Gentiles, Dogs and Jesus

By Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg -October 13, 2020144517 573

By Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg and Rev. Jim Stowe

Two Gospels record a meeting between Judean Jesus and a Greek woman (Mk.7:24-29; Matt.15:21-28).
Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon (allotment territory of the tribe of Asher that was never fully taken over by
Israelites). There he meets a desperate mother willing to do anything for her suffering child: “Have
mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” (Mat. 15:21-22)

As we continue reading, we see that Jesus first gave her the silent treatment. Then, when his Jewish
disciples demanded he answer her, he responded: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.” However, the woman was relentless. “She came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” He
answered her: “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (Mat. 15:23-26)

The most offensive statement, of course, has to do with Jesus’ comparison of Greek Gentiles to dogs.
The key to understanding this text is found in realization that only in the modern Western world dogs
are thought to be part of the family. Dogs (often) live inside and not outside of the family home, but it
was not so in the ancient times in the East. In other words, the comparison to dogs was not meant to
dehumanize the Greek woman but to emphasize that Jesus’ primary mission was to Israel – to those
inside of God’s family, not outside of it.

Understood this way, we see that there was nothing dehumanizing in Jesus’ response. It is no different
from what Apostle Paul would later write: “…the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” Despite some misunderstood statements about his seeming
disregard for the physical family, Jesus here says – family first!

But what made Jesus act different towards her now? Clearly it was her response: “Yes, Lord,” she said,
“yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus replied to her,
“Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” (Matthew 15:27-28)

This Sidonian woman displayed the true faith of Israel exemplified in the Torah by both Abraham and
Moses. Just like them, she was willing to argue with God, believing with unwavering faith that He is just,
good, and merciful.

Why Turn Water to Wine?

By Dr. Nicholas J. Schaser -April 13, 202157248 327
According to John’s Gospel, Jesus performs the first miracle of his ministry when he turns water to wine.
After the wine runs out at a wedding in Cana, Yeshua has stone jars filled with water, which he
transforms into the best wine at the banquet. But of all the wonders that the Messiah could have
wrought, why does he begin with this one? Jesus’ first sign validates his own messianic identity and
recalls the prophetic vision of a time when the blessings of water and wine would flow in abundance.

Jesus’ sign of turning water into wine alludes to divine cleansing for Israel. The transformed water
comes from “six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding two or three metretas”
(2:6). A metretes was an ancient measure of about ten gallons, so Jesus makes somewhere around 150
gallons of wine! More important are John’s exact numbers: six jars with two or three metretas each. Six
multiplied by two is 12; six times three is 18. These numbers had symbolic resonance in first-century
Judaism: twelve signifies the tribes of Israel (cf. Matt 19:28; Rev 21:12) and eighteen alludes to God’s gift
of renewed life or prosperity (e.g., Lk 13:11-16; 1 Esd 1:21-22; SibOr 11:80-102; in the later rabbinic
numerical system of gematria, in which each Hebrew letter also represents a number, the word for “life”
[‫ ;חי‬chai] equals 18). Thus, Jesus’ sign shows that he has come to purify all Israel and offer the gift of
eternal life to the whole world.

Jesus’ use of water to produce wine also echoes the prophecy of Joel, which details an abundance of
wine and purifying waters in the messianic age: “In that day, the mountains shall drip with wine ( ‫;עסיס‬
asis)… and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water ( ‫ ;מים‬mayim); a spring shall come forth
from the House of the Lord” (Joel 3:18 [Hebrew 4:18]; cf. Amos 9:13). The fact that John’s Gospel is
particularly interested in Jesus’ offer of life-giving water supports the likelihood that his first miracle
alludes to Joel’s prophetic words (cf. John 3:23; 4:7-15, 46; 5:7; 7:38). The expansive world of Jewish
Scripture and tradition provides Gospel readers with a deeper theological understanding of Jesus’ first
sign. These ancient contexts underscore Jesus’ role as a heavenly savior whose activity signals the divine
desire to lavish life.

Gentiles, Dogs and Jesus

By Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg -October 13, 2020144517 573
By Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg and Rev. Jim Stowe

Two Gospels record a meeting between Judean Jesus and a Greek woman (Mk.7:24-29; Matt.15:21-28).
Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon (allotment territory of the tribe of Asher that was never fully taken over by
Israelites). There he meets a desperate mother willing to do anything for her suffering child: “Have
mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” (Mat. 15:21-22)

As we continue reading, we see that Jesus first gave her the silent treatment. Then, when his Jewish
disciples demanded he answer her, he responded: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.” However, the woman was relentless. “She came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” He
answered her: “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” (Mat. 15:23-26)

The most offensive statement, of course, has to do with Jesus’ comparison of Greek Gentiles to dogs.
The key to understanding this text is found in realization that only in the modern Western world dogs
are thought to be part of the family. Dogs (often) live inside and not outside of the family home, but it
was not so in the ancient times in the East. In other words, the comparison to dogs was not meant to
dehumanize the Greek woman but to emphasize that Jesus’ primary mission was to Israel – to those
inside of God’s family, not outside of it.

Understood this way, we see that there was nothing dehumanizing in Jesus’ response. It is no different
from what Apostle Paul would later write: “…the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” Despite some misunderstood statements about his seeming
disregard for the physical family, Jesus here says – family first!
But what made Jesus act different towards her now? Clearly it was her response: “Yes, Lord,” she said,
“yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus replied to her,
“Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” (Matthew 15:27-28)

This Sidonian woman displayed the true faith of Israel exemplified in the Torah by both Abraham and
Moses. Just like them, she was willing to argue with God, believing with unwavering faith that He is just,
good, and merciful.

