Do you have a family dog? If you haven’t
trained him to do otherwise, where will he be when you sit down at the table
for a meal? Exactly! Right next to or under the table. And if there are children, what will they be
tempted to do? Obviously, things can get
quickly out of hand when they start slipping food to him. Even in our household with no children but with
my 99-year-old mother-in-law who occasionally likes to feed her “pal” Mo morsels
from her plate we sometimes have a challenge.
Most of the time, Mo knows to stay away from the table at mealtimes, but
the instant he thinks we’re finished he rushes over and begins to search for
possible crumbs that may have fallen to the floor.
In Chapter 7 of the book of Mark, the Bible has a curious story about dogs and
crumbs. A Syro-Phoenecian woman (a
Gentile) came up to Jesus and fell at His feet pleading for Him to cast out a
demon from her little daughter. At first
glance, His reply seems uncharacteristically harsh and uncompassionate: “Let the children be satisfied first, for it
is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
It was well known that “dogs” was often used by the Jews as a denigrating term
for Gentiles (non-Jews). But a careful
study of Jesus’ interaction with people reveals His frequent use of surprise
responses and counter questions. Knowing
already the hearts of those with whom He spoke, Jesus chose His words not as we
would do to learn more about the people, but to penetrate to a deeper level
that would cause them to reveal their true heart and character.
Listen to how that happened in this woman’s response: “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table
feed on the children’s crumbs.” Notice
she didn’t disagree with Jesus’ characterization of her but says, “Yes,” and she
calls Him “Lord.” She realizes that she
has no rightful claim on Him as an outsider, yet in humility acknowledges Him
as Lord. True, it was through the Jew’s
covenant relationship with God that the long promised Messiah was to come, and
it was appropriate at this moment before being rejected by His own people for Jesus
to offer the Kingdom of God first to them only.
She had faith, however, that He would be compassionate in spite of her lack of the
special relationship that the Jews held. Unlike the Pharisees, who had no sense of compassion,
and clung to the Law out of spiritual pride, Jesus frequently superseded the
Law in showing compassion through such acts as healing on the Sabbath and
touching a leper to cleanse him.
It was her next words, however, that, to me, demonstrated the greatness of her
faith, “...even the dogs under table feed on the children’s crumbs.” For her, just receiving the crumbs was
sufficient to meet her needs. Just the
crumbs from Jesus were powerful enough in her estimation to cure her
daughter. Jesus immediately recognized her
faith and told her that because of her answer the demon had left her
daughter. And so it was. Ironically, it was God’s intent that all the
nations were to be blessed through Abraham, and His children (the Jews) were to
be the ones to “feed” them the truth about Him.
The image of children slipping food from their plates to the dogs under
the table is an unforgettable illustration of that truth.
What can we who follow Jesus take away from this story? It seems clear that when we come to Him with
our requests, we must come first in humility, realizing He owes us nothing,
that it is only by His grace and because of His sacrifice on the cross that we
are now included as children of the Kingdom.
Second, we must submit to and honor Him as Lord of our lives. Third, we must come believing in His
compassion and power. And finally, we need
to realize that whatever we ask of the Almighty One is really a very small
thing for Him. All we need is a crumb.
And Jesus said, “…All things are possible
to him who believes.” Immediately, the
boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief!” –
Mark 9:23b-24
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