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T h e
K i n g ' s ’ B u s i n e s s
February 1928
g PASSAGES THAT PERPLEX
But He says: “ It is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs33 She had worshiped Him as Lord and omitted the title some say was offensive from this source, and still she is held off. Is He trying to say, as some'would have it— “ I am now offering the earthly kingdom to the Jews, and you have nothing to do with that” ? The writer finds no such meaning in His words, nor any suggestion that a temporal kingdom was in His purpose at that time. Let us note Mark’s version of the affair ( 7 :27). “ Let the children FIRST be filled.” It was the normal order that Israel, to whom the oracles of God had long before been committed, should have the first Gospel opportunity. They were expected to be its messengers to the whole world. The word “ first” clearly implies that others were sodn to have their turn at the same thing (Jn. 10:16; 12: 32; 17:20). It was still the hour o f Israel’s opportunity and she -was a little ahead of time in asking Him to deviate from His general plan. But even the law o f “ the Jew first’1 had been made for purposes of highest import, and there was always present a higher law—the response o f perfect love to genuine faith. But why call her a “ dog” ? It is necessary to under stand that this, in the original, is not the word often ap plied by Jesus to Gentiles as a. term of contempt. Their word meant an unclean, scavenger dog. Our Lord’s-word to the woman means “ a pet dog” or “ house dog.” The woman caught the significance of it, showing that His words had not repressed her faith, but proved food for it. “ Truth; Lord,” she answers, “ but a single crumb of that bread with which Thou art satisfying the desires of Thy chosen people®just a word— just a look— is all I need and my daughter shall be healed.” She had taken the place of humility and utter depen dence upon divine grace. That is the very place where the blessings of God begin to pour upon any soul. Jesus had taught the Gentile woman the true ground o f ap proach, to exalt Him as Lord, to take the place o f a sinner, and to have a deep and intelligent faith. That, we believe, explains the whole incident. Y OU say that in your Bible class 1 Cor. 7:14 was brought up to prove that if neither parent was a believer, the children, should they pass away in infancy, would be lost. This verse says “ the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving w ife is sancti fied by the husband, else were your children unclean.” ' In the first place it should be understood that Paul is not discussing a case of a Christian marrying an unsaved person. That was forbidden (v. 39; 2 Cor. 6 :14 ). He is here considering a case where marriage o f two unsaved parties had taken place, and then one was converted. He advises in v. 13 that the believing party should dwell with the unbelieving one in the hope of dedicating that one to the Lord (but see v. 15) . Scripture nowhere -teaches that a husband or wife can be saved “ by proxy,” nor does Paul have such an idea in Sanctifying the Unbelieving T o M rs . G. H. P.
He Answered Her Not a Word Mt. 15.22-23 “And, behold, a woman o f Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have .mercy on me, 0 Lord, thou Son o f David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demi." AN explanation o f these verses that has been widely i \ taught in recent years has not been altogether satis factory to the writer. It is to the effect that at this time, our Lord was on a special mission to the Jews, offering to set up the Davidic Kingdom, and that this woman, hav ing no claim on Him as “ Son o f David” had no right to address Him by that title. Hence, it is said, He could not answer her until she called Him “ Lord” (as in v. 25). This explanation seems to be destroyed by the fact that she addressed Him as “ Lord” • before she called Him “ son of David” (v. 22). Did He then withhold a blessing from her merely because she had no covenant relationship with Him as a Jew? It is to be admitted that, as Son o f David, He was especially related to Israel. It is odd that this Gentile woman should make use of this title. No doubt she had picked it up from the Jews and did not understand its full significance. She considered it a title that would incline Him favorably toward her. The Lord knew all this and took a course with her that would develop in her a vital faith. For a moment, He seemed to pay no attention to her. Dr. Saphir says : “ He answered nothing but looked yes.3’ He knew she had a faith that would stand a test and that if he stood her off a bit, she would have a victory that would send her away with great rejoicing. Before He was through with her, she had a faith that made her a true Israelite (Gal. 3 :14, 26) for it is through faith that all dis tinction between Jew and Gentile vanishes. There could have been no harshness in the Saviour’s manner. In fact there must have been some peculiar ten derness in His voice or twinkle in His eye. This quick woman’s wit caught it and her mother-heart interpreted it as a sign o f love. Had she been repulsed simply because she had used a wrong title, she might well have answered : “ Sir, you’ve insulted mb in saying that it is not meet to take the chil dren’s bread and cast it to dogs. I denounce you as heart less, that you can turn away from the cry of a mother’s heart.” He turns to her, with a twinkle in His eye, and says : “ Just now I am sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It is clear that His mission, at the first, was con firmed to the Jews (Rom. 1 :16; Mt. 10:5; Lk. 24:46-47 ; Acts 3 :25-26). Yet from the beginning, He had the Gen tiles in His purpose (Mt. 12:21 ; Lk. 2 :27-32; Jn. 12 :46 ). A t this very time He was in the borders of heathendom and surely He had this woman in His purpose when He went there. Will the fact that she is a little ahead of the clock, deter Him from receiving her? Or is He simply testing her? S he W as A head of th e C lock ‘‘ Then she came and worshipped Him saying, Lord, help me.” She drops the title “ Son o f’ David,” being evident ly now impressed with His deity. That is progress in faith.
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