GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 7:27
Kricket
When Alice and I moved from Kaneohe, Hawaii, to Franklin Springs, Georgia, we picked up our car from a dock in Los Angeles and drove across the country. We stopped to visit one of our three sons living in Springfield, Missouri. To surprise his mother, our son purchased a miniature dachshund for her. The little dog was just weaned and had to be fed often. The puppy was so small that Alice carried it in her purse. She even carried it to church in her purse the first couple of weeks, so she was sure it would be fed and protected. The dog was so small that Alice stayed with it outside for fear that a large bird might mistake it for a chipmunk and carry it away.
The dog needed a name, of course, and she tried several names, but none of them seemed to fit. Then, one day, she watched the puppy playing in the yard. It was so small that it had to hop along in the grass like a cricket moving about. “That’s it,” she said. “Her name is Kricket.” That’s “cricket” spelled with a “K.”
Kricket lived with us for over sixteen years and was part of the family. She had her own food and bed. She thought she had the run of the house, so she and I often had words when she invaded my study. She had the best of medical care and periodic checkups. If we went on a trip, she was boarded at a local kennel. Kricket was cuddled, maybe even spoiled.
When Jesus was in the northern city of Tyre, apparently reclining at a meal, a Greek Syrophoenician woman, a Gentile, came into the room, fell at Jesus’ feet, and pleaded with him to heal her little daughter of an evil spirit. At first, Matthew records that Jesus ignored her, but she kept pleading with him. “And he said to her, ‘Permit first the children to be fed, for it is not good to take the bread of the children and to throw it to the little dogs.’” (Mark 7:27)
Writers point out the importance of the word “dog” in Jesus’ reply to the woman. Jews often used the word “dog” as a pejorative term for Gentiles. Wild dogs ran in packs and could be vicious and dangerous. Most translators render the word Jesus used as “dog.” However, Jesus used not the normal word, but a diminutive word meaning “little dog” or “puppy,” such as those people kept inside their homes. There may have been puppies around the table where Jesus reclined. So, while Jesus was careful to keep his priorities right, he didn’t insult the woman by telling her she had no place in the house around the table.
Just as Kricket had a place in our house, so this Greek Syrophoenician woman had a place in the house where Jesus was, and, by extension, so it is for everyone today.
Previous
Next
Directory