Matth. 15, 21-28.
And Jesus went out from thence, and escaped into the region of Tyro and Sidon. And, behold, a Canaanite woman went out of that border, and cried after him, saying, Lord, thou Son of David, have mercy on me: my daughter is evil afflicted with the devil. And he answered her not a word. Then came his disciples unto him, and besought him, saying: Let her go from you, for she is crying out to us. But he answered and said: I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And she came and fell down before him, and said, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, It is not good to take the children's bread, and to cast it to the dogs. And she said, Yea, Lord; but yet the dogs eat of the little bread that falleth from their masters' tables. And Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: let it be unto thee according as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed that very hour.
This gospel gives us quite an example of consistent, perfect faith. For this woman endures and overcomes
*) called Reminiscere. D. Red.
three great strong disputes, and teaches us finely what is the right kind and virtue of faith, namely, that it is a hearty confidence in the grace and goodness of God, which is experienced and revealed through the Word.
For St. Marcus speaks Cap. 7, 25, that she had heard the rumor about Jesus. What kind of rumor? Without a doubt a good rumor and a good cry that Christ was a pious man and gladly helped everyone. Such a rumor of God is a true gospel and word of grace: from it came faith in this woman; for if she had not believed, she would not have followed so. etc. So we have often heard, as St. Paul says Rom. 10, 17, that faith comes by hearing, and the word must go first and be the beginning of salvation.
(2) But how is it that many more have heard this good report of Christ, who do not follow him, and do not pay any attention to such a good report? Answer: The physician is useful and pleasant to the sick; the healthy do not respect him. But the woman feels his need, therefore let the sweet smell, as it is written in the Song of Solomon 1, 3. So Moses also must go first and learn to feel the sins, so that grace may become sweet and pleasant. Therefore it is lost how kindly and sweetly Christ is presented, if man is not first humbled by his own knowledge and eager for Christ, as the Magnificat says Luc. 1, 53: "He feeds the hungry with goods, but leaves the rich empty. All this is said and written for the comfort of the wretched, poor, meager, sinful, despised people, so that they may know in all their distress to whom they should flee and seek comfort and help.
(3) But behold, how Christ drives and hunts the faith in his own, that it may become strong and firm. First of all, when she runs after him on such a good cry, and cries out with certain confidence that he will also deal graciously with her according to his rumor, Christ does not act in this way, as if he wanted her to lack faith and good confidence and to make his rumor false, so that she might think: Is this the kind, friendly man? or: Are these the good words I have heard him say, on which I have relied? It must not be true; he is your enemy and does not want yours; he would like to say a word and speak to me: I do not want yours. Now he is silent as a stick. Behold,
This is a very hard thing, when God shows Himself so serious and angry, and hides His grace so high and deep; as those know well who feel and experience it in their hearts, that they think He does not want to keep what He has spoken, and let His word become false; as also happened to the children of Israel at the Red Sea, and to many other great saints.
Now, what does the woman do about it? She puts such an unkind gesture of Christ out of her sight, does not allow herself to be misled by all this, nor does she take it to heart, but remains steadfastly attached in her confidence to the good rumor that she had heard and grasped about him, and does not let go. So we must also do and learn to cling to the word alone, although God with all creatures is different from what the word says about him. But what a pity it is for nature and reason that they should strip themselves so naked, and burden themselves with everything they feel, and cling to the mere word alone, so that they also feel the contradiction. God help us to such courage and faith in hardships and death!
5th Secondly, when their cries and faith do not help, the disciples come with their faith and pray for them, thinking that they will surely be heard. But since they think that he should become softer, he only becomes harder, and leaves out both their faith and prayer, as it looks and feels. For he is not silent here, leaving them to doubt; but beats off their prayer, saying, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This puff is even harsher, since not only is our own person cast off, but also what little comfort we have left, namely, the comfort and intercession of pious and holy people. For this is our last resort, when we feel that God is ungracious to us, or suffer some distress, that we go to pious, spiritual people, seeking advice and help, and they are also willing, as love demands, and yet nothing comes of it, they are not heard, but only get worse with us.
6 For here one would like to impose on Christ all the words in which he promised his saints an answer, as Matth. 18, 19: "Where two are gathered together of one thing to ask....
