Racial hatred and intolerance is a terrible gaping wound upon the soul of humanity. The explosion of feeling that has erupted when a white police officer kneeled upon the neck of a black man named George Floyd, speaks to the level of pain that exists within our countries around the world. When we read the Bible, Jesus touches us with His gentleness, meekness, and kindness. But there was one time when a foreign woman came to Him and asked for Him to heal her daughter, and, in contrast to other times when people asked for help, He says this:

“It isn’t right to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” (Matthew 15:26)

This shocks us. Did Jesus just call this woman a dog?! The fact that this response from Jesus seems so unlike Him means that this story should be studied more deeply.