The Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 16, 2020

Matthew 15, 28

He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour.

Today’s Gospel reading occurred recently during the week, but there is still much in it to be reflected on.

Jesus calls to the gentile woman, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  Now, if we think about this, we quickly come to two possible conclusions: Either Jesus spoke falsely to the woman, because he went on to help the daughter, or Jesus spoke truly about being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then disobeyed his Father in helping her.  In order to understand what exactly happened here, we have to look at what the Lord meant by “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.  First, Jesus does not simply say, “the house of Israel”, but the “lost sheep” of the house of Israel.  Does this mean that the house of Israel consists of “lost sheep”?  Does it mean that he came only for those members of the house of Israel who are known as “lost sheep”, but not for the house of Israel as a whole?  Now, we see how the Lord has seen or spoken of “lost sheep” in this and the other Gospels.  Matthew 9, 36, for instance: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  Or, Luke 15, 4: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?”  The sheep here signify those who belong to God but have wandered away and put themselves in danger.  Their leaders have failed them, perhaps even abandoned them.  These leaders may be the Sanhedrin, the rabbis, the scribes, or leaders of sects — that is, those who put themselves forward as authorities and provided false or misleading teachings about God.  Thus, the “lost sheep” are those who belong to God and who are misled, or left to themselves to understand who God’s is.    

As for “the house of Israel”, this is an anachronistic term.  It meant Jacob and his sons and their progeny, arranged in twelve tribes.  By the time of Jesus, only two tribes survived: Judah and Benjamin.  “Israel”, as such, no longer existed.  We must, then, understand “Israel” in another sense.  We look to St. Paul here, for he had a very keen sense of what it meant to be a Jew, describing himself as of the tribe of Benjamin (cf. Romans 11, 1), that is, a “true Jew”, unlike those descendants of converts out in Galilee.  Paul tells us: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” 

(Galatians 3, 28).  That is to say, in the new dispensation of Christ, under the new covenant established in the Blood of Christ, all who belong to God are “Israel”.  This New Israel is the Church, in fact, and the New Jerusalem is heaven: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; 3 and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling of God is with men’ ” (Revelation 22, 2-3).   

“The lost sheep of the house of Israel”, then, are all those belonging to God who have been misled or abandoned by those on whom they depended to know the truth about God, whether Jew or Gentile.  That this does pertain to the Gentiles as well is again clear from St. Paul: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God” (Romans 1, 19-21).  That is, the pagan teachers, philosophers, and authorities possessed all the evidence they needed for a natural knowledge of God and his law, but they chose to promote the worship of created things  instead.

Therefore, when our Lord calls to the Gentile woman: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, he spoke the truth, and did so in a very wise fashion.  On the one hand he appeased his Apostles, who wanted him to drive her away from them, and on the other, he offered her the chance to speak her piece.  That is, he allowed her to teach the Apostles that faith is accredited to one who believes in Jesus as Lord whether of Jewish or Gentile heritage.  This might have reminded them that their father Abraham had come from a Gentile heritage and only began to know God and to be circumcised late in life.  

We are left amazed at the Lord’s wisdom as well as at his mercy.  We marvel at how continuously he uses the lowly to teach the greater, and thereby to teach the necessity of becoming lowly in the eyes of the world so as to become great in the eyes of God.  A simple maiden from Nazareth in Galilee (not even a native of Judea) is chosen to be the Mother of God; a woman known as a sinner and formerly possessed by seven demons is the first to see the Risen Lord and is sent to announce the Resurrection to the Apostles; a child is used as an example for the life of faith; and here, a Gentile woman shows that even non Jews may acquire faith and the favor of God.  

May the Lord open our eyes and ears to all that he desires us to learn about him!

Remember that your questions and comments are always welcome either here online or at my email address: mfcaime@cs.com.  God bless!