“Jesus answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Matthew 15:26

Excuse me? Did Jesus really just call that woman a dog? Is Jesus refusing to help someone in need because she doesn’t have the right background? Sometimes you read scripture and you do a double take or maybe a spit take! Jesus almost never acts in predictable ways and this story of his interaction with a Canaanite woman asking mercy for her daughter is no exception. My first thought is how Jesus moves aside so this woman can take center stage. She seems to be the hero here. She argues persuasively against Jesus and convinces him to heal her daughter. She seems to be a better person than Jesus in the story. I wonder if Jesus did that on purpose, to help us see her and others like her in our own life with new eyes? I think Jesus might be playing the fool here, for our sake.

-Pastor Travis

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