The Proverb of the Little Dogs

# 475 - Today's Living Word comes from: Mr 7:27 But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

A Gentile woman has approached Jesus to ask for deliverance for her demon possessed daughter. Like a dog she keeps nipping at His heels with her persistent pleas, and finally Jesus answers her in the form of a proverb.

There is a great spiritual truth revealed in His answer that deals with the order of the dispensation of the Gospel. To the Jew first and then the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul restated it this way in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, (the bread) for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Jesus uses the setting of a typical meal in the Orient to make this point, but in so doing, there is even more we can learn from His illustration. The little children represent the Jews and the little dogs represent the Gentiles. Don't miss the use of the term “little dogs,” here because in using it, Jesus softens the perception that most Jews held toward Gentiles.

A dog in the Orient was either a wild scavenger or a pet house dog. The term “little dogs” signifies a pet house dog. The Jews typically regarded all Gentiles as wild dogs, unclean scavengers that needed to be driven away, but Jesus makes it clear here that there is room in His house for the “little dog” Gentiles.

I think we would all do well to ask ourselves how we treat others. Do we seek to drive them away and avoid them, or do we draw near to them and allow the blessings of love and forgiveness that we have received spill over into their lives?

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word.