Gentile – The Lowedown

Romans 2

¹You may be saying, “What terrible people you have been talking about!” But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things. ²And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. ³Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and not judge you when you do them, too? ⁴Don’t you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin?

⁵But no, you won’t listen. So you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin. For there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world, ⁶will judge all people according to what they have done. ⁷He will give eternal life to those who persist in doing what is good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. ⁸But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and practice evil deeds. ⁹There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on sinning—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. ¹⁰But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. ¹¹For God does not show favoritism.

¹²God will punish the Gentiles when they sin, even though they never had God’s written law. And he will punish the Jews when they sin, for they do have the law. ¹³For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God’s approval. Those who obey the law will be declared right in God’s sight. ¹⁴Even when Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. ¹⁵They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. ¹⁶The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life. This is my message. (Romans 2:1-16, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

One of the biggest criticisms against Christianity is its exclusive claims. Christianity claims that it is only through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice that people can be reconciled to God and experience eternity in heaven.

The response many people have is “what about those who’ve never heard of Jesus?”

The people making this claim almost certainly HAVE heard of Jesus, so the question is almost always a smokescreen. In other words, the people asking this question aren’t typically concerned with the distant jungle tribes who have had no contact with modern civilization and hence would not have ever had the opportunity to know about Jesus.

This question usually comes from a person who is using it as a way to defend their worldview and life choices. If it can be demonstrated that the Christian message and method of salvation is faulty, then one can dismiss it and effectively ignore it.

So what about the person who has never heard of Jesus? Does this argument negate the Christian message of salvation through Christ alone?

On its surface, it doesn’t seem fair that someone who has never been exposed to the person of Jesus and the sacrifice He’s made on our behalf would be penalized at the Pearly gates for not having responded to an invitation that they were completely unaware of.

And yet, Paul, in these first few chapters of Romans, addresses this very issue. In Romans 1, Paul says that people are without excuse because God’s presence and power are plainly visible through general revelation that is available to everyone just by looking at creation. I wrote about this in a blog post entitled “Where Did that Ball Come From?” , where I outline the lengths that people go to dismiss God and attempt to eliminate Him from their lives.

Paul continues his argument that people are without excuse regarding the existence of God here in Romans 2.

In this chapter, Paul says that nobody is without excuse because EVERYONE sins.

But how do we know we sin?

Paul says that Jews know they are sinning because they have the Law which is a moral code given to them by God Himself through Moses. Whenever these moral guidelines are violated, it is sin, and according to God’s justice, it deserves to be punished.

But what about Gentiles? They never had the Law.

Notice that this is the exact same argument that was posed at the outset – what about those who have never heard of Jesus (or had the law)?

It’s true that Gentiles were not given the Law. Paul stipulates to this. There is no argument regarding this fact.

But Paul continues in verses 14 and 15, saying

Even when Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. ¹⁵They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right.

Everyone has a conscience which tells us, generally speaking, that some things are right and other things are wrong. Paul’s argument is that a person’s conscience functions as a written code. Have you ever violated your own standards? Of course you have. Everyone has done things that they KNEW to be wrong. Hence, even if you didn’t have the Law that the Israelites did, if you’ve ever violated your own standards of what you thought was right and wrong, then you have sinned.

EVEN IF YOUR STANDARDS OF RIGHT AND WRONG ARE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THE LAW SAYS.

This last statement is crucial because it demonstrates that no matter what your moral values are, if you are incapable of upholding them 100% of the time (and nobody is) it demonstrates that you are a sinner. You are broken and you are in need of help.

The message of the Bible is that no one is without excuse. All have sinned. And all are in need of a savior.

Those who recognize this problem in their own lives can appeal to God to save them. God will either lead them to Jesus or, by His grace, He will apply the sacrifice of Jesus to those who appeal to Him by faith, even if they weren’t aware of Jesus’ sacrifice specifically.

But God is under no obligation to reveal more truth about Jesus to those who have rejected the truth about God that has already been revealed.

Reflection

Have you ever done something that violated your conscience? What was the situation? What feelings and emotions did it produce? How did you respond?

Do you think it’s fair that the only way a person can be saved is through Jesus? How would you respond to someone who asks you what happens to the people who’ve never heard of Jesus?

What thoughts and feelings do you experience from Paul’s statement that “The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life.”?

Paul says, “there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world, will judge all people according to what they have done.” How do you reconcile God’s judgment with His divine attribute of love? Do you think it is a contradiction that God is love but also exercises judgment and punishment on people? Why or why not?

Photo by Dilara Albamya: https://www.pexels.com/photo/skull-with-dusk-on-tribal-hut-11239181/

Mark 7

²⁴Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He tried to keep it secret that he was there, but he couldn’t. As usual, the news of his arrival spread fast. ²⁵Right away a woman came to him whose little girl was possessed by an evil spirit. She had heard about Jesus, and now she came and fell at his feet. ²⁶She begged him to release her child from the demon’s control.

Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, ²⁷Jesus told her, “First I should help my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are given some crumbs from the children’s plates.”

²⁹“Good answer!” he said. “And because you have answered so well, I have healed your daughter.” ³⁰And when she arrived home, her little girl was lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone. (Mark 7:24-30, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

A few weeks ago I saw a Tik Tok video that was making the rounds on Twitter. It was posted by a Pastor from the San Diego area in which he said that Jesus was a racist because he used a racial slur when he called the Syrophoenician woman in this passage a DOG!

This pastor went on to say that the woman didn’t back down, but “spoke truth to power” and when she confronted Jesus with his racism, Jesus not only changed his mind, but “Jesus repents of his racism and extends healing to this woman’s daughter.”

That’s not all. This pastor said that he loves this story because it’s a reminder that “Jesus is human. He had prejudices and biases and when confronted with it he was willing to do his work.”