“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the
Father’s side, he has made him known.” (Gospel of John 1:16-18)

As the Protestant Christian movement emerged, one of the biggest disagreements between those who
would one day become Protestants and those who would remain Roman Catholic was the issue of the
law’s function in the life of the believer. One of the five most important theological “shortcut” phrases
of the Reformation was, “sola fide” which means, “by faith alone”. This phrase indicated how one was
“saved” from God’s eternal judgment. This 15th-16th-century conflict between Protestants and
Catholics was later read back into the Pauline writings and projected back into Paul’s own words. Today,
hardly anyone will object to that fact that Paul must be read through a first-century Israelite interpretive
lens and not through the later lenses of a Catholic-vs-Protestant conflict historically unrelated to Paul.

While the juxtaposition of the law and the gospel was present in the Church Fathers, it is not until the
time of the Reformation that the juxtaposing of law and grace became so pronounced.[1] This became a
dominant emphasis of the Reformation. The opposite of grace became law; the opposite of law became
grace. However, scripturally the opposite of law was never grace but lawlessness. Just as the opposite of
grace was never law but disgrace.

Like Paul, John has also been greatly misunderstood and interpreted anachronistically. In John 1:17, for
example, some important English Bible translations (such as KJV and NET Bible) insert the additional
word – “but”. This word is not present in the original Greek. Moreover, even when modern translations
do not add the word “but” (see the ESV quoted above) the verse is normally understood as if the “but”
is implied. It is almost impossible for us to read this text and not juxtapose law and grace in our
contemporary minds (Try it! You too will have a hard time.)

If one ignores the negative reading and instead interprets the phrase (in verse 17) positively – “The Law
came through Moses; (and) grace and truth come through Jesus Christ” – then the text flows organically.
In this case, it is obviously connected with the previous confession by the Gospel’s author that grace was
given in addition to the grace already provided. (16“For from his fullness we have all received, grace
upon grace.”) Perhaps a translation that can help us get rid of this inbred dichotomy would read like
this:

“For the Torah was given through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”.
God’s desire is that we come to know Him intimately. We come to know Him through the study of His
Word. If you desire a deeper understanding of God’s Word, it is essential that you understand the
Jewish background and culture.

Noah’s Prayer Against Demons

By Pinchas Shir -September 21, 202126019 111
This excerpt is from the Book of Jubilees, a second-century BCE Jewish work. Though this book was
never considered canonical, some have called it “Little Genesis” because it retells many of the stories
from Genesis, including interpretive commentary and additional details. The value of Jubilees is the
insight into the ancient traditions the book preserves, giving us a window into certain Jewish beliefs
before the New Testament was written. The following passage, which describes Noah interceding for his
children, is remarkable because it contains several terms related to the unseen spiritual realm. In this
single text, the author mentions demons, evil spirits, the watchers, the chief of spirits called Mastema,
and Satan. How they are all related is unclear at times, but this extraordinary passage shows how
ancient Jews perceived the world beyond our own earthly realm.

1 In the third week of that jubilee the polluted demons began to lead astray the children of Noah’s sons
and to lead them to folly and to destroy them. 2 And the sons of Noah came to Noah, their father, and
they told him about the demons who were leading astray and blinding and killing his grandchildren. 3
And he prayed before the LORD his God and he said, “God of the spirits which are in all flesh, who has
acted mercifully with me and saved me and my sons from the water of the Flood and did not let me
perish as you did the children of perdition, because Great was your grace upon me, and great was your
mercy upon my soul. Let your grace be lifted up upon my sons, and do not let the evil spirits rule over
them, lest they destroy them from the earth. But bless me and my sons. And let us grow and increase
and fill the earth. 5 And you know that which your Watchers ( ‫ִירין‬ִ ‫ ;ע‬irin / Greek: ἐγρήγοροι; egregoroi),
the fathers of these spirits, did in my days and also these spirits who are alive. Shut them up and take
them to the place of judgment. And do not let them cause corruption among the sons of your servant, O
my God, because they are cruel and were created to destroy. 6 And let them not rule over the spirits of
the living because you alone know their judgment, and do not let them have power over the children of
the righteous henceforth and forever.”

7 And the LORD our God spoke to us so that we might bind all of them. 8 And the chief of the spirits,
Mastema (‫מְַׂש ֵט ָמה‬, mastemah, Hebrew for “hostility” or “persecution”), came and he said, “O Lord,
Creator, leave some of them before me, and let them obey my voice. And let them do everything which I
tell them, because if some of them are not left for me, I will not be able to exercise the authority of my
will among the children of men because they are (intended) to corrupt and lead astray before my
judgment because the evil of the sons of men is great.” 9 And he said, “Let a tenth of them remain
before him, but let nine parts go down into the place of judgment.”

10 And he told one of us to teach Noah all of their healing because he knew that they would not walk
uprightly and would not strive righteously. 11 And we acted in accord with all of his words. All of the evil
ones, who were cruel, we bound in the place of judgment, but a tenth of them we let remain so that
they might be subject to Satan ( ‫ָּׂש טָן‬, satan: Hebrew for “accuser” or “adversary” / Greek: διάβολος;
diabolos) upon the earth. 12 And the healing of all their illnesses together with their seductions we told
Noah so that he might heal by means of herbs of the earth. 13 And Noah wrote everything in a book just
as we taught him according to every kind of healing. And the evil spirits were restrained from following
the sons of Noah. 14 And he gave everything which he wrote to Shem, his oldest son, because he loved
him much more than all of his sons. (Jubilees 10:1-14, c. 2nd century BCE, Charlesworth translation)