Homily, August 16, 2026, Rev. Holly Cardone
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
August 16, 2026
Jesus shows up in the region of Tyre and Sidon with his friends. Tyre and Sidon were extremely wealthy, pagan, port cities just north of Israel and Jesus’s reputation precedes him. How else with this woman know about all the miracles and healing he has performed around Jerusalem.
Jesus is walking down the street, and the writer says, “…a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” This woman is an outsider. A Gentile and a pagan and her daughter is possessed by a demon. She represents everything Jesus should run from. Women, Gentiles, and the impurity of being possessed by a demon.
But she will do anything to save her daughter, heal her daughter. She honors Jesus and his reputation as a healer by bowing down in front of him. Then she asks Jesus to cast out the demon that has a hold of her daughter.
Jesus tells her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Instead of retreating in shame, she says, “Lord, help me.” He answers her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Did you hear that? Jesus basically calls this woman a dog.
My dog is so spoiled. The only scraps she gets are finely chopped and put in her food dish. We love our dogs, but in the ancient world, dogs were scavengers, dirty, wild, and offensive in every way. To call someone a dog was a horrible insult. Yet, the Canaanite woman does not flinch. She persists and has a comeback matching Jesus wit for wit.
We could talk about what great faith this woman has and leave at that. She does have great faith. And I for one, know that I can always increase my trust and faith in God. The story of the Canaanite woman is a great example of the fruits of deep and abiding faith. But there are number of interesting implications in this text that go beyond the teaching of faith.
The Canaanite woman is smart, unwavering and bold, and in response to being called a dog, the woman says, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Now, Jesus doesn’t say, get this woman out of here. But if he did, no one would have argued with him. Instead, he stays in the conversation. He listens to her request. She’s persistent for sure, and many of us with children can relate to the desperation she must have felt as she begged for help for her child who was suffering. She isn’t letting go and she isn’t letting Jesus off the hook.
Fr. Christopher Alt writes: “This unparalleled "besting" of Jesus, by a woman no less, is a revelatory experience for Jesus that causes him to reconsider his own ministerial mission. It is a key passage that compels Jesus to expand his teaching ministry to non-Jews. How appropriate that shortly hereafter Jesus is found "feeding" the 4,000 Gentiles.”
“Thus, strangely enough, the woman teaches Jesus to remember what he has just exhorted others regarding what constitutes a person clean or unclean. She confronts Jesus and gives him the opportunity to practice what he has just preached.”
In the beginning of this chapter, the Pharisees and Scribes are beside themselves with indignation because Jesus and his disciples are eating without washing their hands first. The tradition of the Elders is you must wash your hands before you eat. Jesus brings them up short by explaining to them that it’s not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out of them, that is, how are they speaking, how are they treating others, how are they caring for their neighbor. They are more concerned about tradition than keeping the commandment of loving their neighbor.
It's almost like Jesus forgot what he just told the scribes and the Pharisees when he has this interaction with the Canaanite woman, and she reminds him, it’s not what goes into your body that is sacred, but what comes out of your mouth. Even the dogs eat the scraps the children leave behind. The children are the Jews; the dogs are the Gentiles. She is bringing to his attention that the Gentiles need his teaching, healing, and miracles, too. The Gentiles are looking for spiritual healing, if their own rites and rituals were enough, why would this woman come to Jesus in the first place. This woman does not waver in her desire for healing for her daughter by Jesus.
“Then Jesus says to her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”
Jesus might have well just said, “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Sometimes the most painful thing is to admit we were wrong, acknowledging that someone else is right. People go lifetimes without ever acknowledging they have made a mistake here and there, or were wrong about some things, never making amends, never changing their behavior.
The fearlessness of the Canaanite woman made Jesus see that his teaching and healing was needed for everyone not just the Jewish people. She changes the trajectory of his mission. How much would change in our world, if we all could admit when we are wrong, say we are sorry, and change the way we walked through the world, loving our enemies and our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.