Hey there Reader–
I use and heartily recommend the M’Cheyne Bible reading plan. This morning I read a life-changing passage in Mark 7:23-30.
Phoenicians, Dogs, & the Character of God
The story takes place in Tyre. Jesus is brought into a house secretly to give him a bit of a pause amidst all the crowds. But the word is spread, and a young mother discovers that he has come. She rushes in and falls at his feet.
The woman was a Phoenician Greek. While Christ ultimately came to save the entire world, his purpose centered on building faith within the Jewish people. When the woman asks him to heal her little daughter who is possessed of an evil spirit, he pushes back. He explains that he’s working on the foundation right now.
We might feel that’s a bit racist. But it’s not. It’s a whole-hearted desire to obey God in the manner of his calling. First the Jews, then the Gentiles. Even this is tied to the promises of God to Abraham thousands of years earlier. Abraham’s faith would be a blessing to all the world.
But we know moms. She would not let that go. Her daughter needed healing by Christ.
But what we do not commonly know is the relationship of Phoenicians to their dogs.
While Judaism would allow working dogs, having a dog for companionship alone was unacceptable. This centuries-old aversion to dogs is reflected in the Yiddish proverb: “A Jew with a dog? Either it’s not a Jew or it’s not a dog.”**
On the other hand, Phoenicians cared for dogs, buried their dogs with love. SOURCE. Down the coast, the Canaan Dog was even bred in Ashkelon by Phoenicians. (Wikipedia. link pdf) (The pdf shows how the respect toward dogs was brought to Ashkelon by the Phoenicians.)
The Phoenician woman referred to this contrast in her appeal.
“Even the dogs under the table eat the scrap food.”
And Jesus replied. “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.”
What is the subtext here? I think it has to do with her understanding of dogs. And her understanding of both Christ and the character of God.
God made dogs.
If you know dogs, you know what a gift they are to mankind. They love you even when you aren’t patient or kind to them. They’re always glad to see you in the mornings. They’ll care for your wounds. They’ll protect you to the death.
Sure, they’re not humans. Yet, the care of a righteous man overflows in the way he treats his animals: Proverbs 12:10. This is the characteristic of God that she is appealing to.
This woman was making an analogy to highlight the Phoenician idea that family includes people and the pets. She saw the larger family of God, knowing God’s mercy would spread. And that Christ held that mercy in his hands.
She acknowledged an understanding of God’s mercy that overflows. And Christ commended this deep statement about overflowing mercy.
The little daughter was healed from a distance because her mother … I risk to say … because her mother loved dogs. Because she saw God’s character in the gift that dogs are to humanity.
Faith means believing in WHO God is. This young mother was commended and her request granted because she deciphered then declared her faith in Christ’s larger PURPOSE: the ultimate expansion of the family of God to include Gentiles.
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