This should be called the "Are you still so dull chapter, " because nobody seems to be getting the big picture here...
Pharisees - these "devout," "followers" of God again try to destroy Jesus ministry...this time for not washing hands before meals. Jesus calls them out for their own hypocrisy - they like to give away the money they should be helping their parents out with and say, "It's okay Mom, I know you're straving, but we're giving it to God" - and then Jesus gives another mini-sermon about where being truly unclean comes from. The Pharisees are worried about washing their hands and making their lives look good from the outside, while they are sin filled on the inside (See chapter 12 and the unclean spirits). Being truly unclean is about the words and actions they pour out of a corrupt soul. Good lesson for us to remember.
Disciples - They have been following Jesus around, they have heard all his teaching, and they get the behind the scenes stuff that we never see (Farting around the campfire with Jesus and what-not...don't look shocked, if Jesus was 100% man and 100% God, then that 100% man part probably farted a bunch and thought it was funny!) yet they never seem to get what he is talking about. "Hey Jesus, what do you mean by that, what comes out of your mouth makes you unclean stuff?" So Jesus explains it to them. Then they want Jesus to heal the Canaanite woman just to get her away from them, and Jesus says, "Guys, come on, you know I came to save Israel (This to me, shows his incredible focus on the path he had to walk...if he started healing all the Canaanites and Romans and everybody else...maybe they go back and tell their people and mobs come to Jesus trying to save him and overthrow the Romans...Jesus knows what he has come to do and he knows the people that are going to start the kingdom of God revolution - the Jews)!" Then a short time after he has just fed the 5,000, the disciples are confused about how they could possibly get enough food for 4,000 people...uh, DUH! Are you still so dull? It is always comforting to me that Jesus followers were a lot of screw ups like me...and he treated them graciously and used them powerfully anyway.
I feel at home in the "Are you still so dull" chapter, because there are so many times I have asked myself that same question. Are you still so dull, Brandon? After seing God move powerfully in your life, you can still doubt and fear and whine and turn to destructive habits? Unfortunately, I do. But fortunately I follow a savior who has an inexplicable, unquenchable love for me. May the "dull" moments be fewer and further in between as I come to know him more.
P.S. - The unrelenting faith of the Canaanite woman rocks! I think sh is another example of someone who completely impresses Jesus with her faith.
2 comments:
Picking up on the dull vs. faith – I do not think it coincidence that this chapter has a section on being slow in faith (clean vs. unclean) immediately followed by an outstanding example of perseverance in faith (the Canaanite woman) followed by a test of faith (how will we feed all of these people).
Faith – stepping out and away from what you know and putting everything in something greater than yourself. May we all have the courage to live out our faith in Christ everyday.
j
Jesus had just fed the 5,000. What stands out in the feeding of the 4,000 is that Jesus at this time was walking through a Gentile region. Tradition tells us that Jews were to avoid Gentile regions. Jesus performing a feeding miracle in a Gentile region probably meant that the beneficiaries of the miracle were... Gentiles? I love this picture in that Jesus shares the wealth to both kinds of people who were "without a shepherd".
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