The book of Titus 2:11 (NCV) assures us that “God’s grace that can save everyone has come.” We humans aren’t prone to this “whoever” policy. We’re prone to pecking orders. We love the high horse. The affluent over the destitute. The educated over the dropout. The old-timer over the newcomer. The Jew over the Gentile.
An impassable gulf yawned between Jews and Gentiles. No Jew would have anything to do with a Gentile. Unless that Jew, of course, was Jesus. Suspicions of a new order began to surface because of his curious conversation with a Canaanite woman. Her daughter was dying, and her prayer was urgent, yet her ancestry was Gentile. Even so, Jesus healed the woman’s daughter and made his position clear. He was more concerned about bringing people in than shutting certain people out.