ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
Tischendorf just happened to find sheets from Codex Sinaiticus ready to be burned by or in the library, at a monastery where they protect and restore ancient writing. He called it Aleph, the "oldest Bible in the world." He was the first to promote Vaticanus, which he also dubbed "oldest Bible in the world."
Westcott and Hort were unbelievers who jumped on the Tischendorf finds and generated a bunch of fake rules about the texts that nobody believes anymore. They promoted their Greek New Testament with no justification for any of the changes (no critical apparatus to explain their radical and stupid ideas) - like the WELS writer below.
Kurt Aland and his lovely second wife Barbara became the heirs of the Nestle-Aland style of Greek New Testament, constantly changing and beholden to Tischendorf-Westcott-Hort.
The part below in purple is copied and pasted, not one of my delightful satires:
We find the Lord speaking the prayer that bears his name twice: in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 6:9-13) and on the occasion of his disciples asking for guidance on how to pray (Luke 11:2-4). The reality we face is that the original manuscripts of Matthew’s gospel and Luke’s gospel are not extant.That is the case with all original manuscripts of Bible books. We have copies and copies of the original manuscripts.*
The copies of Luke’s gospel do not contain a doxology. Some copies of Matthew’s gospel contain a doxology, other copies do not. Consequently, we cannot say with certainty whether or not Jesus spoke the doxology.**
In that regard, then, it is not a matter of right or wrong to speak or omit the doxology. Churches have freedom in which “version” they use. If Jesus did not speak the doxology, those words that are reminiscent of 1 Chronicles 29:10-11 could very well have been a liturgical addition by the early Christian church.*** Our Holy Communion liturgy from the 1941 hymnal reflected that when the pastor spoke the address and petitions of the Lord’s Prayer and the congregation sang the Doxology.
It is interesting to note that the Small and Large Catechisms that Martin Luther wrote contained the Lord’s Prayer without the Doxology. The Doxology was added to the Catechisms after Luther’s death. Also, when Luther revised the Mass, he included an instruction that “After the sermon shall follow a public paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer.” That paraphrase did not include a Doxology.
18 εγω ειμι ο μαρτυρων περι εμαυτου και μαρτυρει περι εμου ο
πεμψας με πατηρ
KJV John 8:13 The
Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record
is not true. 14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of
myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but
ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. 15 Ye judge after the flesh; I
judge no man. 16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone,
but I and the Father that sent me. 17 It is also written in your law, that the
testimony of two men is true. 18 I AM one that bear witness of myself, and
the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. 19 Then said they unto him,
Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye
had known me, ye should have known my Father also. 20 These words spake Jesus
in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for
his hour was not yet come.
This chapter of
John’s Gospel is often given a lot of attention at the beginning, because the
much later, dubious codices did not have the story of the adulterous woman. The
ending is quite dramatic, with the ultimate declaration, Before Abraham was, I
AM.”
In between are
two important declarations of divinity – “I AM the Light of the World,” (8:12)
and this one.
18 I AM one that
bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
This is a message about the Holy Trinity, which is abhorrent
to the rationalists and apostates. They not only teach the humanity of Jesus
without the divinity, but also reject the Trinity and scoff at it. As Jesus
said so many times, the Word blinds and deafens the people who resist and
reject the truth.
That is also why the Fourth Gospel
is so comforting. Where there could be doubt or puzzlement, John’s Gospel
reveals the important points that unify and clarify the message of all four Gospels
and the Apostle Paul’s message, plus the other apostolic witnesses. John’s
Gospel is easy reading because the vocabulary and words are simple. It can be
easily translated into any language. As one of our editors said, “I think God
planned it that way.”
Yes, the Trinity is a difficult
topic to teach and discuss, because – like the other mysteries – is apprehended
only through faith. Those children are blessed when they are baptized and
taught gradually the meaning of these mysteries:
·The Trinity
·The divinity and
human nature of Jesus Christ
·Miracles
performed by Jesus
·The cross
·The Resurrection
and Ascension of Jesus
This language of
the Son and the Father witnessing together is another example of enraging the
opponents. Immediately they begin to ask about His father, lower case, because
they want to undermine Jesus.
