One of the things I like reading about the Gospels is how we get to see what happened when people had personal encounters with Jesus. When I read about these encounters, Jesus was almost always misunderstood. This makes me wonder how often I misunderstand Jesus, as well. We’ve been taught to believe certain things, some are simply human traditions or modern social constructs. Others, may not reflect God's thinking at all. Today's passage is interesting in light of our modern culture, so let's listen to it:

A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!” So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!” She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her. (Mark 7:25-30)

In this passage, when you think about what Jesus said to the woman, does it seem that he may have been racially insensitive? This Gentile approached Him, begging Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. At first blush, His response seems pretty insensitive. “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” Dogs? A Jewish person referring to Gentiles as dogs certainly seems like it might have put the woman off. It would today. That remark would be all over social media! However, what did the woman do? She didn't reject his comment; instead, she humbled herself. She didn't get mad or become personally offended; she just made her case and then did what Jesus told her to do. When she got home, the demon had already left her daughter. What can we learn from this? When we humble ourselves, God always responds. The conversation wasn't about social issues and Jesus wasn't against Gentiles. The woman came to Jesus, humbled herself, and then did what He said to do. Jesus humbled Himself and He went to the cross for us. Nobody could be more humble than that! Today, consider practical ways in which you might humble yourself in order to serve Jesus better. Can you think of any? Remember, humility always wins with God...and that is very Good News!