April 28th, 25:Faith Over Offense: Lessons from a Gentile Woman and the Pharisees

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! In today’s episode, host Hunter guides us through Day 118 of our journey through the Scriptures. We dive into the dramatic events of 2 Samuel 3, where the tension between Saul’s dynasty and David’s rise to power reaches a boiling point, and loyalties are tested in the midst of political intrigue and family drama. From there, we explore 1 Chronicles 12 and witness the gathering of mighty warriors and tribes rallying to support David as their new king, painting a vivid picture of unity and devotion in ancient Israel.

We then turn to Matthew 15, where Jesus challenges the Pharisees on the true meaning of purity and righteousness, and a humble Gentile woman’s persistence and faith lead to a miracle of healing. Hunter draws thought-provoking contrasts between the pride of the Pharisees and the humility of the outsider, reminding us how faith, humility, and a heart open to God’s love truly make the difference.

Join us as we seek deeper insight, pause for prayer, and reflect on God’s faithfulness—because you are loved, no doubt about it.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

A group of Pharisees and a solitary Gentile woman come to Jesus, and Jesus seems to offend them both, or so it seems at first.

The Pharisees are offended for sure. Peter says to Jesus, don't you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said? Jesus has criticized their traditions. He's called them hypocrites, blind guides, and they're offended. And as for the Gentile woman, on the face of things, it seems that she would be offended too. But though the Pharisees take offense, the woman does not.

The Pharisees come to Jesus in unbelief, in their own righteousness. They don't come with any sense of need other than their need to justify themselves. They come to him, in fact, to point out that he is somehow in the wrong. He's not insisting on the tradition of handwashing, on their standards of holiness, and on their interpretation of the scriptures.

In contrast, the gentile woman seemingly has plenty to take offense at. He has just compared her with a dog. Any comparison with a woman and a dog doesn't seem like it's gonna go well. Yet, Jesus also calls her dear woman, and I don't think he's being snide here. I read this as sincere. She is dear to him. And by the time this story is told, we'll see just how dear she proves to be.

Jesus is teaching here. He's contrasting the Pharisees and this dear woman. The woman doesn't come in her righteousness like the Pharisees. She doesn't come trying to justify herself. No. She comes in humility, in desperate need, in faith, for the love of her daughter. She comes ready to worship him. In fact, even though she's a Gentile, she calls him lord and master and son of David.

Unlike the Pharisees, this Gentile outsider sees what the religious insiders failed to see. The Pharisees, they left the way they came, still thinking Jesus wasn't living up to their standard of holiness, still not saying and doing the right things, still not washing his hands the way their tradition and their reading of the Bible said was the only way. They left offended. They left blind and empty.

The gentile woman, she leaves knowing that she is dear to God. She wasn't adhering to any of the so-called right ways of living that the Pharisees had, and yet she leaves with a heart that is full and a daughter that is delivered. This woman had faith. Jesus commends her for it.

Out of her faith in God's love comes healing, deliverance, and life.

Today, let's join this dear woman in faith, trusting that we too are dear to God. We're loved by him, and from his love will come the healing, the deliverance, and the life that are yours in Christ.

That's a prayer that I have for my own soul. That's a prayer that I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son. And that's a prayer that I have for you. May it be so.