If a man heals the sick and raises
the dead, performing other miracles as well, the issue is not His power but
what the establishment is going to do about that. We have seen a similar
reaction to a good leader who improved many things as once, kept the world
peaceful, and went after world-network crimes like child trafficking. Somehow
that was all evil while a blustering Altzheimer’s patient is a fine president.
I have seen this many times, when
something should be taught, there are angry outcries and personal attacks to
change the subject. This will continue, but the Gospel Word breaks through.
Every time we understand a Biblical concept better, it enlightens us about so
many more.
Just as many neglect or deny the
divinity of Christ, so they also neglect or deny the work of the Holy Spirit.
People comment on how the religious of today give no credit to the always
powerful and effective Spirit at work in the Word (preaching, teaching, and the
Means of Grace). The Spirit is a witness too in this John 8 dialogue. The
Spirit directed the Apostles to write down what happened, as Jesus predicted.
All things would be remembered. And where is that? – in the latter part of John’s
Gospel.
A simple way of teaching the Trinity
is to say – the unity of the Three, the three-ness of the One. St. Patrick is
credited with teaching the Trinity with the clover, since there are three
leaves, but one clover.
When any aspect of the Trinity is
slighted or removed, the entire nature of the mystery, the Biblical doctrine,
is lost. And that is what the apostates want. What they cannot have – faith –
is to be filtered into believing hearts so the faithful become faithless.
George Barna, the PR guy for Fuller
Seminary and others, has released a poll saying only 40% of parents teach their
children about God. (Public polls are bought for a reason, to create opinion. Private
polls with the facts are kept secret.) Although I think it is an attempt to
increase enrollment at Fuller Seminary, there could be truth to these so-called
facts. How could there be parents teaching children about faith in God if the
clergy are faithless themselves. That is not only clear in the mainline
denominations of the National Council of Churches (the same ones who own the
RSV and ESV paraphrases) but also in the “conservative” groups where the clergy
and professors are infected with the same rationalism and apostasy.
What is simple to teach and believe
in the Gospel of John is too difficult and opaque for the clergy and seminary
professors. We deal with the older Lutheran writers all the time and with the
change in Bibles. There is a chasm between one age, which began in the 1800s
and now, where we think we know so much.
The article says Schulz has two PhDs, but he only has a DMin from Ft. Wayne's OJ hive, and a PhD from the Jesuit school, Marquette.
“While there is no systemic racism at Concordia because we are committed to Christ incarnate and His universal justification of all human beings without exception, there certainly is systemic Woke-ism,” Schulz writes in the article.
CN, March 21, 2022, p. 19.
***
GJ - "Universal" is often tossed in by WELS, but they are all the same in teaching, whether LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC, or ELCA.
+++
Bengel in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 1, remarks: “Election is the judgment of the divine grace in Christ, having taken from the common ruin of men those who by faith have accepted the call. Every one called becomes an elect person, from the first moment that he believes.”
From “The Lutheran Doctrine Of Election: Its Scriptural Evidence And Proof. By Rev. P. Eirich, Hoboken, N. J. Article II.” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Leupold - Cap Seminary
Loy - President of Cap Seminary, Pastor, Hymn Writer and Translator, etc.
Lenski has a "Lenski Room" cubbyhole at Capital's Library. Conservatives still read him and prize his work. Cap's bookstore was not selling his books when I visited and asked.
"The horrid doctrine of Missouri, that whilst God rejected some on account of unbelief, He accepted or elected others who were in the same condition, is absurd. If this were true, we could well hold, that although God condemns some men because they believe not, He might yet save some who are of the same class. In short, Missouri’s singular doctrine, that the same cause which prevented God from electing some did not prevent Him from electing others, is contrary to the whole Bible, and our salvation would then not be by faith in Christ, but would be the result of God’s supreme will merely, rejecting some for one cause and accepting others to whom the same cause applied."
From “The Lutheran Doctrine Of Election: Its Scriptural Evidence And Proof. By Rev. P. Eirich, Hoboken, N. J. Article II.” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
1. Use a HDMI/USB camera, at $299. That would need a converter (about $70) from HDMI to the RESI encoder.
2. SDI connects directly to the encoder and they cost more. I need to talk to RESI a bit about that.
"This is easily connected via USB or HDMI to your computer. Then you would use the included IR remote for control." (A vendor wrote that about the camera mentioned above.)
