who had never heard of Jesus Christ. The professor asked us a question:
Would it be unjust for God to not save those who had never heard of him or his Son Jesus Christ? And to my great astonishment, the teacher exclaimed ¨NO!”

“What a terrible thing to say!” I thought to myself. “That is so unfair! They couldn’t have known about Jesus—it wasn’t their fault!” I found myself pridefully judging the reality of the situation and thinking myself more “just” than God himself.

Then our professor wisely replied, “No one has ever merited salvation. Salvation is a gift.” I felt so little in that moment. How could I forget that? No one deserves to be saved and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. My salvation comes only because God is so much better than I can ever imagine.

The Canaanite woman did not “deserve” to be listened to or to be shown mercy by the God of the universe. And she knew that, and that is why this story is so beautiful—because an unrighteous, but humble woman who knew she was undeserving encountered the completely just, but overabundantly merciful Son of God.

Michael Gokie