Reading 1: Is 56:1, 6-7
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
Reading 2: Rom 11:13-15, 29-32
Gospel: Mt 15:21-28
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah is the second longest book in the bible, exceeded in length only by the Book of Psalms. Chronologically, it covers about 250 years of time and was, therefore, not all written by the prophet himself. The book is generally dated from 742 to about 500 B.C. and because of the many years it covers it is generally divided into three parts: Chapters 1 – 39; First Isaiah, probably the work of the prophet himself; Chapters 40 – 55; Second Isaiah, the work of a disciple of Isaiah; and Chapters 56 – 66; Third Isaiah, the work of a disciple of Second Isaiah. Because of the 250-year time-span, this book records religious tradition over three critical periods when Israel’s political and cultural history changed dramatically.
A brief and much generalized synopsis of those three historical periods could be stated as follows:
First Isaiah (742 – 587): The northern tribes of Israelites had seceded from the House of David centered in Jerusalem and attempted to form their own nation in the north. First Isaiah is an attempt to preserve the Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem as the true ruling house of Israel and the Jerusalem temple as the center of true worship.
Second Isaiah (587 – 539): By 587 B.C. the northern kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians and the southern kingdom to the Babylonians and the city of Jerusalem and the temple were in ruins. Second Isaiah ignores the Davidic dynasty and attempts to deal with the destruction and exile through comfort and hope of restoration.
Third Isaiah (537 – 500): The early years of the return from exile. Third Isaiah ignores the dynasty and the political situation of those returning from exile and looks forward to a true messianic age to come. Third Isaiah also sees the union of Jew and Gentile in the true worship of God.
With a quick reading of our scriptures this week it becomes apparent that the “golden thread” concerns the salvation of the Gentiles. Our first reading comes from Third Isaiah, specifically chapter 56, and is entitled: “Return of the First Captives.” It was, therefore, probably written about the end of the Babylonian Captivity and promised the exiled Jews a return to their homeland in Israel. But it also promises that those returning exiles will be joined in their proper worship of God by “foreigners” (Gentiles) who will “join themselves to the Lord.” They will be welcomed into God’s house which “shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Third Isaiah promises an expansion of the “Chosen People” to include all those who keep the Sabbath and hold fast to God’s covenant.
Our Responsorial Psalm carries on this theme of inclusion of Gentiles as it prays: “O God, let all the nations praise you.” Whenever you see the word “nations” in the Old Testament it is a reference to Gentiles as there were only two types of people in the O.T.; there were Jews and there was everyone else. And “everyone else” is Gentiles.
Our second reading from chapter 11 of Romans is, in my opinion, one of the most important chapters in Paul’s letters. It deals with the salvation of the Gentiles but also with the salvation of the Jews, the majority of whom, during Paul’s time, had rejected Jesus as the Messiah and rejected Paul’s preaching. I suggest you read the entire chapter but essentially, Paul is writing to Gentile Christians in Rome who are probably of the mindset that the Jews will never be saved because they reject Christ. Paul assures them that that is not the case. He tells them that God hardened the hearts of the Jews against Christ (as he hardened the heart of Pharaoh against Moses) so that the Gentiles would come to faith. That’s hard to make sense of unless you consider the historic enmity between Jew and Gentile. Jews considered Gentiles to be unclean people and would have nothing to do with them. And the feeling was mutual. If the Jews accepted the Christian message, the Gentiles would consider that to be a Jewish thing and would reject it. But, if the Jews rejected the message, the Gentiles might accept it, and through Paul’s preaching that is what occurred. So, according to Paul, God hardened the hearts of the Jews against the message so that by Jewish rejection, the Gentiles would come to faith. Paul uses the analogy of an olive tree representing the Jewish people. Unbelieving branches have been broken off and wild branches (the Gentiles) have been grafted on to the tree. But the roots of the tree are the patriarchs to whom God made the promises and those promises are irrevocable. If wild branches can be grafted on to the tree, then those broken off branches could be grafted back on to the tree as well, and what Paul is telling us is that the Jews will eventually be saved in the same way the Gentiles are, by belief in Christ as the Messiah, once all the Gentiles are converted.
Our gospel passage from Matthew 15 is a curious one. In Matthew’s gospel, this is the first time that Jesus ever ventured into Gentile territory, and we should probably see this as an anticipation of the gospel message spreading to the Gentiles. We probably don’t like to hear Jesus refer to the Gentile woman as a dog, but we weren’t there to hear the tone of his voice or love in his eyes when he spoke to the woman. We like to believe that he was testing her faith. And her faith was strong. Notice that she came “calling out” to Jesus; she ended on her knees paying him homage. She began with a request; she ended in prayer. She referred to Jesus as “Son of David.” She must have had some knowledge of Jewish tradition as she recognized that term refers to Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah prophesied in 2 Samuel 7. Her heart was full of love – love for her daughter, and God cannot reject a loving heart. And she was persistent; she didn’t want to take no for an answer: “even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” She is an example for all of us. Come to Jesus with a heart full of love and faith, pour out you petition before him and trust that he will respond to your needs. We should see in this passage the power of Christian prayer. Although Jesus was saddened by the lack of faith in the Jewish people and was therefore sent to those “lost sheep” to restore their faith, he was moved by the great faith of the Canaanite woman and responded to her petition and prayer.
The golden thread this week: The “chosen people of God” is not related to ethnicity. The promise made to the Jews is irrevocable and will be fulfilled in time, but we are all welcomed into that community of the “chosen people,” and we become members of the “chosen people” through faith in the teachings of Christ as professed in the church and by doing our best to live by those principles.
