Tag: Dogs

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Seeing through eyes of mercy.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs. Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In Mark’s gospel, written from Peter’s firsthand, eyewitness accounts, he wants to show the reader the power of Christ. As Jesus reveals more and more about who he is, he also progressively shows more authority. Jesus doesn’t hoard or self consume the power and authority given him. As son of man/son of God, he freely disperses it among the broken, the outlier. And in this case, to a Syrian (Gentile) Woman and her demon possessed little girl.

Jesus breaks through racial and cultural barriers to bring mercy and freedom. Jesus, raised in a typical, but poor family, would have learned all about God’s Laws and God’s ways. But if we look at the common cultural understanding of how young Jewish men and women were instructed, it was very much a separatist mentality. Gentiles (non Jews) are not good people and they should not have any interaction with them. A Jewish male would not culturally be allowed to have any contact with a woman, let alone with one who was a long historical enemy with Assyrian heritage. So either Joseph and Mary instructed Jesus differently (which is completely possible), or Father God had been teaching His own true intentions of rescuing the entire human race – not just the Jews (Isaiah 56:6-7). Either way, Jesus continued to baffle his followers and invite hostile criticism for this kind of cultural faux pas.

If Jesus was so religiously and socially counter-cultural, why do we struggle with being like Him today? I think our heart is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), but we forget there is both religious (legalism) AND humanistic wickedness. The religious have always despised Jesus’ counterculture ways. And, equally the self-serving humanist despises him as well. Normal, common people, who know they are broken and have need of being saved, have always loved Jesus’ ways. Why? Because they reflect exactly how God sees us. Religion and/or humanism both make us arrogant.

Jesus explains to this Syrian woman that his first priority is to the Jews, the people of God. Jesus, not so subtlety referring to her own people as dogs, wasn’t offensive to her at all. She knew the comparison was true. Folks have tried to soft-pedal this “dog reference” as a beloved pet in the household. That’s nonsense. The enemies of the Jews knew they were like wild dogs and were possibly proud of it! The feelings were mutual between the ethnicities.

The woman, similar to the Samaritan woman at the well, had some comments in response to Jesus’ words. She said, “but even the dogs…”

She calmly kept her cool.
She was smart.
She knew who she was, but she also knew who Jesus was!

She was telling Jesus, “I know our story,” “I know God’s intention is for His own first,” “But I don’t need the full on life of blessing and favor as given to the Jews,” “I just need the scraps, the leftovers.” Her faith saw that even the scraps of mercy from God would be powerful enough to free her daughter. Jesus commented about her faith, saying “your faith is great” (Matthew 15:28). You know the gospels record Jesus being amazed just a couple of times. One, he was amazed at his hometown folk’s “lack of faith” (Mark 6:6). Two, he was amazed at the Roman centurion’s extraordinary understanding of authority and faith (Luke 7:8).

Here in this story, the woman got what she wanted. Jesus complimented her retort, “Good answer!” She received what she came asking for. Jesus told her, “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” Jesus was clearly impressed.

Do we want to know how Jesus really feels about the non-religious, even enemies of God? He shows mercy to whomever he chooses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Exodus 33:19). I believe we can be just as culturally contrarian in how we see people today. Folks can know how we feel about them simply looking at our facial expression! Following the ways of Jesus means we see with eyes of mercy. If we see with eyes of mercy our face will follow!

Prayer

​Dad,
I absolutely know this is how you saw me, and how you see me still – through eyes of mercy. I absolutely love to wake up each morning with fresh, new mercy in my account for the day! “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”(Lamentations 3:22-23). I am ever in amazement of your enduring patience and grace. Thank you. Amen.

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Scraps for the scrappy

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew sets us up with a rare treat when Jesus travels to these two Gentile areas. I say rare, because Jesus almost exclusively stayed within Jewish territories. Here, while escaping the constant harassment of the Pharisees, Jesus and his friends escape to some of the most beautiful rural scenery. It’s there that a Syro-Phoenician woman, a Canaanite, approaches Jesus.

Matthew helps us compare this woman’s “story of the one,” with the verses that follow in vs. 29-31. The seemingly forced conversation over one little Canaanite girl being healed and the multitude of healings of the Jewish people in vs. 31 – “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.”

The shocker, after the mother begged Jesus for mercy, Jesus was SILENT. One commentator wrote, “Christ silent to a sufferer’s cry is a paradox which contradicts the whole gospel story.” and, he’s right. It feels unsettling. There were protocols and mission, purpose and intention behind every action that Jesus took! Here, we get a glimpse of God’s singularity to hold true to a promise made to the people of Israel. His favored people had priority of timing and revelation of what God was doing in these few years compared to centuries of preparation. Jesus’ silence was painful for all present.

The disciples, both showing some disdain for the woman and a sense of protectiveness over Jesus, blurted out – breaking the awkwardness of the moment. Dismiss her! (a word specifically used of divorcing a marital partner) She is croaking or shrieking too loudly. Jesus finally speaks and says, “I was (apostelló) sent on a defined mission by God the Father and it is to the people of Israel.” Jesus was always ON MISSION.

