Mark 7:24-37

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Mark 7: 24- 37 ()

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27He said to her, 'Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' 28But she answered him, 'Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.' 29Then he said to her, 'For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter.' 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Think





I know that my understanding of how to treat a dog is different than Jesus' or this woman's perspective.  In the 1st century they weren't sharing their beds with dogs, or feeding them organic filler free food, actually according to an interview I heard on NPR recently dogs might not have even been "domesticated" at this point, at least not in the same way my pet is.  Actually in parts of the world keeping a dog is still considered odd.  But I know that how I treat a dog influences how I read this story.  Jesus compares this woman to a dog.  I'm not sure if he is referring to her as such because she is a Gentile, or because she is a woman, or both.  But I'm drawn to defend Jesus, and say but he was tired, he has been healing people all day, and he went away so that he could get some rest and this woman show up and harassed him about a girl.  But that isn't quite right.  Something is wrong in this story and it is unsettling to me.  I don't want "my" Jesus to be short tempered, or mean or angry with a woman for the sake of being a woman, I want my Jesus to be broad minded, kind and patient.  This passage reminds me that the Son of Man is not "my" Jesus, but is Jesus, at heart he is a Jewish man and a product of his time and experience.  If Jesus were incarnate at a different time and in a different place, he would have had a different experience similar to this.  After all, human beings are subject to all kinds of different influences in their lives.  Nature and nurture and all of that. 

I can't help but put myself in the shoes of the woman, after all I am a gentile, and I am a woman.  I can't imagine I would have the cajones to say to Jesus what she said to Jesus.  "Sir even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 

 Pray

Jesus, you are not mine to understand and you are not mine to hold in my own imagination.  You were flesh and blood and you were part of a culture I can hardly understand.  Allow me the grace to misunderstand your teaching and grant me patience to treat others with the respect and dignity they deserve.  All people, in all places at all times deserve your love and understanding, not just me and people like me, but all people.  We are your beloved creation even if sometimes we don't live up to our own expectations we are all fed by the crumbs off your table.

Contemplate: 

Nap time with Indy, remembering even the dogs get crumbs.