I welcome responses from the vast majority who know more about this than I do. I am not buying a camera until I have more understanding about what we need and what will work.
"WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY."
And we have the money, ranging from the $300 to the $900 price. I am emailing this to various members and participants. Feel to offer an opinion, especially if you have experience in this area.
However, Amazon is delivering faster than I imagined. The first order should be delivered in 10 days, the earlies ones in a few days.
These unChristian fops took on the obviously fraudulent Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, raised Tischendorf into sainthood, and set the stage for the modern unChristian text critics - who also despised the plain truths of the Scriptures. The W-H Greek New Testament and the 19th century Revision were both flops, but they changed the course of Protestant Biblical studies.
Tischendorf "found" the Sinaiticus and heavily promoted Vaticanus. He claimed that the "Oldest Bible in the World" was from 450 AD, that he found leaves of the leather skin in the library trash, ready to be burned! (Monk to monk - "What smells? Is that stranger burning his sandals?" That was his mid-life deceit, which makes think that his Ephraim (first) and Vaticanus (last) codices were equally fraudulent, though preached into text critic glory.
Don't tell Missouri's secret - it started with Bishop Stephan, STD, and spread to Walther, who imposed Objective Justification on many of his associates, but not all of them.
LCMS Brief Statement, 1932, when Missouri began its meltdown:
Scripture teaches that God has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25*; that therefore not for the sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by grace, for Christ's sake, He justifies, that is, accounts as righteous, all those who believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for Christ's sake their sins are forgiven. LCMS B.S. 1932.
*KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Columbus Theological Magazine:
Missouri would like to have an election accepted that stands in no relation to the whole order of salvation, except so far as this is a means of executing the decree. With its teachers election is the last ground of salvation. Even the redemption, according to their interpretation of the Formula of Concord, must belong, as the first of the eight points, to the execution of the election already effected. But the whole theory stands in conflict with the Confession's mention of the mercy of God and the merits of Christ as the causes of election. Such mention of causes is inconsistent with the opinion, that God arbitrarily saves just whom He pleases; and that all questions as to the why and wherefore are wicked. He does save whom He pleases, but He pleases to save them that believe in Jesus. That is exactly what the Missourians would like to have excluded, and that is exactly what our theologians for centuries have been contending for in their defense of election intuitu fidei against the Calvinists.
From "The Necessity Of Faith To Salvation" in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Norma A. Boeckler took this photo at the dog park when she visited us.
Sassy had trouble jumping up on the bed as she got older. She could do it most of the time, but she liked being encouraged. I even put my foot near her tail to encourage her. She did her, "Rar, rar, rar!" warning bark but did not mean anything by it. She is known for being gentle but very loud.
She kept making fake attempts at jumping up one night, and I got angry. Then I sat down and petted her, telling her how much we all loved her. She gave me a gentle little lick of affection.
Sassy jumped, ran, and fetched better than the four-legged dogs.
That - I learned to my sorrow and laughter - was the beginning of the lovey needed for the jump. She no longer jumped for any reason but pushed her chest up against the bed, looked up, and grinned at me for a lovey. That had to be fairly wordy and effusive in language about her many friends, her gentleness, and her love for everyone.
So that immediately became a requirement. Her fake run turned into parking her chest against the bed. When we took off the legs of the bed - for her - she continued pushing her chest against bed and grinning. I took that as the new expectation, but I was wrong.
Soon Sassy began to park her chest against the corner of the bed. I thought maybe she was saving time. No. After that was done, she pretended to get her fun going, but pushed her chest in the same place again. She began giving me really big grins for this. (I gave her an M.A. - honoris causa - in adult education - for training me so well. The honorary doctorate will come later, I am sure.)
Tonight I tried to get her to jump after the first lovey, at the corner of the bed. She wiggled around and stopped with her chest against the bed again - big grin. She likes a longer bout of petting for the second time, and she wants an elaborate discussion of her merits, friends, and awesome reputation. I get a second gentle lick for being such a good student at her academy.
