Was Jesus really that rude?

Hey friends…
 
What the what? Did Jesus just call that woman a dog? Look… I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to relationships, but even I know that’s a red line that should never be crossed. There must be something more to the story. There is. When Jesus called her a dog, it exposed something about our rudeness, not his. Let’s talk about it in Deeper Thoughts below.
 
But first… a bunch important reminders:
 
·      TOMORROW, Saturday, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.: “Parents Night Out / Kids Night In” (Pre-K through 6th grade). Snacks, crafts, games, movies, and baking goodies for the next morning’s summer camp Bake Sale! Click here to RSVP with Chris Bowen!
 
·      Yummy Bake Sale THIS Sunday morning, February 23, to support our kid’s summer camp!
 
·      Facility expansion “3-D renderings reveal,” Sunday, March 2 during service.
 
·      NEWCOMERS Lunch, Sunday, March 2, 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Get to know Mt. Hope as we get to know you… Click here to email Sherri to RSVP!
 
·      Covenant Partners orientation class and luncheon, Sunday, March 9, 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. Learn about how to become an official member of our church partnership team!
 
·      Teens: NO Youth Group this Sunday, but consider helping with our Kids Night In or the Bake Sale…  Click here to RSVP with Chris Bowen!
 
·      Don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minutes every weekday to read along with me as we study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here for a link to The Daily Six each morning!
 
OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who are helplessly ill-mannered. BUT…
 
 
Some Deeper Thoughts…
 
It had to have been stunning, to say the least.
 
“It is not right for me to help you,” Jesus said. “Because you are a dog.”
 
Wait… what?
 
Yep. He just said that. Out loud.
 
OK, here’s the more technical translation straight from the Greek scholars: “It is not right for me to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs” (Mark 7:27).
 
Let’s back up for some context. This came after three failed attempts for Jesus and his disciples to get away for a much-needed vacation. They were absolutely exhausted.
 
Their first try was thwarted by a flash mob that tracked their escape and surrounded them, begging Jesus for his attention. Rather than drawing tight boundaries for his team to get the time off they needed--like any good executive leader would do for his staff—Jesus spontaneously ramped up the ministry schedule and gave the crowd the entire day, depriving his team not only of rest, but also of food. All day. Not only that, but he also gave them responsibility for feeding nearly 20,000 people without warning or a plan. (Mark 6:30-44). We taught on this last Sunday… if you missed it, it’s worth clicking here to catch up.
 
Then, Jesus lacked all managerial finesse as he immediately sent them on ahead while he himself got some rest up on the mountain. Having worked all day with only one miraculous late-day meal, the disciples were sent across the lake in the middle of the night, physically rowing against an insurmountable headwind. When Jesus finally had the presence of mind to go investigate his group’s situation, he planned to just walk past—not to actually join them in their miserable task (Mark 6:48).
 
As dawn broke on the weary men who’d been awake for at least 24 hours now, they landed on the remote seashore hoping to just sit on the beach and chill. But nope… the crowds recognized them, sent word all over the region, and mobbed them once more. Boundary-less Jesus couldn’t resist, and the vacation turned once again into a region-wide ministry festival (Mark 6:53-56).
 
Try number three. This time let’s go 30 miles away—which back then, without cars, planes, or trains, would take about as long as you and I driving to Chicago. Surely no one would know them up there along the coastline of modern Lebanon.
 
Enter the desperate woman. The one he called a dog.
 
Her daughter was possessed by a demon. She fell at Jesus’ feet, begging him to drive the torturous devil away.
 
Finally, it seems Jesus recognized what his men needed. “First I need to feed my kids,” he said.
 
He should have stopped there. He didn’t.
 
“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take their children’s bread and toss it to their dogs” (Mark 6:27).
 
At this point, I would be stunned. The woman was undeterred. Without missing a beat, she pushed back that “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 6:28). Jesus was impressed by her pragmatic argument. She got her daughter’s healing.
 
But why did Jesus have to be so rude about it?  
 
To understand what was really happening, we need to grab Matthew’s account of this awkward conversation. He was there when it happened. He may have even felt the embarrassment of the trap Jesus sprung on his disciples, flipping the tables on them to expose the issue of their own rude and calloused heart.
 
Matthew: The woman comes and begs Jesus. “Jesus did not answer a word.” Awkward pause. Everyone is looking at him. Someone—maybe even Matthew—finally spoke up about what they all were thinking. “His disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying after us’” (Matthew 15:23).
 
That’s when Jesus called her a dog. That’s when she said she didn’t care and would take whatever she could get. That’s when Jesus exploded with joy at her faith and sent her healing throughout the spiritual realms.
 
Friends, Jesus never saw this woman as a dog. He saw her just like he saw every needy person he encountered—like “sheep without a shepherd” and worthy of his intentional compassion (see Mark 6:34).
 
It was the disciples who saw her as a dog—perhaps, in part, because of their terribly depleted exhaustion, but more likely because of a lifetime of Jewish prejudice towards the Greeks. He exposed the absurdity of their selfish hearts by being absurd himself. The woman saw through the ruse and graciously offered to lick the floor if she had to. Anything for her desperate daughter.
 
We learned last Sunday that Jesus called his disciples to engage a heart of unlimited generosity regardless of how depleted and under-resourced they felt. We faced the “So what?” decision of whether a life of intentional generosity could compel us to trust God for strength, resource, and provision even when it seems impossible.
 
In our weekly Elder meeting last night, one of the fellas reflected on what God had shown him on Sunday. “We should get t-shirts that read: ‘Depleted. Ill-equipped. Ready to serve.’”
 
When we develop a heart of unlimited and unfettered generosity, we step into a fuller aspect of our discipleship in Jesus. The scripture challenges us to discover this: “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7).
 
This Sunday, let’s widen the circle to understand what living in the grace of giving our all really looks like. Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 and see if you can find the link to last week’s Mark 6:30-44 and this Sunday’s Mark 7:24-30!
 
Can’t wait to see you all…
 
Chris Eads
Mt. Hope Pastor
Friend