The Dogs May Eat

“It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. ”

Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidd'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. The words of this familiar song pull at our hearts, just as the young Billy Graham felt as he chose it to be the theme of his crusades, the song that would always be heard from his choirs as he stood on the platform and over the microphone beckoned the lost sheep, the backsliders, the aliens, the wayward— any man, woman or child who wanted to meet Jesus —down to the stadium floor. “We'll wait for you to come, from wherever you are in this stadium tonight. Your friends and family will wait for you. Just start now, come on down…” his warm southern drawl was almost irresistible. Just as I am: thou wilt receive; Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, Because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

One feature remarkable in the Christian religion from its start was its universality . It was truly for everyone. It didn't matter what state of life you found yourself in, how many sins you had committed, what your wages were, who you knew, how well educated you were: no matter how high or low, you were welcome. Race and nationality were no boundaries in Christ's kingdom. From the 1 st century, black African nobleman, Egyptian trader, Roman centurion, Syrian merchant, Persian wise man, Arabian sailor, and Jewish priest made up a loving company in Communion wherever they met, though often in secret. Any class or racial character that has been found in the Christian religion at any time has always been a human addition, and a flaw in us, not in Jesus Christ.

Yet we would almost see Him as holding the racial superiority opinion of the Jews in His conversations with two foreign women. One, a Samaritan woman he met at Jacob's well near Sychar, pitches Him some pretty saucy remarks, such as: “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” John 4:9 “Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?” v 12 “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” v 20 Jesus soundly rebukes her insistent pride in the confused religion of Samaria, and tells her: “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” v 22 Striking this position, He cuts the religious ground out from under her. He confronts her with her many husbands and lovers, and that she is not married to her present man. He's clearly not taking anything off her. His stance is well defined: she is beneath Him. But He offers her water that will quench her thirst eternally. He reveals to her God's intention for all who are of the truth to come and worship Him. And when she speaks of her faithful looking for the Messiah, He plainly tells her that He is that Messiah. Although the disciples are incredulous that Jesus would even speak to such a woman, He reached the entire village through this lowest of the low as she went back through its streets crying: “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” v 29

The second woman was a Syro-Phoenician He met in the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, in the territory of modern Lebanon. On this His most northern journey, He was accosted by this foreigner who shouted out her request at Him. “ Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” Matthew 15:22 His first response to her was a stony silence. This was right in the minds of His disciples. She was heathen, a “dog” in Jewish slang, one of those yelping stray animals that gnawed on bones at garbage dumps and attacked unprotected children. You didn't speak to such people. You didn't even acknowledge their existence . But why did Jesus even go to such a land: didn't He expect to run into Phoenicians in Phoenicia? His silence didn't stop her.

This was a woman of the same breeding as Jezebel , the infamous daughter of the King of Sidon, who married King Ahab in a politically arranged wedding and brought more idolatrous practices into the northern Jewish kingdom than any other person. This religion worshipped fertility gods, Baal and Ashteroth, whose sexual activities, shared in by Canaanite priests and priestesses, made this primitive religion both exciting and dangerous to the followers of Yahweh. To gain the idolatrous gods favor, even children were sacrificed to them, and young girls and boys given to temple prostitution. It was from this religious cult that the woman now pleading with Jesus arose.

His disciples became annoyed with her constant pleading. “Why don't you send her away?” they asked Jesus. He answered to them, but really addresses Himself to the woman and her request: “I am only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” v 24 His words sounded final, no room for negotiation. But she continued: “Lord help me.” Here He answers her directly: “ Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” Mark 7:27

These are some of our Lord's harshest words to anyone. How did He see this woman: through the eyes of His race? It seems out of character. He came for all mankind, but His mission was specifically to the Jews. He offered the Holy Spirit to the Samaritan woman, healing to a Samaritan leper and to the servant of a Roman centurion. But this woman has His scorn: why?

As we read on, we find that His harshness is only a test. He intends to favor her request and heal her daughter. But to what purpose? His healings were always intended to bring more than just health. He sought followers of God, believers in His kingdom. He might receive this woman's request coming just as she was, but if she were to remain as she had been, what good would it have done her? She would return to the idolatry of Baal and Ashteroth, recommit her daughter to prostitution and go to hell anyway. Why deliver the daughter from Satan if she became well only to return to Satanism anyway? For this reason, I see Jesus challenging her to get down lower, humble herself completely to Him and His God before He would grant her petition. “Should I take the children's bread and throw it to dogs?”

Her answer is perfect, and it stands as an example to us and literally a part of our Liturgy of the Mass: “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.” Matthew 15:27 Her meaning is clearly that, after the children have eaten, there are crumbs of God's blessing that might chance to fall under the table. There even a dog might lick them off the ground and who could be offended at that? Let the dog eat the crumbs: no one else wants them. Truly, and this was a painful truth: too many of the children of Israel didn't want any of the bread Jesus came to give them. He wandered His homeland up and down and spoke God's truth to His countrymen, but was rejected, hated, misunderstood and plotted against. This foreigner came to beg a favor, and Jesus only wanted to know if her faith could scale the wall of prejudice from her own side. She passed the test.

“O woman,” He replied warmly, “great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” Matthew 15:28 “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” Mark 7:29

“Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind…” Jesus welcomes us into His kingdom. But it is His kingdom nevertheless. When we approach Christianity with the idea that we can bring all the elements of our former life into our life as a Christian we can be surprised and even offended. Why can't I still read the daily horoscope? What's wrong with my crystals? Who says I have to get rid of my Ouija board, stop going to Madam Ruby, cancel my subscription to PLAYBOY, and HBO? ‘Just as I am' is how we may enter. We don't have to get healed, get perfect, get right, or get a degree before we are accepted into the kingdom. But we have to get real . Christ does not welcome rivals . He won't have His religion mingled with paganism. He heals and forgives the prostitute, the publican, the adulterous woman: but He demands of them all, “Go and sin no more.” It's over. Just as I am must become Just as I was .

He had no prerequisites other than that we become as little children, people with no other agenda, no deep training in something other than Christ and His true faith to follow. We have to let all that go. We are all dogs when we come into His gates. The dogs may eat of the crumbs, and we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under His table . But if we intend to remain as dogs, we have no part in Him. He will elevate us from what were dogs to be His bride . St. Paul was the most open of all Apostles to receiving the Gentiles, but he still insisted: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God…” 1 Thessalonians 4:1

Just as I am. It is a good start, for Christ finds you wherever you are, and offers His bloodstained hands to pick you up from there. But where He takes you is paradise . He intends you to reside is at His side, ruling with Him the tribes of Israel Matthew 19:28 , judging angels 1 Cor 6:3 , sitting by Him in His throne Rev. 3:21 . That is no place for dogs. He will turn you from water into wine. He will raise you up from being a dog to being His bride.

PFH+