Traditions, Defiling, and the Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Matthew 15:1-28; Mark 7:1-30
Lent doesn't matter. To which you may go “Whoa, coming in hot right out of the gate! How can you say that?” I get it, it’s a rather controversial take for a Lent devotional. Stay with me though. So why? Why does Lent not actually matter? Because, at the end of the day, Lent is a man-made tradition. It can be helpful and beneficial for providing a season of slowing down and reflecting on the advent of Easter, but it is only helpful insofar as it doesn’t usurp or supersede the teachings of scripture and the law of Christ. In Matthew 15 and Mark 7 we see the example of the Pharisees who hold tightly to customs and traditions for purification and look down upon the disciples for not living in accordance with the traditions. To which Jesus replies with:
“3He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' 5But you say, 'If anyone tells his father or his mother, "What you would have gained from me is given to God," 6he need not honor his father.' So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8"'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" (Matt. 15:3-9; ESV)
“6And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men." 9And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.' 11But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban"' (that is, given to God)-- 12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do." (Mark 7:6-13; ESV)
You can fast and give up social media, caffeine, or that extra hour of sleep in the morning, but it is key to understand that those things do not provide any purification or holiness in and of themselves. John Piper defines legalism as “[...] the conviction that law-keeping is the ground of our acceptance with God.” We see in the passages from Matthew and Mark that not only is arrogant hypocrisy birthed out of a legalistic adherence to works, but a scorning and voiding of God's word is produced as well. Romans 3:28 states: “28For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (ESV) and Galatians 2:16 says: “16yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (ESV)
What now then? We see that works, traditions, customs, and the laws of man done simply for the sake of adherence to a moral standard profits nothing. What then profits eternal beneficence? How do we avoid hypocrisy and arrogance?
To gain an answer to the above questions, we must continue reading each of the passages from Matthew and Mark.
“22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." 23But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." 24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." 26And he answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 27She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly.” (Matt. 15:22-28; ESV)
“25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:25-30; ESV)
We see from the woman’s example that humble persistence in faith is rooted in the deep understanding that we are entirely unworthy of the grace, mercy, and condescension of Jesus toward us. She doesn’t argue her worthiness when Jesus tells her that He came first for those of the house of Israel, she doesn’t seek to prove herself, she responds instead with “Yes, Lord, yet [...]” What an incredible response! I can say for myself, my response to the Word of God that tells me I’m a wretched sinner isn’t usually “Yes Lord, you're right I am!” It certainly should be though! More often than not I find my thoughts trending towards “Well, I’m not that sinful,” or “Okay, yeah I messed up, but only a little bit! It wasn’t that bad…” However, the Canaanite woman acknowledges her position as an unworthy recipient, then Jesus’ Lordship, and finally in humility persists in making her request known to God.
A consistent pattern of repentance and belief. Awe and wonder of the amazing grace extended to us broken sinners, while we were still sinners. If the Pharisees are arrogant, hypocritical, honoring the Lord with lip service detached from their hearts that are far from God, let us be a people who are humble, sincere, honoring and worshiping the Lord with our hearts, minds, souls, and lives. So yes, participate in Lent! Slow down. Reflect. Sacrifice and fast. But remember that the act of participating in Lent isn’t what imputes holiness unto us. We remove and sacrifice things from our life over the course of Lent in order to “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8)
Reflection:
The substance and content of the heart is what defiles or purifies
It is not food or traditions that purifies or saves oneself
In the passages we see a stark contrast between the Israelite priests and the Canaanite woman; arrogant hypocrisy vs. humble faith
Human law vs. God's law; human traditions vs. God’s teaching
Jesus responds to those who call on Him in true faith
Human traditions can't hope to cleanse a sinners heart and do not effectually draw one closer to God and the holiness He commands us to live into
