I Don’t Get It or Maybe I Do

After spending time with this Gospel over the last several days, all I can say is, “I just don’t get it, and I don’t like it.” I don’t like seeing and hearing the words of Jesus when they are belittling. In this reading, he is essentially calling the Canaanite woman a dog. He gave her what she asked for, the healing of her daughter, but he made her beg for it, and He demeaned her. This just isn’t the Jesus I know and love.

I wonder what made her different. Jesus was kind to the Gentiles and the Samaritans. He showed love and forgiveness to the outcasts and the sinners. Why did he give her such a hard time when he was so gracious to others considered “outsiders?” He graciously welcomed all, so why not this suffering woman from Canaan, who, like so many others, only wanted healing for the daughter she loved.

Finally, I made peace with this story by remembering that Jesus was fully human. He was also divine, but sometimes we let His divinity override his humanity. We expect him to be God just in a human body. That isn’t what fully human means. Fully human means he experienced all the same emotions, growth experiences, and changes as we do when we experience life.

We recoil at Jesus’ treatment of the woman.This is a story of hope and promise. We can see the amazing transition Jesus makes in the story from judgment to acceptance. The woman is following and begging His help. The disciples want her gone. They ask Jesus to send her away.

Jesus goes to dismiss her. She stands up to his dismissal and calls Him to react differently. And He does. He calls the woman a dog, telling her she has no right to eat the food of the Master’s children (the Israelites). She will not be daunted. She stands up to Him and calls Him to task. “Do not even the dogs get to eat the scraps from the Master’s table.” He is open to her words. He does not take offense or cast her out. Instead, he compliments her faith and grants her the healing she desires.

Jesus was fully human. Fully human means he was influenced by his culture and those who were around Him. He was growing and changing, just as all humans do. He was sometimes frustrated and exhausted. He loved, had opinions, made judgements, was angry, and he was put off by some people and actions. He was human. Maybe this was one of those Aha moments for Jesus. This woman, this foreigner who would not be put off, called Him to clearly see the call of His Father. And, He saw it and understood that the Father wanted more from Him.

We all have something to learn from this encounter of Jesus with this Canaanite woman. Jesus was open to changing His mind. Jesus was open to hearing a truth, other than His own, and being influenced by it. Jesus was open to growing in His understanding of His Father’s will in His life and following His Father’s will.

Perhaps that is the great learning for us. We, too, are called to be open to changing our preconceptions of others. We need to be willing to hear a truth other than our own and improve our minds. We should be prepared to change and be influenced by others. We have to embrace that we are not done yet. God isn’t finished with us, and we need to be open to the ways He calls us to be more accepting of others than we are and more willing to reach out to those in need.

Ahh, so to go back to the beginning. “I just don’t get it, and I don’t like it.” I don’t like seeing and hearing the words of Jesus when they are belittling.” This story is God’s way of reminding us that He doesn’t want to see those qualities in us either. He doesn’t like it when we are close-minded and dismissive of others. He doesn’t appreciate it when we are sharp-tongued or short-tempered.

Perhaps, like Jesus was called up short by the Canaanite woman, we are being called up short by this story. In the fullness of His humanity, Jesus took the opportunity to see the exchange as a shower of grace. It was a chance to change. Let’s pray we have the same grace when we are close-minded or judgmental.

The grace to change is always available to us when we are open to receive it.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen