Feeding Scraps to a "Dog", Part 1

As a mom and dad are grandparents. Few things are more stressful than watching someone you love live in pain, especially when you can't figure out what's causing the raggedy. In Matthew chapter 15 the writer tells us about an encounter between Jesus and desperate mother. This woman's child was possessed by a demon and she played with Jesus to intervene. What followed was a perplexing exchange Jesus and this woman today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll helps us understand the dynamics of their conversation and what it means for you and me today store were going to read about today in Matthew 15 is a story about a woman whom Jesus described as a woman of great faith unusual words for Jesus to use especially when their expressed to a Gentile by one who was a Jew. Great state thought about what that is comprised of maybe you've heard the story of the tight rope walker who was walking across the gorge D valley below him and on this tightrope walks all the way across and there's not there's not a there's no hesitation becomes all the way the other side and all the norms of clauses regarding the group is just so impressed we tell them I'm not going to push all wheelbarrow across to the other side looks a little boy down here… Do you believe I can do that little boy said I do, you can you believe I will do that I do. I think you will do it.

Okay wheelbarrow. All of a sudden we realize in that simple little story that is not something somebody else is engaged in is something we ourselves are to be doing living out, especially if it's great, great.

I read some time ago about a group of four nuns who worked at a local hospital and they were on their way in the car early that morning and the bad news is they ran out of gas.

But the good news is they were just about 50 feet from the next service station where they could get the gas they needed to put in the tank but they didn't have anything to put it in so they popped over the trunk of the car and the only thing they found was a bedpan when I thought well I will hold about enough we can put in the tank and will get us to the pump so that you just bring it back and they're pouring it in as a car is driving by with a couple and it and the husband says to his wife, honey that is great faith right there no, that's an illusion. Wishful thinking when you wish upon a star makes no difference who you are though that's wishful thinking.

That is a great thing.

What if I may even claim it cannot count on God to to pay my mortgage and to bring in a pile of money because I needed them. I've cleaned it has nothing to do with the skull presumption and is based on greed. What I'm going to get out of this prayer that I offer to God. Great faith is, is not an illusion. It is not presumption is not wishful thinking. It is an absolute trust in the Lord God to do what we cannot possibly do ourselves. I cannot make my rich, I should say my sick child well I trust God to bring the healing. I can't do anything to bring. I can't fix a situation that has me cornered and is full of impossibilities and the more I tried to do that. The more I mess it up. Faith is trusting God to do for me for his glory and in his time.

What I cannot do for myself. Interesting setting this story of Jesus with the Gentile woman we read of the geography here in this 21st verse of Matthew 15, unless you take the time to look at a map to see where they were and then where they went.

You can't appreciate the setting we know over they were and we see that in the in the 14th chapter and the 34th verse. They were at a place called get Messe writ, known today as genocide are it's in the north west corner of the Sea of Galilee. Down in the Galilee and region. The Jewish territory of that time and we read that the left Galilee. Verse 21 and they went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon you look at the map you would see that's a distance of about 3035 miles depending on the trail they had to take maybe 40 miles. That's a long walk Mark in a parallel passage when you correlate Matthew 15 with Mark seven you'll see that Mark makes the comment. Jesus wanted to get away. Have a little time alone with the disciples. So they got the tire and they found a house and hopefully in this remote region, there would not be a crowd that would come pressing around. There's been a frenzy of activity in Galilee. Jesus wants a little R&R with his disciples. What I didn't tell you is the Tyre and Sidon or Gentile areas.

In fact today. Both are located in southern Lebanon at some far north. They were this is the old foot mission region of their entire site. Now I know when a sale.

This it it means little to a 21st-century audience. Tracy, when most of us are Gentile, whichever appreciate the difference there was a marked difference in our day.

Everyone talks about bringing everyone together for whatever reason, for whatever calls and if you don't, your racially discriminating against others. In those days Jesus came with a single mission and he tells us what it is. As we get to the story it was to win the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Make no mistake about it.

That was his initial pinpointed mission. As Paul writes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So with with that in mind when we convert to a Gentile region and we find a group of Jews in a house it's an unusual setting to say the least. That's where they are in this for we find them when verse 22 of Matthew 15 tells us a Gentile woman by the way she's never named either here or in Mark seven.

We don't know she was she's called there are several foot mission woman.

She's a Gentile. Rarely did Gentiles talk to Jews in the first century almost never would woman alone talk to a Jew, a Gentile woman talk to a Jew alone, but she overlooks all of those cultural barriers. All the norms she was raised to observe. The reason is she has a need that is impossible. It's at home it's her daughter who has a demon look at it.

A Gentile woman who lived there meaning in that region came to him came to Jesus pleading pleading veggie.

This is impossible what she's living with absolutely impossible for her to bring about take mercy on me oh Lord, son of David. She acknowledges she acknowledges him to be Messiah, have mercy on me. Oh Lord, son of David for my daughter.

My daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely cut close dime on it's a tie. The Greek says bad demonized, badly demonized me. She's tortured, assaulted and tormented, horrified.

Her daughter was like a ragdoll in the mouth of the snarling wild dog who knows what the mother is been dealing with. Who knows what the daughter is enduring it reaches the stage for the woman cannot bear it any longer. She hears through some unrevealed source, but the master that the Lord Jesus has left Galilee and is in her area and she found because she do what she was unable to do.

He was able to handle. She calms knowing the need is at home. Try to imagine the treacherous scene. If you've never witnessed demon activity.

Your education is incomplete when you see it you will stare in disbelief.

It is beyond words. It is so horrible specially got close dime on it's a tie severely demonized my daughter is tormented by the demon interesting. Verse 23 the initial response. Jesus gave her no reply not even a word were not told why all teachers down through the years of come up with reasons. Keep it simple.

I think he was simply thinking about what she was saying pondering it, not ready to respond to her and there may have been some reasonable reluctance since she was outside the scope of his initial calling. She's a Gentile woman and so he says nothing, so she keeps all and she keeps on. She begs for mercy. She please she's relentless. She is passionate she is determined that she is going to get him to respond. Her daughter needs to be cleanse relieved healed of this demonic possession. Well, she was on so long that verse 23 the disciples urged Jesus to send her away. Tell her to go away. They said she's bothering us with all begging. Remember, they too were tired. They too have been through the frenzy of ministry in Galilee.

They they long for a little break. You've all been there. I've been there. Lord is, however, leave general helped weather is really impatience and irritation on their part.

They didn't see great faith. They saw the constancy, the persistence of a woman who will not give up on behalf of her daughter. This nagging endless refusal to back down. She is one determined woman in this lease to a conversation between her and Jesus where II think you will agree. As we work through it.

He begins to soften as he witnesses her as he hears her and as he imagines the setting go there when verse 24 then Jesus said to the woman.

Here it is. I was sent only to help God's lost sheep, the people of Israel that didn't turn her away. She understands what he said but would you have a need that is this intense this severe some things become for you.

Just words, when you put yourself in this woman.

Sandals and you imagine what she's been living with you can understand and she responds by bowing down the Reed's worship him in the new living translation. She bows down she falls before him, and she keeps pleading help me help me help me help me help me help me at the idea of what she's going through and this leads to a very interesting dialogue. I don't want you to miss the emotion of it. Jesus responded it. It isn't right to take food from the children.

It's a reference to Israelites to choose fellow Jews and to throw the food to the dogs now on.

I know when you hear that, especially if you tend to be one who is a politically correct you are going to be offended by that.

Please get beyond that for the next few moments were in the first century were in a Gentile territory where the master who has been sent to minister first to the lost sheep of Israel talking with a Gentile woman, and he says lets you down easily because the word he uses for dog is not a wild, vicious dog ran impacts with other dogs. You can still find in various places, when you travel over your but that's not the wording that used by Matthew. This is the word could not agree on you NAR I OEM it means a little lapdog like like a little doll in your house okay your little pet to throw the coach the food scraps to little dollars.

She takes him at his word. I love this that nothing will make her back down. She replied that stuff. That's true Lord Stroup but even little dogs are allowed to eat the scraps of Paul beneath her master's table. I love this Luther writes, isn't this a masterpiece.

She catches Christ with his own words how can Christ get out of this. She uses his same word is the little puppy. If you get the advertisements we get, you probably do but when we got recently is selling bedding different kinds of soft pillows and bedding in my clothing and things like that and in the middle of the magazine is a little puppy sitting on this soft little bedspread puppy has nothing to do with the bedspread except to do what it did to me. I thought I want to puppy. I don't want to bedspread, and a little later that same little puppy has a has a ribbon around her neck as a little girl playing with the little puppy is if they could make copies.

It didn't poop would have 12 to 15 of them all over the house like the more I looked at us and I will get this little but she's a part of another route know you're not but the little puppy is just adorable. It's a real delusional lapdog.

She says that's all I but surely there is there is mercy and grace enough for you to put a few scraps on the floor for me. You know I gotta stop here and talk to you ladies. It isn't fair how you know how to do that. Don't look at me like that you know exactly what I'm talking about. You started when you were little girls every day.

That will tell you what I had boys no problem on that little girls wrapped around my little Debbie wrapped around her little finger.

I like the story David McKenna writes long ago, I learned that a creative child can always be an adult system and E are loquacious two-year-old granddaughter.

Don't forget to-year-old granddaughter wanted to get down from her high chair before finishing her meal. Her mother bargained any don't you want to be a member of the clean plate club and Annie goes up five fingers visit the site back off mom and her mom thought about just five bytes, and he held her little jelly smeared fingers up near her face pondered for a moment, cocked her head and blurted out David's five not 502 two. Mike's mommy, that's pretty good for a two-year-old daughter and the ads. What else could mommy to Andy left the table after just two bytes reminded me of when I decided I would discipline our younger daughter, she had really been acting up and Cynthia looked at Colleen and looked at me like it's going to be you or me, which one of us is that it deals with this undisciplined child on the dad I can handle this calling commuter. She starts in about no… The stairs that I'm a little girl not out from its about polygamy hundred and 10 I'll never do that again. I promise you did come upstairs so we walk up stairs going room, close the door and she's got all the possible excuses you can imagine and I got to sit her down on my lap and I'm going to teach her a lesson. Give her a whopping Shiite. As I said to her, you know what honey what you realizes this hurts me more than it does you, Jesus, all that I got a great idea. Don't do it at both of us will feel a lot better so I didn't do it and I said don't tell your mother was dead.

I will never do that afternoon she told but since it wouldn't surprise because there's something about the little puppy you ladies that shows up in this dear woman who is saying help me help me help me just a few scraps. This little dog Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew chapter 15 and he assigned an intriguing title to his message study that continues tomorrow on Insight for living feeding scraps to a dog if you'd like to see what resources we have available for today's topic, please visit us online@insightworld.org it's possible you identify with the desperate mother, Chuck, described earlier, pleading with God for a miracle. Maybe your face with a dire medical condition. Perhaps there's a relationship that's broken in your sadness is cause you to doubt God's presence will Chuck put a helpful book on this topic. It's called faith for the journey.

Daily meditations on courageous trust in God we believe the biblical principles in this devotional book if applied will lift your perspective. Supplies of this book from Chuck are limited, and so we encourage you to reach out to us right away to purchase a copy look for the book called faith for the journey@insight.org/offer that today would like to say thank you to all those who gave generously last month. Your voluntary gifts make it possible for us to provide these daily Bible teaching programs and is not too late for your gift today to have an impact throughout the remainder of the year, give a donation right now by calling us listening in the US, 1-800-772-8880 make a mistake. Your gift truly make a difference recently heard from a listener who said Chuck.

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God bless you for your many faithful years of service.

Our sovereign God. You are truly making a difference. We think will be encouraged to hear that your gifts are having an thank you for your support.

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Call 1-800-772-8888 four give a donation online@insight.I Davis Mike Swindoll continues his message called feeding scraps to a dog that's next time on Insight for living. The preceding message feeding scraps to a doll was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll. All rights are reserved worldwide. Application of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited