The Canaanite Women in the Gospels:

An Extraordinary Story of Faith and Humility

by Assoc. Professor Philip Kariatlis (Sub-Dean)

At the cusp of a special and spiritually uplifting period within the liturgical cycle of the Church year—namely, that of the Triodion and Holy and Great Lent, a distinct time of preparation, prayer, repentance and of spiritual struggle so that we may encounter our risen Lord on the day of the Resurrection—the Church, in all her wisdom, puts before us the story of the Canaanite woman. And as we shall see, the reason for this is so that we may be reminded of the importance of faith and humility for this journey that we are about to embark upon, so that we may be found ‘worthy’ to enter into the mystery of God’s Love.

Taken from the Gospel according to St Matthew, (Mt 15:21-28), the story tells us about the plight of a Canaanite woman—namely, a Gentile woman, which, at the time, was greatly despised by the Israelites, for the idolatry that its peoples practised, and the pagan beliefs that they espoused. The people of this Gentile group were considered arch enemies of Israel. And yet this does not deter this woman from approaching Jesus. We can only begin to imagine the pain of this mother, knowing that there was no cure for her daughter continuously tormented by a demon. She would have heard about all the miracles of healing that Jesus had performed and believed that He could also heal her daughter. Already, we see the greatness of this woman’s faith; indeed, a faith so remarkably extraordinary that she did not, in any way care, what others might think of her. Nor was she afraid of any obstacles that she might encounter on her way to meet this miracle-working Teacher.

The Gospel reading tells us that she approached, and indeed came very close to our Lord. She begins to shout out—and continues doing so—with a loud voice, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.” In total contrast to the Israelites, she dis in fact discern the true identity of Jesus. In referring to Christ as ‘Lord’, a title specifically reserved only for God in the Old Testament, and ‘Son of David’, she discerns that Jesus is the Theanthropos, who could in fact provide healing to her demon possessed daughter. What we see next, is not only the faith of this pained and grieving mother, but also her awe-inspiring humility. We heard in the Gospel that her plea was met by silence; at first, she received no response from Jesus, and then finally when she did, after having been ignored and perhaps even disregarded, she did not receive the answer that she would have been hoping for and expecting. The Gospel reveals that Jesus Christ turned to her and says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Christ is testing her faith by telling her to go away.

And, perhaps, many of us, at this stage, would have left, thinking, “oh well, we tried, but to no avail”; some of us may even have become annoyed at having been spoken to in, what would seem to be, an impolite and disrespectful manner. And yet, she is not, in any way stung, at have been shunned and reproached by our Lord. And so, what did she do next? She was determined and she persisted; but not in a presumptuous manner that would suggest that Christ was obliged to listen to her. We are told, rather movingly, that she now knelt before our Lord. We see here, a woman of great faith and even greater humility. Indeed, her humility is revealed with great clarity in her response to Jesus, who tells her that “it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to dogs”. To this, the Canaanite woman replies: “Yes Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Noting the depth of her humility, St John Chrysostom writes: “[Christ] called [the Israelites] his children, she calls them masters… Do you see the woman’s humility?”[1]

The Gospel message underlines for us that faith, love and humility are important qualities—ultimately gifts coming down from above—in our path towards encountering Christ in our life. Faith, of course, is that gift of learning to trust our Lord in all things and in all circumstances. It is precisely this trust in the Lord, who is unwaveringly faithful (cf. 1Cor 1:9), that can transform all those difficult, and sorrowful moments in our life, into joy, because of that conviction that Jesus Christ loves us beyond imagination. Faith gives us the strength to continue to move forward in our life not despite our challenges but because of these challenges. Moreover, it is the gift of faith, which allows us to say, as do all the saints, “May your will be done, O Lord”. Our prayer, on a daily basis, should be: “May I strive, O Lord, to do whatever You want from me”; “May I strive to do, whatever Your Love reveals for me!”; “may I commend my life to You!”

Yet, for us to be able to discern this great truth, we need, above all, to ask Christ for the gift of humility, that we see in the Canaanite woman. Humility is the realisation of just how much we, who are finite, temporal and mortal creatures, are indebted to our loving God for everything; it is a feeling of utter dependence to our loving Lord for always reaching out and extending His hand in love to rescue and ultimately to save us. St Isaac the Syrian reminds us that in our commitment to follow in the footsteps of our Lord’s life, to observe His commandments, and to cultivate the virtues, all this is in vain unless it leads to humility. He writes: “

If you practice an excellent virtue… do not marvel… The reward is not the virtue, nor for the struggle [to acquire] virtue, but the humility that is born. If humility is lacking, the former [namely, the virtue]… [is] in vain.”[2]

Humility leads us to the realisation that God has bestowed upon us a vast excess and over-abundance of His gifts to us out of sheer Love. In this way, humility opens our spiritual eyes to admit our ‘nothingness’, our ‘emptiness’; but in so doing, we provide ‘space’ for the grace of the Holy Spirit to come and fill that void with all the gifts that God’s Spirit desires to bestow undeservedly upon us.

            The Gospel reading is a stark reminder that we not only need to entrust our lives to Christ, praying that His will be done in all things, but that we also are required to cultivate the power of humility in our lives. It is this latter virtue which will allow us to accept the indignity of others; it is this which will wipe out moments of anger in our lives and permeate us with a desire to dive deeper and deeper into God’s endless ocean of divine Love. A humble person is one, who may enjoy an abundance of God’s gifts and virtues but is still able to say, “I have an accurse sense of how far from God I still am.”[3]

Indeed, if we wish to be faithful witnesses to Christ in our world today, we must strive to inspire others by our own living example of faith, love and humility, just like that of the Canaanite woman, knowing that our actions speak much louder than our words. Indeed, we will have ‘succeeded’ in this mission to “go out and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) not necessarily when we provide those seeking the Lord with facts about God, but infinitely more important than that, by taking them by the hand to meet Christ, with our own living example of faith, love and humility. It is this which will set souls aflame with a yearning to have Christ as their anchor throughout their entire lives—and there is no more sacred, no greater, yet at the same time more fulfilling joy than this, in our life, namely that of sharing the joy of Christ that is within us with those around us!

About the Author

Associate Professor Philip Kariatlis Sub-Dean of St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College Associate Professor Philip Kariatlis is Academic Director and Associate Professor in Theology at St Andrew's. After taking an undergraduate degree in Theology from St Andrew's, he graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Arts, majoring in Modern Greek. He received a Master of Theology and a doctorate from the Sydney College of Divinity, where he studied under Professor Gerard Kelly. His doctorate was in the area of ecclesiology where he examined the notion of koinonia ... Read author's full bio here..

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