The BAT Blog

Now here’s a disturbing story. Jesus encounters a Gentile, called Syrophoenician in the gospel of Mark, a Canaanite here in Matthew, whose daughter is in need of healing. The woman keeps on entreating Jesus, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,” indicating she clearly understands that Jesus is the Messiah promised by the scriptures. Instead of helping her, Jesus at first ignores her, then lets her know he did not come to be the Messiah for people like her. This doesn’t sound like the Jesus we know, does it? What’s going on here? A couple of things to note. First, the gospel of Mark has it right in terms of identifying her nationality. In Jesus’ time, Gentiles from this area were known as Syrophoenicians. The term “Canaanite” had not been used for centuries. It would be like describing a person from Great Britain as an Anglo Saxon, or a Celt, terms long since obsolete. But the word “Canaanite” has theological overtones. The Canaanites were those who lived in the Promised Land pri

Last week, I began this blog by discussing what it means to preach the gospel. I argue that the gospel is always what God does: for us, in us, through us for the sake of the world. Only when people know that God is for us, with us, working through us, saving us, loving us, can we freely give our lives for others. So, how would you preach the gospel this week? The Revised Common Lectionary uses the story of the feeding of 5,000 (actually, more like 10,000, but more on that later) from Matthew. Where is the gospel here? I am struck by two things: Jesus compassion for the crowds, and Christ’s ability to take the little the disciples had to offer and make it enough for the need of all. Jesus has just learned of the death of John the Baptist. He no doubt is grieving the death of this man of God, and perhaps his disciples too are shaken to know that John was beheaded by Herod. (According to the gospel of John, some of the disciples originally were followers of John. But even for those w