Scripture Study for

Israel’s primary ethical obligation was social responsibility. Righteousness,  which describes the quality of the relationship with God, is really a divine characteristic. Human beings only appropriate it when they are in right relationship  with God. In response to the people’s fidelity, they are encouraged to proceed  to God’s holy mountain. Even faithful foreigners will be allowed to rejoice here  as members of the praying community. The temple is now designated as a house  of prayer for all people, not merely a national shrine reserved for the elect. Now  God is accessible to all, not merely to those of the bloodline of Israel. 

Lest Gentile Christians think that their acceptance of Christ has made them  superior to Jews, Paul emphasizes Israelite privilege. They were God’s special  people, and it was to them that God granted extraordinary gifts. Paul argues that  if he turned to the Gentiles because some Jews would not listen to him, now  Jews will be jealous because Gentiles have accepted his message and will be  converted. If the Jews’ rejection of the gospel brought reconciliation with God to  the rest of the world, how much more will their acceptance of the gospel affect  them? Gentiles have no reason to feel superior, for they too were sinners, and  God granted them divine mercy. 

The story of the Canaanite woman addresses several important and interrelated issues: crossing territorial and cultural boundaries, public social exchange  of women and men, the Christian mission to the Gentiles, and the issue of faith.  First, despite the belief that to cross into pagan territory was to leave God’s holy  land, Jesus deliberately crosses into Gentile territory. In addition, the woman  was unattended, a fact that threatened Jesus’ respectability. However, Jesus  disregards the factors of gender, ethnic/religious background, and questionable  lifestyle in order to reconcile to God a person who was marginalized by society.