“The Servant’s Order of Service”
Mark 7:24-8:10
“The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, ‘Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’” – Mark 7:26-27
God’s revelation came to the Jew first and then the Gentile. That order was revealed all the way back in Genesis 15 with the Abrahamic covenant. It was the same order that Jesus implemented during His earthly ministry.
Jesus would reveal Himself to Israel as their Messiah, and then they would in turn reveal Jesus to the world. That was the blueprint. But one critical part went awry: Israel rejected Jesus. Nonetheless, the order was initiated; the Servant’s Order of Service began with His own countrymen, which is what Mk 7:26-27 describes.
Now, some find fault in Jesus’ words, that He spoke disrespectfully to the Gentile woman. But nothing could be further from the truth!
“Little dogs” in the NKJ is unfortunate because it does not express the sense of endearment. Kunarian is the original Greek, which means little puppies.
Have you ever had a “little puppy” that you just adored? Well, that is the sense from which Jesus was communicating. He loved His little children [Israel] AND He adored His little puppies [Gentiles].
But there was an order of service; a progression of ministry if you will. It went from our Lord to Israel, and then to the rest of the world. That was the plan from Genesis 15, and when you think about it, that plan was implemented in the church.
We should remember that the church began with [and within] Israel. A quick read of Acts 2 confirms this. It was not until Acts 8 that the church went beyond Jerusalem and the Jewish people.
The bottom-line, however, is that our Lord is in the business of revealing Himself through people, and that dynamic is unchanged. His desire is to work through us to reach others, and that continues to be the Servant’s order of service.
Our part is to yield, which oftentimes is the challenge. We must submit to our Lord’s way for His best to be implemented in us and through us.
