THE STORY OF JESUS: Mark 7:24-30
“It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” (Mark 7:27)
This hardly seems a Jesus-like thing – or a God-like – thing to say.
To call someone a dog a common way of insulting someone.
So why does Jesus speak so sharply, why does He cut her like this?
Jesus knows how the Canaanites and Jews felt about each other.
It might be the same attitude found between Jews and Palestinians today.
Jesus knows how this woman thinks of Jews, and He throws that back at her.
He knows her heart, and cuts deep with surgical knife into her unhealthy attitude.
“It is from a person’s heart that malice, slander and arrogance come…” (Mark 7:21-22)
The woman knows it too, and her heart is humbled.
Jesus loves her; He heals her daughter, but also the attitude of her heart.
Jesus speaks personally to each one of us, addressing our issues and sins.
As a Jesus follower, this passage is meant to speak to me, to expose my attitudes.
Is the Spirit challenging how I think about people of other faiths, cultures, lifestyles?
Does my heart need to be humbled, to see that I am not better than others?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, You are pressing in on my ‘issue’, gently but firmly calling me to repent too. Help me to see that when Your words are sharp, they are a surgeon’s knife, cutting away something unhealthy.