Tuesday, November 10

Today’s Readings: Psalm 123; Nehemiah 9:26-38; Matthew 15:21-28; Revelation18:9-20

Today’s group of readings contains the piece of Scripture that has been most formative to me over the years. That piece of Scripture comes from today’s passage from Matthew.

The passage tells of an encounter between Jesus and a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus to request healing for her daughter.

So what’s so powerful about this healing story that sets it apart from other healing stories?

The power lies in what the encounter reveals about Jesus when he fir refused the woman’s request for healing. Traditional readers of the story would say that Jesus refusal was meant as a way to test the woman’s faith. In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m not a traditional reader of texts  I read the story very differently. I read the story as an example of a time when Jesus’ own cultural bias (and hence a piece of his humanity) was revealed.

Here’s why the story is so powerful for me.

The story tells me that Jesus was not afraid to confront his own biases in life and move beyond them whenever he encountered them. As someone who professes to follow this Jesus, I am compelled to do the saame. As much as I would LOVE to think I have no biases whatsoever, each day I am reminded there are growing edges for me. Perhaps you are in the same boat.

If that’s the case, I would urge you to draw strength from Jesus’ example and open yourself to overcoming those biases whenever you encounter them. Til next time…