Foot Notes

Encountering Jesus
Lent asks us not only to renew our allegiance to Jesus the Christ but also to look deeply into our own soul searching for that which distorts and keeps us from being one with our Lord. Penitence is not often pleasant. Admitting mistakes and misjudgments doesn’t often sit well. Sometimes though we encounter one who forces us to stop and truly see. And if we will let it, it can be a blessing. Ponder this encounter Jesus had with one who challenged his assumptions. As you read seek to follow Jesus’ changing positions. What causes him to go from ignoring to refusing to responding?

21-22 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, “Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit.”
23 Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, “Now she’s bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She’s driving us crazy.”
24 Jesus refused, telling them, “I’ve got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. “Master, help me.”
26 He said, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.”
27 She was quick: “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.”
28 Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.Matthew 15: 21 -28 The Message

Think about your own encounters with those who irritate you or you think ask for too much. Let Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman guide your responses. Try to hear anew, differently.

Imagine now that you are the one who is ignored and rejected, an outcast as was the Canaanite woman. Again let this encounter prompt your thoughts and actions. What does meeting Jesus mean?