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If Jesus is God, then God views those not of Israel as dogs. Only her admonition of being a dog begging for scraps got this Syrian's daughter healed. |
I think the four gospels are a testament to the fact that Jesus was not only sent to Israel.
He began in Israel, but his story was told in four separate ways and spread in four separate directions. Just picture that you are a person living in Egypt and you know the story of Jesus because you have been exposed to the gospel of Mark (just a hypothetical). Now imagine that you are leaving your homeland. The day that you arrive at your new location you get to know the locals and you come to find out that they have the exact same story as you do about Jesus. Then going to other locations and discovering that the same story is written down in different cultures under different names. I think this, along with Rome accepting Christianity, spread the religion more than anything else.
FarSeer, you brought up some very interesting points about if Jesus was God or the Son Of God. Your argument is for that he was the son of God not a physical embodiment of God because he prayed to God and because he asked for Mercy. I really see nothing wrong with the way you are thinking on this subject, but I figured I would offer you a different interpration of the same thing. Well I guess what I'm trying to say is that perhaps God came to Earth as Jesus Christ to specifically embody the principals that we should follow. Like he was God trying to show us the proper way to be human beings. So to me, it makes perfect sense that he would pray to himself, and ask himself for mercy. Otherwise, how would we have ever figured it out? Of course, you know I'm not sure, I'm just trying to give another side to what FarSeer said.
JMiss
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If Jesus is God, then God views those not of Israel as dogs. Only her admonition of being a dog begging for scraps got this Syrian's daughter healed. |
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"The words, harsh as they may sound to us, were understood by her in the spirit of the Lord's intent. The original term here translated "dogs" connoted, as the narrative shows, not the vagrant and despised curs elsewhere spoken of in the Bible as typical of a degraded state, or of positive badness, but literally the "little dogs" or domestic pets, such as were allowed in the house and under the table. Certainly the woman took no offense at the comparison, and found therein no objectionable epithet. Instantly she adopted the analogy, and applied it in combined argument and suplication... Many have queried as to why Jesus delayed the blessing. We may not be able to fathom His purposes, but we see that, by the course He adopted, the woman's faith was demonstrated and the disciples were instructed. Jesus impressed upon her that she was not of the chosen people, to whom He had been sent, but His words prefigured the giving of the gospel to all, both Jew and Gentile: "Let the children first be filled" He had saith. The resurrected Christ was to be known to every nation, but His personal ministry as a mortal, as also that of the apostles while He was with them in the flesh, was directed to the hourse of Israel". |
Here's an argument I've heard from a fairly well known pastor (Tim Keller) who I thought had a pretty thought-provoking argument on the matter.
To put it shortly. Jesus talked about himself a lot. He said that he was the only way to come to God. Normally, religious figures talk about principles on what to do or certain ideas or they talk about what you can do to become better, but Jesus just straight up says you cannot come to God without Him.
If a person just went around in society talking like this, they would naturally be ridiculed or be seen as crazy. But something about the life of Jesus not only gave him so many followers while alive, but also created a situation where people would die to preserve his words, teach about Jesus, and proliferate knowledge about Jesus for centuries to come. There must have been something remarkable that happened with him, and it can't have been Jesus's political power or his riches, because Jesus, by all witness accounts, allowed himself to die. There had to have been something extraordinary about his life that created such a powerful response from the witnesses during that time.
The life and resurrection of Christ seems to fit the bill.