Bread for Dogs - Mark 7:24-8:10

Another week in South Africa, and unfortunately our racial divisions are exposed yet again. The moment we think things may be getting better, something happens, and the media gets holds of it, and we see that these issues are still with us. Seems never ending.

Why? Racism – part of our sinful nature. Base human instinct to stick to your tribe and think your tribe is better than the other tribe. Story of human history for thousands of years.

Even a problem during Jesus’ time. The Jews, as God’s chosen people, had for a long time felt superior to the Gentile nations around them. Because they knew God had elected them, they become arrogant in their election, instead of being humbled by it, and looked down upon the Gentiles as inferior to them. By the time of Christ, there were all sorts of extra-biblical oral laws that the Jewish religious leaders put in place to keep themselves from being defiled by the dirty Gentiles. Couldn’t enter their houses, couldn’t eat with them, or socialise with them. Seen as dirty dogs.

It’s important to remember that right from the beginning, though God had chosen Israel as his people, his ultimate plan was to create a people of his own from every nation, tribe and tongue. God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 was that it would be through him that all the nations of the world would be blessed. Many of the OT prophecies of the Messiah also showed that God would one day include the Gentiles in his plan of redemption. E.g. Isaiah 42:1, “He will bring justice to the nations” – basically God’s salvation would not just be restricted to Israel, but through the coming of the Messiah, salvation would extend to the nations too.

Jesus arrives – he is this promised Messiah, starts fulfilling all those OT expectations of him. As we’ve been seeing on our journey through Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has been ministering the gospel mainly to Israel – his chief calling. But if you remember from two weeks’ ago, when we looked at the passage immediately before this one, chapter 7:1-23, we see there in verse 19, that Jesus does something pretty radical – declares all foods clean. Jews had been forbidden to eat certain foods – OT Law – keep them distinct from the Gentiles.

Now, there is a shift in redemptive history with the coming of Christ. Gospel is now also going to the Gentiles, not only the Jews. So what we see Jesus do in this passage of Scripture is start to fulfil those OT expectations that the Messiah would bring salvation to all the nations of the world.

Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.