Matthew tells us two stories about Jesus' interaction with Gentiles. In both the story of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman, Jesus makes an oblique reference to the table and Gentiles. Since most of us are Gentiles, we may take for granted Christ’s invitation to his table today. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, God now welcomes people from every tribe and tongue to come to his table. Message based on Matthew 8:5-13; 15:21-28.
Quotes:
John 12:32: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
John Claypool’s young daughter with leukemia: Have you asked God to heal me of my cancer? Yes. What did he say?
The Canaanite woman was an outsider: Tom Long says she was “on the border” – the boundary between the old and the new, between male and female, between Jew and Gentile, between friend and enemy, between the holy and the demonic.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A year and a half before his death, in solitary confinement potatoes and turnips; package through Ruth. I needed a visible sign to confirm the word of your love.
Lord's Supper Prayer: We do not presume to come to your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own goodness, but in your all-embracing love and mercy. We are not worthy even to gather up the crumbs under your table, but it is your nature always to have mercy. So feed us with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, that we may forever live in him and he in us. Amen.
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