Was Jesus “woke”? Not originally according to one YouTuber I recently heard about. He claims Jesus was as prejudiced as anyone of His day. He shared the racial biases every other Jew held against non-Jews. It was an encounter He had one day with a Syro-Phoenician woman that made Him as “woke” as He was.
In Mark 7:24-30, this Gentile woman, a godless pagan, approaches Jesus and begs Him to come heal her daughter. Her daughter has an unclean spirit. She is desperate to get her help, to have Jesus come and drive the demon from her. But Jesus’ response is as curt and unkind, and uncharacteristic, as anything He ever says: “Let the Children be fed first. It isn’t right to give the children’s food to dogs.”
“Dogs” was the way Jews back then routinely referred to Gentiles. It captured the sentiment that the children of the one, true God felt toward Gentiles, who they thought of as inferior, religiously, ethnically, and even racially. It was an insult. A slur. Even a racial slur. In essence, Jesus is telling this woman that He has come for the rightful heirs, the children of the one, true God. Until He has fully ministered to them, He isn’t even going to entertain the idea of helping a “dog” like her. In other words, get to the back of the bus! At least this is what people who think Jesus shared the racial prejudices of His day meant.
Undeterred, she replies: “Sir--lord--even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the children’s table.” According to this interpretation, her witty reply catches Jesus up short. It’s a “gotcha” moment that shames and embarrasses Jesus and opens His eyes to see that Gentiles are people too! Realizing the error of his ways, He immediately heals her daughter.
In this moment, Jesus allegedly became “woke”. According to this influencer, the Jesus we all know and love, the Jesus who transcends every barrier, was born at this moment. It was in this encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman that His thinking evolved and He changed the way He looked at non-Jews.
This “contemporary” interpretation actually isn’t new. It’s been around for a while. Over twenty years ago, when I was in Divinity school, I first heard this interpretation floated out. It sounded so cool. Even Jesus had to evolve! He’s just like us. I loved the way this interpretation suits all our modern sensibilities. But, I soon found out, that’s the problem. As I studied this passage in greater depth at Divinity school and read some of the best commentaries available, commentaries that reflect the broad consensus of scholars, I saw a major flaw in this interpretation: It’s anachronistic, reading our values, ideas, and worldview back into the time of Jesus and the Gospels. It’s a dangerous mistake that is often made with history, distorting the past completely.
So, what’s really going on in this passage? I learned that when you read this story in context, what Jesus is actually doing becomes perfectly clear. Jesus refuses to heal outside the context of faith. His miracles are signs that fit into His larger Kingdom proclamation. They are meant to lead people deeper, far beyond what any miracle can do for them, to the greater gift His Kingdom promises: salvation, a loving relationship with the Lord of the Universe, eternal life. He won’t divorce the miracles He performs from the faith that leads to so much more. He doesn’t want people to turn His miracle working power into mere magic. The Gospels even tell us that when He returns to His hometown of Nazareth, He can’t do any miracles because of their lack of faith. Without faith, He can’t help the Syro-Phoenician woman.
Gentiles, by definition, don’t have the faith His miracles require. They don’t believe in the one, true God of Israel, or in Jesus, the One who comes from God. In all likelihood, then, this woman isn’t approaching Jesus in faith, but as a magician or wonder worker who can give her what she needs in the moment. Jesus’ provocative response to her request is an attempt to awaken this faith in her, to lead her deeper, to open her eyes to the deeper reality and greater gift He wants to give her. It’s designed to catch her up short so she might be “woke” in terms of faith!
Happily, she accepts the invitation. See, her response isn’t a witty “gotcha” revealing Jesus’ implicit bias; it’s a confession of faith. It shows that she is open to acknowledging the one, true God of Israel, whose children are the Jews who are rightfully to be fed first. More importantly, it shows that she recognizes Jesus as the One come from God and trusts that whatever He deigns to give her will be sufficient. From Him, even the scraps that fall from the table are more than enough.
But look at how Jesus responds. He heals her daughter from a distance. Jesus’ miracles are spectacular enough. But healing at a distance ramps things up. It makes His miracles more dramatic and spectacular. He only performs a few miracles this way. One of these, He saves for this Gentile woman. Because of her reply. Because of the faith she demonstrates by it. And that shows that this was His intention all along. Because she reveals that she is open to Who He is, He is happy to heal her daughter and lead both of them the far greater gift His miracles point to.
He doesn’t treat her like a dog. He treats her as a beloved daughter who has a seat at the head of the table!
Though the term is anachronistic, if there is one thing we know for certain about the historical Jesus, it is that He was as “woke” as anyone in His time. From treating women as disciples, as full equals--a truly shocking and scandalous thing to His contemporaries--to teaching and living out love of enemy--not tolerate your enemy, or respect your enemy, but love your enemy--to so much more in between, Jesus was as radical, as progressive, and as evolved as anyone. That’s why His own family thinks He’s out of His mind. That’s why both the Roman and Jewish leaders found Him so threatening and one of the main reason they eventually had Him put to death--He was upsetting the hierarchical authority structures of His day.
If we’re honest, He is still far more “woke” than we are. While He taught that whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters we do to Him, to God, we usually walk right past the homeless people on the street, averting our eyes so, God forbid, we don’t have to interact with them; or when images of starving children come on TV we reach for the clicker so we don’t have to look at them and think about their plight.
While He taught and lived love of enemy, we feel fully justified hating people who aren’t as “woke” as we are. We feel fully justified hating racists, or even just hating those who disagree with us politically. In fact, one thing I’ve noticed about many of the people who call themselves “woke” is that they tend to harbor bitter hatred for anyone in authority, in the “oppressor” class. While Jesus passionately challenged and subverted any and all oppression, intolerance, and marginalization, He also loved those who oppressed Him, including those who oppressed Him in the ultimate way by killing Him.
He even loved and forgave those who crucified Him. Now that’s woke!
What do you think about all this talk of Jesus being “woke”, or needing to become “woke”, or sharing the prejudices of His day? I’d love to hear your comments! You can go to the “Contact E. J.” page of the Raising Jesus website and leave them there.
