Even the dogs....

Mark 7:24-30 (ESV) And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. [25] But immediately a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. [26] Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. [27] And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." [28] But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." [29] And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." [30] And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. “Yes, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Jesus was testing the woman’s faith, and not for his benefit. There is something we can learn from this, and about how faith works in us. This isn’t about our relationship to Jews or any other such thing, but our relationship to god. We are his humble servants. The woman in showing the humility to compare herself with dog’s not only throws a classic rejoinder at Jesus, which must have tickled him, but it shows the true position of faith. There is no bragging here of all that she has done. There is no talk of how strong her faith is or isn’t No talk about what she deserves or doesn’t because of all the great things she has done. In the end, she regards herself as a dog, and only asks for the crumbs, that dogs so quickly eat from the floor. So we all have reason to regard ourselves before God.