Love and Mercy Meet

Love and Mercy Meet
(Matthew 15.21-28)

We were tired.
We hadn’t slept much the night before, what with the storm and all;
and today, they came again.
The religious leaders with their rebukes
and once more challenged the Master.

Jesus walked a little way ahead of us, preoccupied.
We left him alone, knowing how tired he must be.
Brushes with them always seem to leave him especially burdened.
We were all distracted when the ruckus began.

Gracious, what a raucous -
she seemed to come running out of nowhere
screaming like the wild woman she was!

“Jesus, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on my daughter.”

A Canaanite of all things -
Spit!
Dogs, all of them, just dogs!
And here’s one of them, a woman no less;
how dare she yell at him.
All of them, just dogs!

“Woman, you’re nothing.
Leave him alone; can’t you see he’s tired?
And you? You’re nothing.
Jesus, tell her to leave, tell her to go away.
Put her in her place.
Make her stop bothering us;
send her away.”

He turned and looked at us, quietly telling us
what we already knew.
“I came for Israel; no one else matters, only God’s
holy people.”

Then out of no where, she burst into our space.
She came right up to us,
daring to break our small, tight circle.
She walked right up to the Master,
then knelt before him,
eyes cast down,
head and body bent,
she whispered.

“Please Lord, heal my daughter.”

We barely heard her speak.
She had been screaming like the wench she was,
but now, she barely whispered,
and tears streamed down her face.

And the Master?


The Master knelt also—right to her level.
I saw him,
the holy and righteous one,
gently tilt her tear-stained face
so that their eyes met.
And he whispered to her,
“Woman, it’s not fair
for me to give the children’s bread to the dogs.”

Such lovely words—
words which should have rebuked,
invited instead.
She seemed to hear it the same way.

“Yes Lord,” she whispered.
“I know. I understand,
but even the little dogs get crumbs from the Master’s table.”

He spoke once more, in a still soft voice,
“Woman, your faith is great.
Your love is deep.
Your daughter is well.
Go home.”

It was silent as she left.
Shouts no longer pierced the air;
no more words were spoken.
She simply left,

and we continued walking in silence,
each of us absorbed in our own thoughts.

What had we just seen? What had we witnessed?
The Gift is for them, too? Love and Mercy is theirs as well?
Even the unworthy, the lowest of the low,
His compassion extends to them, too?

Lord, have mercy on me,
the sinner.


(Image from Radio New Jerusalem website)
Revised, 3/5/11