Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The Accepting Christ
Matthew 15:21-28
Vs 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs”
Why Jesus why? Why did you say these things? Can Jesus say these things? Is he rude? How can he be rude? These and more questions such as these comes to our mind when we read this portion.
The portion is complex and has a historical background.
Acceptance requires confrontation: we would think Jesus accepts everybody but this portion suggests otherwise or does it. We build our view of acceptance with the thought process that we have to accept everybody without asking questions. But Jesus is confronting the Canaanite woman. During Jesus’ day the region of Tyre and Sidon were controlled by the Cannanites. The canaanites were the landlords and the Jewish people or the people of the lower strata were the workers. When Jesus was uttering the words in vs 26 he was confronting the attitude of the Canaanites towards the Jewish and less privileged people.
Acceptance requires situational discernment: We try to accept others without asking questions, without creating disturbance, without intruding on their concepts and notions. However, Jesus was reversing the role play in this episode. When the Canaanite woman comes to Jesus with a need, Jesus is uttering the words that she used to say to the Jewish workers under her. In a working scenario at the end of the day when workers used to come and ask for more bread the Canaanite landlord would say “It is not right to take the children’s (Canaanite’s) bread and toss it to the dogs(Jewish workers).” In uttering the very words that the Canaanite woman would normally say to the workers under her, Jesus is pushing her in love and discernment.
Acceptance requires a dialogue: The whole narrative is a dialogue. And dialogue is a two way conversation in which both the people are not just talking but also hearing and understanding. The woman on hearing Jesus’s words utters in vs 27 “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” These were the words that the workers under her used to say to her at the end of the day on being refused bread for their children. Here the Canaanite woman assumes the role of a dog and Jesus is the master. She is not just talking but understanding her mistake. This is exemplified in the words “yes it is Lord.” And Jesus accepts her by saying that her faith is great. This is acceptance: a two way conversation in which both are talking and understanding each other.
The portion is complex and has a historical background.
Acceptance requires confrontation: we would think Jesus accepts everybody but this portion suggests otherwise or does it. We build our view of acceptance with the thought process that we have to accept everybody without asking questions. But Jesus is confronting the Canaanite woman. During Jesus’ day the region of Tyre and Sidon were controlled by the Cannanites. The canaanites were the landlords and the Jewish people or the people of the lower strata were the workers. When Jesus was uttering the words in vs 26 he was confronting the attitude of the Canaanites towards the Jewish and less privileged people.
Acceptance requires situational discernment: We try to accept others without asking questions, without creating disturbance, without intruding on their concepts and notions. However, Jesus was reversing the role play in this episode. When the Canaanite woman comes to Jesus with a need, Jesus is uttering the words that she used to say to the Jewish workers under her. In a working scenario at the end of the day when workers used to come and ask for more bread the Canaanite landlord would say “It is not right to take the children’s (Canaanite’s) bread and toss it to the dogs(Jewish workers).” In uttering the very words that the Canaanite woman would normally say to the workers under her, Jesus is pushing her in love and discernment.
Acceptance requires a dialogue: The whole narrative is a dialogue. And dialogue is a two way conversation in which both the people are not just talking but also hearing and understanding. The woman on hearing Jesus’s words utters in vs 27 “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” These were the words that the workers under her used to say to her at the end of the day on being refused bread for their children. Here the Canaanite woman assumes the role of a dog and Jesus is the master. She is not just talking but understanding her mistake. This is exemplified in the words “yes it is Lord.” And Jesus accepts her by saying that her faith is great. This is acceptance: a two way conversation in which both are talking and understanding each other.
PRAYER
Lord help me grow in accepting others and myself not on my terms but your terms. Help me see beyond my shallow view of acceptance and grow in the breaking and confronting aspect of acceptance.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Christ accepts us just as we are to try to become just as he is.
Rev Abraham Kuruvilla
Vicar St . Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Delavare Valley
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church
Rev Abraham Kuruvilla
Vicar St . Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Delavare Valley
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church