Throwing food to the dogs

 

ARTICLE BY VICTOR S E MOUBARAK - LINK HERE 

Mark 7:24-30 (abridged) 

Jesus set out and went to the region of Tyre. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about Him, and she came and bowed down at His feet. The woman was a Gentile. She begged Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He 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." But she answered Him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then He said to her, "For saying that, you may go - the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

As a Gentile she was not a person with whom Jesus would be expected to associate. We may think that He is being rude calling her and her people dogs. 

He is in fact saying that He came to be with His people first, (the Jews), and it is not fair for Him to spend His time with, and performing miracles for, the Gentiles. 

Jesus here is not being rude, or deliberately withholding love and grace from some people. His imagery, comparing the woman and her people to dogs, may be harsh, but Jesus here is doing two things worth noting:

He is testing the woman's faith.

He is sending a clear message to the onlookers who see what is happening; and who reported it to be written in this Gospel for all of us to read and learn. 

She responds back. She is not going to be put off by His refusals. Her needs are too important. Her love for her daughter is such that she is not going to back off at the first obstacle she encounters. She responds that even she and her people, unworthy as they might be in someone's eyes, are still worthy of God's pity and compassion. 

Jesus is impressed. He obviously knew how she would react; and He heals her daughter.

But the message He sends is there for all to see. God's love, pity and compassion is for everyone. No one is excluded. We are all worthy and we are all loved as individuals no matter who we are.

Psalm 22 was written by King David roughly a thousand years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. It depicts aspects of crucifixion well before this method of execution was devised and used by the Romans.

Here's a significant detail often missed. The Psalm identifies the executioners of Jesus as Gentiles. The Jewish leaders had no authority to kill Jesus. Only the Romans (Pilate) had that authority. It is he who condemned Him to death. Note the word "dogs" in Verse 16. This was the term used by the Jews when referring to the Gentiles.  

"Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet."

Jesus was not insulting when He calls the woman "dog". He was referring to a language His Jewish onlookers understood too well.