“Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?'” – Matthew 15:12

I’m having a bad day, Jesus. I’d like to roundly curse
the next sad soul who crosses me – or simply falls
in front of me. I don’t much care if they have given me
offense or not. I’m just a sharing guy – sharing my bad day.

I see you know the feeling, Jesus. Did you care
you’d irritated anyone that day? They’d asked
about your followers and why they didn’t wash their hands
(I’d like to know myself). Was that so bad?

You counter-punched, and hard. You charged them with
a greed that left their parents sunk in poverty.
Okay, I’m sure that some had done precisely that,
but all? Oh, no. Though… they had not corrected it.

You called the crowds, and told them all their leadership
spoke excrement. No wonder they were angry, Lord!
You added extra measure, calling them “blind guides,”
when you knew well the blind can understand.

It’s good to step away from these things, Jesus, You had said
enough and more. You’d demonstrated all too well
the truth that what comes from the mouth defiles.
These leaders and your friends have heard it all.

I hear the cry for mercy, now. A desperate soul,
whose love has brought her to a foreigner
to bring her daughter to herself. And you –
you treated her far worse than you would treat a dog.

Now do you blush to hear the words again?
Now do you soften softly your hard heart?
Now do you praise the woman’s sharp perception
and persistence and bring healing to the child?

I’m having a bad day, Jesus. You would know
the worst of days, and take them better than you did
this day. Might you spare a moment then, I pray,
and soften stony heart inside of me?

A poem/prayer based on Matthew 15:10-28, the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel Reading for Year A, Proper 15 (20).

The image is Jesus and the Woman of Canaan by unknown artist (ca. 980 – 993) – Codex Egberti, Fol 35v, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8096755.