People loved seeing Sassy in the back seat, with me as the chauffer, in the Lincoln Town Car. It was a beautiful, smooth, dependable car that went 205,000 miles for us and then provided transportation for a friend's mother.
Among the great dogmaticians of the Lutheran Church, there is great unanimity in maintaining that predestination takes place in view of foreseen faith. It seemed necessary to teach this to guard the doctrine against Calvinistic error. Though all our writers did not use the same terms in designating faith as necessary to predestination, as Baier punts out, yet they agreed in the substance of the doctrine, that God predestinated whom He foresaw in Christ by faith. Hollaz, whose celebrated work was published in 1685, says: Our theologians in explaining the eternal decree of predestination, agree entirely as to the matter, teaching with one consent that God, to whom also the future is objectively present, by the infinite light of His intellect from eternity foresaw the faith of certain men, who had fallen into sin, and in view of their faith thus foreseen elected them to eternal life. They differ only in the mode of speaking and in the use of some technical terms.” Exam. P. III. Sec. 1, cap. 2, qu. 9.
From “Election in Foresight of Faith” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
1 Pet. 1:2, where Luther explains “foreknowledge” by “ordination,” because God in election had respect to the order constituted by Himself, in which order not our works, but Christ, together with all His merit, is included. Contrarily, the interpretation of the Calvinists is false, who interpret this “foreknew” by “recognized as His, loved, elected.” For then there would be no difference between foreknowledge and predestination or election, whereas they here must be accurately distinguished one from the other, as distinct steps in procuring our salvation.
From: “Rom. 8:28-30. By Prof. F. W. Stellhorn” in The Columbus Theological Magazine, Vol 1, 1881, Matthias Loy, editor. LutheranLibrary.org
We had two brief episodes of sleet, which melted fast, then experienced the edge of the Sno-Pocalypse, which was relatively mild all the way to Maine. The snow melted from the roads and driveways as it fell, but accumulated on the ground and birdfeeders. Now we have a week of 60 to 70 degree days.
The starlings knew where to search for food under the snow, so we hosted most of the starlings in Springdale, almost like Hitchcock's The Birds. It did seem as if their relatives from Fayetteville joined the food line. They pecked through the snow and found corn and peanuts galore.
The shy male cardinal landed on the kitchen window sill, where food is always placed. Like the squirrels who know their rights, the cardinal looked into the kitchen to remind me of our long and affectionate relationship. I was only two feet away, the reward for having food there most days, extra food for extreme weather.
The blue jay stopped on the other window sill to scream at me. Yes, yes, you are hungry too. I removed a lot of snow from their feeding zones - garbage barrel lids, window sills, the hanging wire bun baskets, and the cinder block.
The single purchase of suet lasted all winter. I had it hanging from an extra birdfeeder (squirrel proof, hahahahaha) in the mild fall weather, and it was totally ignored. Suet eaters, like the chickadees and woodpeckers, want suet when it is very cold and when they feel secure about the source. So when the snow and sleet were falling I saw the bug eating birds use the suet to tide them over.
Mulch is the best bird feeder of all, but more awkward to enjoy at ground level. A layer of leaves and wood mulch is a choice zone for all the critters birds love to devour.
I leave the garden trashy into the spring, to let the beneficial insects thrive, which also feed the birds and even the squirrels.
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy loving-kindnesses: for they have been ever of old.
Let not mine enemies triumph over me: God of Israel, deliver us out of all our troubles.
Psalm. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed.
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
O God, who seest that of ourselves we have no strength, keep us both outwardly and inwardly that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 Hymn # 50Lord Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing
Prayers and Announcements
Medical care - Pastor Jim Shrader, Christ Shrader, Doc Lito, Pastor K, Callie and her mother Peggy, and C.
Wednesday, 7 PM - MidWeek Lenten service,
Thank you for the donation of the Cambridge Lectern KJV Bible. One year anniversary.