Are the claims being made by this pastor true? Did Jesus demonstrate racism and prejudice by calling the woman a dog? Is the point of this story to show us that Jesus is a human who had human flaws and prejudices like every human being does? Was this story told to be an example to us on how to repent when we are confronted with truth?

The short answer to all of these questions is an emphatic NO!

None of these “observations” and conclusions demonstrate the real point of the story.

Well then, what IS the point of the story?

If you know anything about the book of Mark, you know that most of the stories and accounts demonstrate Jesus’ teaching and miracles that He performed while in the presence of His disciples. Everything Jesus does is for the sake of the men who are following Him and learning from Him. Jesus is demonstrating to them WHO He is and what His ultimate mission is. At the mid-point of Mark, Jesus asks the all-important question of His disciples: Who do you say that I am? I wrote about that passage and their response to that question here.

Based on what you know about the Jewish mindset of that time, including the disciples, what do you think was their view of non-Jews?

The prevailing mindset of Jewish people, from the religious leaders to Jesus’ own disciples was that non-Jews were unclean. They were “dogs”. In fact, merely being in their presence could make one unclean.

We see this Jewish nationalism throughout the New Testament. In fact, Peter needs a vision from the Lord himself in Acts 10 to finally realize that Gentiles are not unclean and that salvation is not reserved only for the Jew.

In addition, a council was convened in Acts 15 to address this very issue: do Gentiles need to become culturally Jewish in order to be saved? I wrote about that Council and the context surrounding it here.

So why does Jesus compare this woman to a dog?

Jesus is using an illustration to explain to the woman that the priority of His ministry and His message regarding the kingdom of God was FIRST to his own family, the Jewish people. He is not saying that Gentiles can never receive the message, He’s merely saying that He’s not prepared to share His message and ministry to Gentiles YET.

In this illustration, Jesus uses the Greek word “kunarion” which means “pet dog”. The Greek word that was usually used to describe an unclean dog was the word “kuon” which meant “wild dog.”

Most Jews viewed Gentiles as “wild dogs”, unclean animals that were not worthy of salvation and were excluded from the promises and blessings of God.

Jesus, however, gives an illustration in which Gentiles are compared not to wild dogs but to the family pet. He does this to show his disciples that their view of Gentiles and their worthiness to experience the blessings of God is wrong. They are not unclean, mangy animals roaming the streets, pilfering through the garbage. They are a part of the family and they are loved.

Regarding the other observations made by this pastor, it’s clear that his conclusions are an example of importing current cultural views and concepts into the biblical narrative while ignoring observations that might contradict his views.

This pastor paints a picture of a bold woman standing up to a misogynistic, bigoted Jesus, but the text paints a much different picture. The text states that she heard about Jesus and came and knelt before Him. The picture the pastor paints could not be more opposite of what the text actually says.

Secondly, the woman says nothing in response to Jesus that would indicate she is confronting Him or rebuking Him. Instead, her response shows that she understands the ministry priority Jesus has shared and yet she requests consideration from Him anyways.

Jesus is impressed with her response and her resolve and in Matthew’s version of this same story, Jesus speaks of her “great faith” (see Matthew 15:28).

This pastor completely overlooks the faith of the woman and Jesus’ praise of her response and opts instead for an explanation based more on his current cultural views than the plain theological meaning of the text.

Phrases like “speak truth to power” and “Jesus did his work” are rather recent phrases that represent a progressive ideology and agenda. There is nothing in the passage or the context that suggests that the woman “confronted” Jesus regarding racism or that she spoke “truth to power”.

Neither is there any indication that Jesus changed his mind or repented of some egregious sin.

Furthermore, this pastor’s views are an example of false teaching regarding the nature and work of Jesus. I wrote about the importance of one’s view of Jesus here, when evaluating an early church heresy that John wrote about in the letter of 1 John.

Think about the implications of what this pastor is saying.

First, how could the woman speak truth to power when Jesus himself IS the truth (John 14:6)?

Secondly, Jesus is God in human flesh. He lived a sinless life and and His death pays the penalty for the sins of the world.

If Jesus used a racial slur and thus sinned, how could He secure salvation for the sins of mankind? Even if He repented, as this pastor suggests, Jesus would not be qualified to pay for the sins of humanity if He Himself was a sinner. His sin would disqualify Him from being the Savior of the world.

So the point of this story is NOT that Jesus is racist just like we probably are and He gives us an example of how to “do the work” and “repent” when confronted with truth.

The point of this story is to demonstrate that Jesus’ ministry and message was to go to the Jews FIRST but that Gentiles were also a part of God’s plan. Jesus did this in a way that explained His priority to the woman, revealed to His disciples that their prejudicial view of Gentiles did not line up with God’s heart, or His kingdom purposes, and praised the woman’s response as being one of “great faith”!

One final reminder I would make is the importance of “doing the work” of understanding what God’s word says in its context instead of taking the word of someone who calls themself a pastor but is merely importing their own modern day bias and preconception into the biblical narrative.

As John revealed in the 1 John 4 devotional, there are many people promoting false views of Jesus. John labeled those preachers as “false prophets” and those who promote false views of Jesus today should be labeled the same way.

Reflection

If someone were to use this story to make a claim that Jesus was racist, how would you respond? What parts of the text would you use to demonstrate that Jesus was not racist?

What specific parts of the text prove that the woman was NOT rebuking Jesus?

What specific parts of the text demonstrate that Jesus in no way repented of some kind of wrong-doing?

One of the lessons of this text is the “great faith” of the woman. In what ways did she demonstrate faith? In what ways can we emulate that kind of faith?

What is a current issue you are dealing with in which you need Jesus to intervene? What are some ways you can demonstrate faith toward God in your circumstances?

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