Read Matthew 15:10-28
10 Then
Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand! 11It
is not what goes into a person’s mouth that makes him ritually unclean; rather,
what comes out of it makes him unclean.”
12 Then
the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees had their
feelings hurt by what you said?”
13 “Every
plant which my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up,” answered
Jesus. 14“Don’t worry about them! They are blind leaders of the
blind; and when one blind man leads another, both fall into a ditch.”
15 Peter
spoke up, “Explain this saying to us.”
16 Jesus
said to them, “You are still no more intelligent than the others. 17Don’t
you understand? Anything that goes into a person’s mouth goes into his stomach
and then on out of his body. 18But the things that come out of the mouth
come from the heart, and these are the things that make a person ritually
unclean. 19For from his heart come the evil ideas which lead him to
kill, commit adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander
others. 20These are the things that make a person unclean. But to
eat without washing your hands as they say you should—this doesn’t make a
person unclean.”
21 Jesus
left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and
Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman who lived in that region came to him.
“Son of David!” she cried out. “Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a demon
and is in a terrible condition.”
23 But
Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him,
“Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!”
24 Then
Jesus replied, “I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of
Israel.”
25 At
this the woman came and fell at his feet. “Help me, sir!” she said.
26 Jesus
answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the
dogs.”
27 “That’s
true, sir,” she answered; “but even the dogs eat the leftovers that fall from
their masters’ table.”
28 So
Jesus answered her, “You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done
for you.” And at that very moment her daughter was healed.
Think
The first passage makes sense
of the second. The pharisees were not
interested in what Jesus said about 'heart religion;' a change of heart that
produces positive fruit. When they
reject what Jesus offers a foreign woman asks Jesus to give to the dogs the
food that the children refused.
Pray
Lord thank you for sharing
your gospel with me. Help me to share it
with others in their hunger.
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