They shall have it"; item, Marc. 11, 24: "Whatever you ask, it shall be done for you, just believe"; and much more like that. Where are such promises here? But he soon answers and says: "Yes, it is true, I hear all prayers; but I have made such promises to the house of Israel alone. What do you think? Is this not a thunderclap that would break both heart and faith in a thousand pieces, when it feels that God's word, on which it builds, is not said of it, it concerns others? Here all saints and all intercession must stand still, yes, here the heart must also let go of the word, where it wanted to hold on to the feeling.
But what does the woman do? She does not let go, holds fast to the word, even if it wants to be torn from her heart by force, does not turn back to such an earnest answer, still firmly trusts that his goodness is still hidden underneath, and does not yet want to judge that Christ is or may be ungracious. That means firmly held.
8) Third, she runs after him into the house, as Marcus writes Cap. 7, 24, 25, stops, falls down before him and says: "Lord, help me! Then she fetches the last murder blow, so that he says under her eyes what the words are: "She is a dog, and not worthy to partake of the children's bread. What does she want to say here? Then he badly accuses her of being one of the damned and lost, who should not be counted among the elect.
(9) This is an eternal, irrefutable answer, since no one can pass by; nor does it desist, but also consents to its judgment, admitting that it is a dog, desiring no more than a dog, namely, that it eat the crumbs that fall from the Lord's table. Is this not a masterpiece? She catches Christ in his own words. She admits that he is like a dog and does not ask, because he wanted her to be a dog, as he himself judged. Where was he going? He was trapped. A dog is left with its little bread under the table; that is its right. That's why he now even opens himself up and gives himself into her will, so that she is now not a dog, but also a child of Israel.
10. but that is for all of us to comfort and
It is written that we should know how deeply God hides His grace from us, and how we should not think of Him according to our own feelings and desires, but strictly according to His word. For here you see that even though Christ is hard, he does not give a final verdict that he says no; but all his answers are indeed no, but they are not no, but they hang and hover. For he does not say, "I will not hear her," but is silent, saying neither "yes" nor "no." Neither does he say, "She is not of the house of Israel," but "He alone is sent to the house of Israel. So he saith not, Thou art a dog; they shall not give thee of the children's bread; but: It is not fine etc., but leaves it hanging, whether it is a dog or not. But all three pieces are stronger on the no than on the yes, and yet there is more yes in them than no; yes, there is a vain yes in them, but it is very deep and secret, and seems to be a vain no.
(11) This shows how our heart is challenged; how it feels is how Christ presents Himself here. It does not think otherwise than that there is a vain No, and yet it is not true; therefore it must turn away from such feeling, and grasp and hold the deep secret Yes under and above the No with firm faith in God's word, as this woman does, and give God justice in his judgment of us: then we have won and catch him in his own words. When we feel in our conscience that God judges us to be sinners and not worthy of the kingdom of heaven, then we feel hell, and think that we are eternally lost. Now whoever could take this woman's arm and catch God in his own judgment, and say: Yes, Lord, it is true that I am a sinner and not worthy of your grace; yet you have promised forgiveness to sinners, and have not come to call the righteous, but as St. Paul says in 1 Tim. 1, 15, "to make sinners blessed. Behold, God should have mercy on us through His own judgment.
012 So King Manasseh in his repentance, as his prayer shows, justified God in his judgment, and blamed himself a great sinner, and yet God took hold of him.
in the promised forgiveness of sinners. So also David does Ps. 51:6, saying: "To you alone have I sinned and done evil in your sight, so that you may remain righteous in your words and pure when you are judged. For this brings us all disgrace, that we cannot suffer God's judgment, nor say yes to it, when he considers us sinners and judges us. And if the damned could do it, they would be blessed in a moment. We may say with our mouths that we are sinners, but when God Himself says it in our hearts, we do not stand, and would gladly be considered pious and free from judgment. But it must be; if God is right in His words that you are a sinner, then you may need the right of all sinners that God has given them, namely, forgiveness of sins. So then you do not only eat the crumbs under the table like little dogs, but you are also a child and have God as your own according to your will.
(13) This is the spiritual interpretation of this gospel, together with the scriptural interpretation. For as it is with this woman in the bodily sickness of her daughter, whom she miraculously heals by her faith, so it is with us, if we are to be healed of sins and spiritual sickness, which is a real evil devil; then she must become a dog, and we sinners and hell-burners, and we are already healed and saved.
14 But what more is to be said in this gospel than that through another's faith, without his own faith, someone can obtain grace and help, as happens here with the woman's daughter, has been sufficiently said elsewhere; just as Christ and the disciples, together with the woman, present to us in this gospel the example of love, that none does, asks and cares for himself, but each for the other, is also clear enough and easy to find.