KJV 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. 2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God,even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
KJV Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Second Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that He may strengthen our hearts and confirm our faith and hope in Thy grace and mercy, so that, although we have reason to fear because of our conscience, our sin, and our unworthiness, we may nevertheless, with the woman of Canaan, hold fast to Thy grace, and in every trial and temptation find Thee a very present help and refuge, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
I AM the Light of the World
KJV Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
KJV John 8: 12 Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 13
The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy
record is not true. 14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record
of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go;
but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. 15 Ye judge after the
flesh; I judge no man. 16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent me. 17 It is also written in your law,
that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I am one that bear witness of myself,
and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me. 19 Then said they unto him,
Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye
had known me, ye should have known my Father also. 20 These words spake Jesus
in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for
his hour was not yet come.
We should view the Gospel of John as the fulfillment and the commentary on the Books of Moses. When we see the obvious parallels, the more subtle ones become clearer. In this case, the statement - I AM the Light of the Word - takes us back to the beginning of time. Believe or not, one "lifelong Lutheran" was shocked that the Son existed from eternity. This reference to Creation makes that clear, and the chapter builds upon that.
As Luther observed, God created light before the sun, moon, and the stars. Thus light is first of all that truth belonging to God and the Son is that light. As spectacular as the creation of the universe is, calling forth the Light is even greater. Every step of the Creation, each 24 hour day, shows the Son as the Logos (John 1, interpreting Genesis 1) executing the commands of God the Father.
The nit-picking nannies of fake scholarship want to find differences and contradictions everywhere, but this is another example of the Father and Son in perfect harmony with the Holy Spirit witnessing.
The emphasis on I AM is not minor but major as the rest of the chapter shows. Jesus declared His divinity to the Jewish opponents, and their opposition is clearly stated in the Fourth Gospel.
I AM the Light of the world
God teaches us here that there is only one Truth, just as the Bible, as the Trinitarian revelation, is the one true Book, which is not judged by any book and judges all book. I have tell some Biblical students - "No, this man is not the last word in what the Bible says, the Bible is the last word. One passage illuminates another, and we are continuously learning. The Holy Spirit is the professor, teaching through the Word."
The experts would have us thing there are many truths, many perspectives. They long to fuse all religions together. The often overlooked part of Westcott-Hort has been overlooked. He was deeply involved in teaching that Christianity and Hinduism should be one religion, together, that the Incarnation would be complete when every person on earth was someone in every person (not through faith).
As many atheist world religion professors have proven, there is no way to integrate darkness and light, except to have even more darkness.
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Lenski noted that following the Light means the Light is moving. Jesus reveals the truth as we move through life. We can see what a difference that makes when we rely on His Truth as the Light of the world. Darkness seems to loom all around us, but light eliminates darkness. The smallest light will show what is in a darkened room.
KJV Psalm 119:105 Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
We have this constant reminder, when we use a lamp to find our way (or our keys or wallet or part from the computer) in the darkness. The everyday use of light in darkness reminds us that Jesus as the divine Word lights our path.
The Canaanite Woman
Some people like to portray this Gospel text for today, this miracle of healing as Jesus being mean. He does not listen. His disciples urge Him to act! - Send her away with a miracle!
He seems to try hard to insult the woman by using the term "dogs."
But this is really a miracle about faith in spite of all our emotions, fears, and rational judgements. First of all, her faith is so great that she as a pagan approaches the Jewish Messiah, because she has heard the Report (Isaiah 53, Romans 10) and believes.
Second, her faith is revealed in how she persists in view of Jesus' total silence, a silence so great that the disciples want her gone, dismissed with the miracle she wishes.
Third, her faith is shown in that Jesus rebuffs her with words that could be taken as insulting, just as people say to Christians, "Where is your Jesus now? Why does He treat ministers and members so badly? Look at us!" Some of those taunters are busy in many congregations, where the insults smart the most.
Finally, her faith is shown in her being willing to accept anything that Jesus will offer. She may be a dog, but "even the little pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table."
Jesus played the foil so that this woman's faith, which He knew by divine intuition, would be revealed outwardly and recorded for all time. This pagan turned believer through the Gospel Word is our example in remaining full of trust in Christ, no matter how:
God seems to be silent.
God seems absent for a long time.
God lets us take insulting abuse and worse...
This is the key example of faith in Jesus resulting in blessings, rejoicing - even in the crumbs that fall from the Master's table.
