I want to hear what Christians have to say about gentiles being dogs

reply to post by troubleshooter
Greek in the 70s makes us about the same age. I only got 1 year in before dropping out for financial reasons. Man, think of the costs now! I'm considering seriously picking up Greek again. Then, I won't be such a Barbarian(non Greek speaker).

...point out what He was really saying and religious vested interests get upset...
...the surface meaning seems to support them but when understood condemns...
...the foundation of His 'group' (ekklesia) was that the Father communicated directly with a man...
...and not through a litany of priests or sacrifices...
...Jesus was not ordaining Peter as the first pope...
...but showing how business would be done ie directly from God to man.

The rhetoric of Jesus is a fruitful study.

I'll just second that for emphasis.



[edit on 8-3-2010 by pthena]

reply to post by hypattia

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate reading different viewpoints, it helps to expand my own viewpoints and perspective.
I have studied many different branches of Christianity, among other religions. I have attended many churches. I have not yet been able to understand this scripture.

From what I understand, so far is so much of the bible and other religious books has to be interpreted in terms of languages, translations, cultures, etc, etc.
I guess I should have just asked, what do Christians think this passage means: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Ultimately, I have come to think perhaps, everything is a matter of perspective. That is why we do not all agree on everything.

I'll take another stab at this. It took me a while to remember how I understood this when I was a Christian. This is what I remembered:

The Gospel of Matthew was written as a narrative consciously depicting Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture prophecy. The oft repeated phrase, "and thus was fulfilled the scripture, ..." In the authors view, the repeating of an act performed by one of the heroes of old eg Moses, David, Elijah, qualified as a fulfillment.

In this particular story, Jesus is retracing the steps of Elijah as told in 1Kings 17. Elijah was the prophet of the Northern kingdom of Samariah(the Israelite tribes not Judah, quite often at war with Judah) lost sheep, (quite often without a decent shepherd) of Israel. Yet Elijah also did good for others not of Israel, even anointing kings of other countries.

1KI 17:8 Then the word of the LORD came to him: 9 "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks.

The Sidonian woman was rewarded with a never empty flour jar and jug of oil, along with her son raised back to life.

In the Matthew story Jesus withdraws to Tyre and Sidon area. There's no mention of any particular business he had there (just going with the spirit?). By not responding to the woman, Jesus was giving his disciples a chance to respond first, (one of his teaching techniques). They responded by thinking she should be sent away. As troubleshooter says, first Jesus responds in the way the disciples would expect. But then, she gets what she was seeking after demonstrating great faith.

One of the odd things about this story is that there is no speech given afterward like in Matthew 8:5-13, or even an author's explanation. It does seem typical though, some parables have explanations and some don't. If I were tasked to draw a moral for this story, it would be something like this: When a man of God is around anything can happen. Racial or religious identity are canceled out. Faith is what counts.
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Now days, I'd be inclined to flip the story to the woman's perspective. Remember the widow from the Elijah story was commanded by God to supply food, before Elijah even got there. So here goes:

The distressed Canaanite woman was told by God (that would be the God of all, not the God of Israelites alone) something along the lines of, "I know this guy, I have commanded him to come help you. He'll have other guy's following him. Don't be afraid of how he responds, I will give you words to say. Oh, and some people call him son of David."

Just as an aside, once after reading the Gospels through, I came up with a one sentence summary of the teachings of Jesus, goes like this: God loves people, not religion.

Peace


[edit on 9-3-2010 by pthena]

Maybe I have the wrong thread, but I was thinking about something you wrote about Jesus fulfilling prophecy.
You were quoting Ezekiel saying something about the nations bringing tribute, or something.
What if Paul collecting stuff to be taken to the "poor" in Jerusalem was a way for that to be fulfilled?

[edit on 10-3-2010 by jmdewey60]

reply to post by jmdewey60

Maybe I have the wrong thread, but I was thinking about something you wrote about Jesus fulfilling prophecy.
You were quoting Ezekiel saying something about the nations bringing tribute, or something.
What if Paul collecting stuff to be taken to the "poor" in Jerusalem was a way for that to be fulfilled?

I think this is the thread. I get confused sometimes too when subjects overlap. Plus, I've lost some composure trying to intelligently discuss religion and race on another thread that totally went nuts. shake it off!

That's quite probably true. When Paul separated from the Jerusalem group with the 'right hand of fellowship' they reminded him to remember the poor. Then a famine struck Judean area, so that's when the collection from Gentiles started. I think Paul's motive was based on his understanding of the dependence of Christianity upon the Israelite story. (Romans 11). The money was a sort of tribute of acknowlegement. Ironic though that he started his life in chains after delivering the alms collected from the Gentiles for the benefit of the Jewish poor.

I have to take a break and get my mind clear of that nasty religio-racist crud I exposed my self to on that other thread. It's probably closed down by now.

reply to post by hypattia

To OP:

If you think that comment by Christ is offensive, he called one of his greatest followers and closest friends on Earth "Satan" in Matthew 16:23.