Easter Devotional - Day 07
"'Lord, that's true,' the woman said, 'but even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner's table.' Jesus answered, 'Dear woman, you really do have a lot of faith, and you will be given what you want.' At that moment her daughter was healed.” Matthew 15:27-28
Jesus was always in teacher mode, it seems. He had been talking with the disciples about ritual impurity, religious traditions about application of the law, and what makes people unclean before God. He had categorized that attitude the disciples took for granted as pointless, blind drivel. It is not the external things of life that separate us from God, but the inside motives and intentions of the heart. After giving the disciples the theory or doctrinal discussion, he went to the borders of Judaism to give them the practical application.
That is where he found her. She was not even part of the chosen people. She was a foreigner. She ate the wrong foods—the ones every Jew avoided on account of the Law. She was of the wrong lineage. She was not married to a circumcised male. She did not participate in the synagogue or temple rituals. By all accounts of purity and ritual, the Jews considered her unclean and about as far away from God as one could get. This is where the application of Jesus' teaching made a difference. Here is where the disciples could see his words applied to a tangible reality.
It is not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out of the heart that makes on clean or unclean. That was the issue. Before them was a woman, wholly and completely unclean from every ritual standard. By the common doctrine of the day, her daughter was ill due to sin which incited the curse of demonic forces. She began to stalk Jesus.
How would a Jew respond? How should a Jew respond? Jesus allowed the question to hang thick in the air until the disciples were stirred and ready to have Jesus brush her aside as any religious Jew would have done. While Jesus remained silent with regard to her, the disciples tired of her and wanted to send her away. She was a nuisance. She was not part of the chosen nation. She was unclean. She was impure to stand before God. She was unfit for their attention. There were so many reasons to discard her along with her needs and cries for help. They asked Jesus to turn her away.
Jesus stopped. The woman came closer and pleaded her case. He turned to her and gave the standard reply that would be expected—the one the disciples were awaiting. "I was sent only to the people of Israel!” The disciples listened to her answer. She simply asked for help. Jesus gave her the summary Jewish perspective as to her unclean condition. She accepted the category of dog as a matter of course. She did not react with anger, malice, shame, or hurt. She simply pleaded her case based upon mercy and grace. I picture Jesus turning to the disciples and focusing their attention on her manner, her condition before God, her trust and confidence poured out freely.
"You really do have faith.” By all rights she was unclean, but in faith she was ready to meet God on the conditions of mercy, grace, and the trust of submission. It is on these lines that the true categories of purity before God reside. Are they evident in your life?
Define who it is you would consider unclean. Seek ways to include them in God's grace.
"Lord, help me to look beyond my prejudices to see others with the eyes of your love."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
Jesus was always in teacher mode, it seems. He had been talking with the disciples about ritual impurity, religious traditions about application of the law, and what makes people unclean before God. He had categorized that attitude the disciples took for granted as pointless, blind drivel. It is not the external things of life that separate us from God, but the inside motives and intentions of the heart. After giving the disciples the theory or doctrinal discussion, he went to the borders of Judaism to give them the practical application.
That is where he found her. She was not even part of the chosen people. She was a foreigner. She ate the wrong foods—the ones every Jew avoided on account of the Law. She was of the wrong lineage. She was not married to a circumcised male. She did not participate in the synagogue or temple rituals. By all accounts of purity and ritual, the Jews considered her unclean and about as far away from God as one could get. This is where the application of Jesus' teaching made a difference. Here is where the disciples could see his words applied to a tangible reality.
It is not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out of the heart that makes on clean or unclean. That was the issue. Before them was a woman, wholly and completely unclean from every ritual standard. By the common doctrine of the day, her daughter was ill due to sin which incited the curse of demonic forces. She began to stalk Jesus.
How would a Jew respond? How should a Jew respond? Jesus allowed the question to hang thick in the air until the disciples were stirred and ready to have Jesus brush her aside as any religious Jew would have done. While Jesus remained silent with regard to her, the disciples tired of her and wanted to send her away. She was a nuisance. She was not part of the chosen nation. She was unclean. She was impure to stand before God. She was unfit for their attention. There were so many reasons to discard her along with her needs and cries for help. They asked Jesus to turn her away.
Jesus stopped. The woman came closer and pleaded her case. He turned to her and gave the standard reply that would be expected—the one the disciples were awaiting. "I was sent only to the people of Israel!” The disciples listened to her answer. She simply asked for help. Jesus gave her the summary Jewish perspective as to her unclean condition. She accepted the category of dog as a matter of course. She did not react with anger, malice, shame, or hurt. She simply pleaded her case based upon mercy and grace. I picture Jesus turning to the disciples and focusing their attention on her manner, her condition before God, her trust and confidence poured out freely.
"You really do have faith.” By all rights she was unclean, but in faith she was ready to meet God on the conditions of mercy, grace, and the trust of submission. It is on these lines that the true categories of purity before God reside. Are they evident in your life?
Define who it is you would consider unclean. Seek ways to include them in God's grace.
"Lord, help me to look beyond my prejudices to see others with the eyes of your love."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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