Parallel Passage

As you may have known I have been doing a study in the gospels comparing the different versions presented by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In doing this I have discovered that they kinda jump around a bit and aren't always chronologically identical.

This has added to the time it takes me to study, and to be honest without the help of the Gospelcom bible and it's search tool I wouldn't have been able to stick with it as easily.

So just in case you are interested I decided to put together some of the passages as I go along to make it easier for you to try it for yourself.

One thing you will notice is that due to John's Gospel focusing more on statements and relationships between Jesus and His disciples, events that occur are often only mentioned in the first three Gospels and are not included in John.

Finally if you don't like the translation that I used (the New Living Translation) then after you have gone to the page you can use "see this passage in" pull down box at the top of the page, change it to the translation of your choice, and click go. NIV - New International Version, or KJV - King James Version, are probably two that are the most popular or well known. Do bear in mind that as this is an American website though it will have spelling mistakes (honour, and colour for example).

The Faith of a Gentile Woman


This passage has many titles depending on the translation as they all refer differently to the 'nationality' of the woman. All that matters though is that she wasn't a Jew, and yet displayed amazing faith in the messiah (much like the centurion had done earlier). What is strange though is that Jesus tries to ignore her, to the point where the disciples tell him to tell her to get lost so they don't have to listen to her anymore. Jesus tells her that he is there for God's lost people of Israel, and that he shouldn't feed the dogs before the kids (great - that makes me a dog!). However in much the same way that Moses had the cajones to remind God that he promised to take care of Israel and not wipe them out, so she replied to Jesus that the dogs get the scraps that fall off the table. Effectively acknowledging her status, and yet reminding God that she could still be taken care of. Jesus tells her that was a smart answer and then heals her daughter. What does this mean for us? Well it does demonstrate that by faith and persistence God will answer our prayers. It also shows a different side of Jesus which is not often talked about and portrayed.

posted by Tim @ 4/26/2004 07:45:00 AM

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