The Way of Love

Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

Today's Gospel is perplexing to many as it appears Jesus is indifferent to the needs of this foreign woman.  But a great deal more is at work in this passage than meets the eye.  It is important to note the specific background of this woman: she is a Canaanite, and the way in which Jesus deals with her is vastly different than the way in which ancient Israel dealt with her ancestors.

Ancient Israel arrives in Canaan and decides to subdue the people through military conquest and genocide.  The passages from the Old Testament that describe these events are truly awful.  By contrast, however, Jesus will conquer this woman and everyone else through the power of love and mercy.  She, and everyone else, will be included in the kingdom of God as a full citizen, not as a conquered, humiliated slave.  

The way of the Lord Jesus is the way of the disciple to follow.  It is a sad fact of history that followers of Jesus have chosen the path of violence and coercion more often than the way of love and mercy.  Yet we have the example of Jesus and the ability to choose his path of love, the only authentic means of proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God.