Today’s Picture: Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman, etching by Annibale Carracci after Pietro del Po (Wellcome Images)
Jesus reaches out to those in need: The Foreigner
Jesus appears to be taking a break from the crowds,
on his ‘holidays’ by the Mediterranean Sea.
He is disturbed by a needy mother.
At first he acts ungraciously towards her – its never very nice being compared to a dog!
However, the woman is perhaps the only person to best Jesus in an argument,
she replies, that even the dogs get the crumbs.
I’m sure his initial response was laughter at her spirited answer.
Who knows, she may have been a catalyst for Jesus to see his message not just for the ‘Lost Sheep of Israel’ but as a message for all nations.
Today’s Prayer
Preparation: Begin by stilling; then dedicating the time of prayer to God and asking God that all you think, feel and imagine are for the glory of God.
Gift: Ask for what you desire. Suggestion: To reach out to those I don’t want to.
Setting: Consider the Bible passage below, you can imagine you are Jesus,
a disciple or the Syrophoenician woman. Get in touch with how you feel.
Mark 7:24-30 HCSB
Jesus got up and departed from Galilee to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it,
but He could not escape notice.
Instead, immediately after hearing about Him,
a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at His feet.
Now the woman was Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she kept asking Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Allow the children to be satisfied first,
because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
But she replied to Him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Then He told her, “Because of this reply, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed,
and the demon was gone.
Conversation: Talk to Jesus in your own words about whatever has come up for you in the prayer or how it has made you feel.
Final prayer: Finish with a formal prayer such as the Lord’s Prayer/Our Father
Today’s Music
Today’s Music: Nearer my God to Thee
More music of André Rieu