It is a difficult story to deal with if you
wonder what Jesus was thinking when he called the desperate woman a dog. She
didn’t object to being called a dog which you might be willing to do when your
daughter is possessed and you’ve got nowhere else to go. Pr. Nick Billardello
of Abiding Grace Lutheran says she barked. At any
rate Jesus recognizes the kind of need that leads one to bow down low and
accept ridicule and insult for the sake of someone you love and so he banishes
the demon from her daughter. The second story is similar to the first as the
deaf man with slurred speech is helped by those who beg Jesus to heal their
friend. Spit and speech (Ephphatha!) do what doctors could not. Astounded
beyond measure the crowds marvel at everything done well. Jesus' “everything
done well” won’t be remembered when he is accused of being in league with the
devil. (Matthew 9:34) And it won’t be long before people hurl more than insults
at him as they strip him naked and nail him to wood. But when the world is
possessed and you have nowhere else to go you’ll go to the cross to save those
you love.
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