Crumbs from the Table

Throughout Scripture, it is often the outsiders—the ones willing to gather even the crumbs from the table—who recognize the true Bread of Life and are honored for their faithfulness.

Photo by Anton Ryazanov on Unsplash

The Faithful Ruths of the World

As these witnesses welcome and support Ruth into their Israelite community and anticipate God’s blessing on this new family, the theological theme of Ruth is also realized, “Yahweh welcomes foreigners who demonstrate faithfulness demanded of ethnic Israel.”¹ God deeply cares for all the Ruths of the world, all the outcasts, widows, and foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:18), and he delights when they acknowledge him as the one true God (Psalm 147:11).

And honestly, that hasn’t changed. God continues to delight when anyone comes to Him, because in many ways, aren’t we all outsiders—living in exile east of Eden, longing for home? And when we call on His name, we become citizens of another kingdom, foreigners in a world that is no longer our true home.

God sees and loves the faithful outsider and through his mercy, they become insiders. We see biblical examples of foreign non-Israelite women such as Tamar, Rahab, and, of course, Ruth. All experienced great adversity and varied circumstances, but each pledged allegiance and faithfulness to the one true God. God includes these marginalized foreigners to accomplish his plans and purposes, and all are included in the genealogy of Jesus listed in Matthew’s Gospel.

What we can’t miss is how God, in both Old and New Testaments, chooses the most unlikely and lowly for his glory to be revealed, and God continues to teach us by defying conventional and human wisdom by doing the unexpected.

Did Jesus Reject the Gentile Woman?

Theologian Ligon Duncan captures God’s heart, whose mission is to bring hope and redemption to the other, a lowly, gentile woman, in his brilliant piece, “A Pagan Woman Who Understands Grace.”²

What initially appears to be an offensive and perplexing conversation between a Gentile woman and Jesus, the context reveals a different story. Jesus commends this gentile woman’s great faith and heals her daughter. We glean from two passages of the same account in Mark 7:24-30 and Matthew 15:21-29.

We learn that Jesus entered a house near Tyre and Sidon, Gentile territory, outside where the Jews lived. Duncan suggests Jesus intentionally traveled outside Jerusalem to preach and minister to the Gentiles, which makes Jesus’ response even more intriguing. When a Canaanite woman heard Jesus was there, she fell at his feet and begged him to deliver her demon-possessed daughter. His disciples urged him to “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us” (Matthew 15:21).

In Matthews’s account, Jesus explained that he was sent only to “the lost sheep of Israel” (Mt 15:24), the Jews. Nevertheless, she cried out, “Lord, help me” (Mt 15: 25). This woman, a stranger to the covenant of promise, calls him Lord, son of David (Mt 15:22).

She seems to have more insight about who he was than the Pharisees and even his disciples.

Understanding the Bread and the Crumbs

He continued, “First, let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

When I first read that passage, I was confused. I found myself searching for ways to defend Jesus, but all I could think was, did Jesus just call this woman a dog? How do I reconcile that?

“Lord,” she replied, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” (Mark 7:27; Matthew 15:27). And now she seems to agree with Him. Were women and Gentiles so marginalized in that culture that she had come to see herself as no better than a dog?

Once again, context matters. In this exchange, the “children” are the Jewish people, and the “dogs” refer to the Gentiles (non-Jews), signifying a traditional distinction between the Jews and the Gentiles, especially in this story.³ However, even that biased distinction could have felt insulting.

Now the crumbs come from the bread. And Jesus is the bread. Jesus, in effect, was saying, “I am the bread of life for the Jews only, and I need to offer this bread to them first (Mark 7:27), suggesting there is hope for the Gentiles in the future.⁴ While Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life, author Cory Driver, in his article, “Crumbs from the Table,” astutely proposes that Jesus’ confusing and even harsh words might have been intended for his disciples to hear more than this woman.⁵ What an interesting twist. Let’s keep reading.

Although Jesus referred to himself as “bread for the children,” these very children, his people, the religious leaders, and even the crowds from Galilee abandoned him and treated him more “like crumbs that the children (the Jews) were happy to drop and leave.”⁶ Jesus’ rejection from his own people was already unfolding, and this very encounter subtly brought this truth to light.

Willing to Eat the Crumbs from the Table

This pagan woman was willing to take even the crumbs. She knew what she deserved. She knew “her sins were many, but his mercy was more.”⁷ This outsider acknowledged who Jesus was; she knew he was the son of David, the Messiah. And she would not let go. This woman seemed to understand things his own disciples couldn’t discern! “Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, your faith is great! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment” (Mt 15:28).

Duncan points out of all the encounters with Jesus, the only people Jesus ever commended for their faith were Gentiles, the outsiders. Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “She took Christ at his own words. He then treated her not as a dog but as a child of Israel.”⁸

I knew Jesus had His reasons. I just needed to trust that even when something doesn’t immediately make sense to me, He is still good and faithful.

Jesus told the Canaanite woman she had great faith.

What? Was she turning around to see if He was speaking to someone else? And what exactly did He mean by that? Faithful to what?

Just as many in Israel rejected the Bread of Life, the Canaanite woman was willing to accept even the crumbs. She revealed herself to be a righteous foreigner and, as such, can be seen in the same light as Jesus’ ancestors. Like her Canaanite sisters Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, she responded faithfully to the revelation of God placed before her.

Rahab, the prostitute who hid the spies in Jericho and later became the mother of Boaz, boldly proclaimed, “The LORD your God, he is in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11). Each of these women chose to align themselves with the God of Israel and become part of His redemptive story.

In our story, during the dark days of the Judges, God’s people were blemished by rebellion and idolatry. Yet like a bright star shining in the darkest night, there was Ruth—the poor, barren foreigner whose devoted and radical faith shamed even the children of promise.

Ruth, willing to gather even the crumbs from the table, knew nothing of God’s plans for her legacy, yet she walked in radical faithfulness.

What does it mean to walk in radical faithfulness?

I think of the brave and devoted persecuted Christians and missionaries serving throughout the world in countries where openly practicing faith in Christ is forbidden. If discovered, they face imprisonment or even martyrdom. These faithful believers gather in underground churches, rejoicing over the crumbs that fall from the table and finding joy in even the smallest glimpses of spiritual nourishment. It is their Spirit-filled faith that empowers their boldness and courage to defend the gospel in oppressive and harrowing places.

In contrast, many of us in the West are inundated with Christian messages, books, podcasts, and sermons showcased across every social media platform. I am ashamed to admit that despite being flooded with the truth of the gospel, some have become numb, saturated, and disinterested.

They are feasting yet facing spiritual famine.

Some reject, deconstruct, twist, or pervert God’s clear truth.

Has apathy encroached upon our hearts, as it did with the Israelites, the Pharisees, and even the Galileans? Have we become jaded or bored with faith?

What can we learn from the outsider?

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from my book, When Hope Comes. I look forward to sharing more excerpts here on Substack as I continue completing the companion Bible study for the book.

Sources

1. Hubbard, Robert L. Jr. The Book of Ruth. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. 256.

2. Duncan, Ligon. “A Pagan Woman Who Understands Grace.” The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/conference_media/pagan-woman-understands-grace/

3. Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary

4. Ligon Duncan, Ibid

5. Driver, Cory. “Crumbs from the Table.” Living Lutheran. [https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/09/matthew-lectionary-series-crumbs-table/].

6. Cory Driver, Ibid

7. Ligon Duncan, Ibid,

8. R. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Nashville: Abingdon, 1950), 362 found in Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.