The dilemma was clear. Does Jesus veer off course for one cursed and suffering mother and child? Would Jesus then have to follow her into her neighborhood, exorcise a demon and deal with all the others suffering nearby? Would there be another healing mob, all of which would be Gentiles? It wasn’t meant to be cruel, it was to express the seriousness of Jesus’ own purpose and obedience to that calling. It would seem odd to us, but Jesus, having the wisdom and urgency of God’s will over his own, knew that even one misstep could have unintended consequences.

But then the woman threw herself at his feet, worshipping and pleading saying, come, rescue me! This moved Jesus to NOT send her away just yet, but instead gave her a reason for his hesitation to get involved. He gives her an illustration of how difficult it would be to fulfill her request. Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” Even though it sounds like Jesus is calling her and her kind, dogs compared to Jewish children. It wasn’t like that at all. Jesus was comparing to the different loves in a family household: the beloved children and the beloved family pet. Both are loved! Certainly, if a choice had to be made of which one lives and which one dies of starvation, the child would take priority. The thought of a parent taking food out of the starving mouth of their child and then turn, and throw it down to the family pet would be considered a horrible act of abuse. Jesus really did a good job framing the true struggle behind his decision. First he had her pleading for mercy. Then she recognizes who he is by calling out his God-given lineage, connected to Israel’s greatest king. Then she falls at his feet worshipping him! Come on… this is very intense and real.

Ah, but then the woman says something that goes above and beyond the average person begging God for help. She basically says, “Oh, I would never be so bold to think I am worthy of taking the bread from a child’s mouth, but I don’t need the whole bread. I only need the crumbs that may fall as the bread is eaten! I’m not greedy and I know my place, my station in life. I’m just asking for the bits of crumbs that may fall.”

Jesus was obviously impressed with this woman’s faith. Jesus told her that her faith was great and her daughter was healed. God loves it when we cry out to Him. He loves it when we worship and humble ourselves before Him. But, boy oh boy, God really loves our FAITH. And that faith moves the heart of God.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, I’d really love to have the kind of faith that this woman had! And, I believe that a mother’s prayer, a mom’s request, has got to be the most powerful kind of prayers! Thank you God for momma’s and their faith.

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Who let the dogs out?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus lays down these rapid-fire sayings for a quick jab to the heart for those who are listening, having ears to hear. What starts this specific volley of pithy punches are the words “judge not.” That should stop just about any human being that lives in a family or community of any kind. A passerby might hear that and say to themselves, “what did that man say?” Is he talking to me or about me? Judge not? That’s impossible!

Both judging and being judged is a human right, even a privilege one might say. ​Jesus explained, whatever “krima” judgement or “metron” measurement you use towards others will also be used towards yourself. Well that won’t work! We judge others by their behaviors, but we judge ourselves by our motives. A wild, highway driver cuts you off, almost hitting your car. We judge – that is dangerous and they should get a ticket. However, when we cut someone off, nearly hitting them, we say, “but I was late for work.” Jesus gets inside our head and causes us to think about hard things from God’s perspective not ours.

Jesus then tells the humorous illustration of a nearly blind person trying to do ocular surgery on someone who temporarily has an eyelash stuck in their eye. Pure godly comedy, I say!

Jesus closes this particular vignette with this strange “introverted parallelism” illustration. An object lesson about wild dogs and pigs. Never mind for a moment that Jesus is speaking to Jewish listeners who hate both dogs and pigs because they were nasty, “unclean” (forbidden to eat) animals. It would be like telling a story of a pet cockroach and how you feed it prime rib from your dinner plate. Yuk.

Jesus said that there are times when it’s a complete waste of time spending words of life or even holy advice on those who are vehemently opposed to God talk. In other words, they don’t have a beef with you or your words, they have major issues with God himself. In these cases of clearly oppositional discussions, it’s your loss if you spend your words in hopes of a decent conversation. It would be like taking fine jewelry and feeding it to wild pigs. I hear pigs will eat anything! Your gems will just end up in a poop pile. Or for the Jews in this story, it would be like taking the precious sacrifice of one of your perfect animals after it has given its innocent life in symbolic substitution for your sin. Then, instead of that meat, which has been specially designated and dedicated to God, you waste it by giving it to wild dogs.

Jesus even says you’ve got to be extra cautious about that move – giving what’s dedicated to God to deeply bitter, angry people. Because they may turn on you and in anger towards God, take it out directly on you! Whoa. Who is Jesus talking about? Who are the wild pigs and dogs? The average person listening to Jesus’ sermons? Maybe. But more likely they are the angry, bitter, beyond our ability to reach, teachers and experts in the law – the Pharisees.

Are they really that vicious, that vindictive? Don’t they work for God? Yes and yes, but folks like these are dangerous and have very sharp teeth. What did Jesus know about them, that we don’t? These are the guys who would soon turn and attack God himself, framing Him, setting up a mock trial, then killing him on a criminal’s cross. Are there people still that angry, that violent today? Yes, they hate God enough to hate you as well.

Prayer

Dad,
It’s hard to imagine that there are people that hate you so much that they have no problem being violent towards those who believe in you today. I guess that rebellion against truth can do some nasty stuff to one’s soul. I see some who are that angry. My heart breaks for them as well. Yet even in all the viscous behaviors around us, my hope is that you can reach them and still save them – even from themselves.