By: Elias

Read: Leviticus 16:29-18:30, Mark 7:24-8:10, Psalm 41:1-13, Proverbs 10:15-16

And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
(Mark 7:27-28)

Relate: Many who read this verse are confused about why Jesus would say something like this to the Gentile woman who’s just asking Him to heal her daughter. I certainly was. It sounds cruel. However, I think we’re looking at it all too literally. In the gospels, Jesus frequently uses hyperbole and metaphors to make sure his point gets across. We see this in Matthew 16 where Jesus calls Simon Peter Satan and a hindrance. However, we know that Jesus didn’t really mean this. Peter was just setting his mind on the things of this world and not considering that this was God’s plan. He was trying to rebuke Jesus and tell Him that this wouldn’t happen to Him, not understanding that this was God’s plan for Salvation. While this may be a poor illustration, it does show how extreme Jesus’ words can sound. 

The purpose of Jesus doing this was to test her faith. It was incredibly uncommon and taboo for a gentile woman to approach Jesus, a Jewish man, so Jesus decided to test her to ensure her faith was genuine. He saw her humility in the way she referred to herself as the dogs that get to eat the crumbs as well as her genuine faith that Jesus would help her. It is an incredible privilege to be a part of God’s family. She passes the test that Jesus presents to her. She showed her humility and thankfulness. Sometimes the thought comes to me about how thankful I am to have been raised in a godly household with loving parents who taught me the truth of the Gospel. And I remember how God never gave up on me despite my struggle with sin when I felt unworthy of His forgiveness. When I remember this, I thank God for accepting me despite all of the times I’ve fallen short of His glory. 

React: I’ve struggled with repetitive sin in my life and every time I fell short of God’s glory, it was discouraging, to say the least. Despite being unworthy of God’s grace and forgiveness, God remained faithful to me and never let me go despite me repeatedly betraying Him and giving up. I’ve just recently written a reminder in my journal for my devotions to pray for family members who are not Christians, as well as a reminder to thank God for allowing me to be part of His family even when I felt lost.

Respond:

Dear God,
I thank you for accepting me into your family despite me being wholly undeserving of it. I thank you that your Grace is not dependent on us but on You. I pray God that you will make your words clear to us and convict us when we fall short. In Jesus’ merciful name,
Amen.