The Call of Levi – Q’s Why was Jesus criticised when he ate with Levi? (2 marks)   Tax-collectors considered sinners - eating with such people made you “unclean” / setting a bad example to others by implying that keeping the Law and being dishonest did not matter / tax-collectors worked for Romans and regarded as collaborators. 2. Explain why the call of Levi is important in understanding Jesus’ attitude to others. (3 marks) Levi was a tax collector / would be hated by other Jews / Jesus included him in the 12 / demonstrates that Jesus was inclusive / saw value in people even when others did not / sets an example that should help other excluded people / it follows Jesus teaching on the Good Samaritan/ it taught the first Christians what their attitude should be.

Outcasts: The Greek Woman’s Possessed Daughter To describe an examples of Jesus healing Gentiles To explain why Gentiles were outcast To evaluate the importance of faith in Jesus’ healings Jews considered GENTILES (non-Jews) as unclean – because they did follow the Jewish law. They did not obey food laws, keep the Sabbath, wash hands or vessels before meals. Jews would not mix with non-Jews, to avoid becoming unclean. But sometimes, Jesus did go into Gentile territory. Read the story about the Greek woman. What sort of attitude did Jesus have towards her?

“First, let the children eat all they want “First, let the children eat all they want. For it is not right to take the children’s food and toss it to the dogs”. She agrees that she is not a Jew and therefore has no claim on God, but she is humble and says she can also benefit from whatever he can spare her. This represents God’s teaching that Jesus is giving – the gospel. It is first of all for the Jews. Non Jews would not appreciate God’s word – they are like dogs. Jesus praises her for her faith and belief in him. He tells her that her daughter is cured. She returns home and finds this is true. It is the non-Jews (= the gentiles), who do not know about God. Jesus is being challenging her on purpose – does she have real faith that will stand up to his brushing off? It is the Jewish people, the chosen people of God. Who do “the children” represent? Who do “dogs” represent? What does Jesus mean by the “children’s food must not be tossed to the dogs”? What does the woman mean by saying “even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters table”? What happens in the end? **Was Jesus insulting the woman? Was he testing her?

Which answer best answers this question? Write it out. The Story of the Greek woman’s daughter shows that Jesus was not prejudiced because… Which answer best answers this question? Write it out. We are all equal because we are all made in the image of God so we should treat others with dignity. Even though it was normal for Jews to look down on non-Jews & ignore them, Jesus gave her the help she needed Jesus didn’t mean it when he called the woman a dog because that was just how Jews talked about non-Jews.

‘Jesus insulted the Greek (Syro-Phoenician) woman when he talked about not throwing bread to the dogs.’ What do you think? Explain your opinion. 3mks The woman may have thought that he was calling her ‘a dog’ / it was an unpleasant thing to refer to the Gentiles as dogs / Jesus seemed to be saying that the Jews were more important that Gentiles / she and her daughter were not worth helping / Jesus may have shared anti-Gentile prejudices until this woman made him think, etc. This was just banter / Jesus wasn’t calling anyone a dog / it was an image / he cured the woman’s daughter in the end / Jesus was quoting what some Jewish people might have said about Gentiles at the time, not what he personally believed / it may have been a well-known proverb / he was testing her faith / did she really believe he could heal her daughter or was she just testing him? / Jesus healed other women and Gentiles so to suggest that he was unwilling to help her contradicts the rest of Mark’s Gospel, etc. [3 marks]

“Mark’s gospel shows that Jesus was not prejudiced”. Do you agree? Yes – Jesus was not prejudiced. What is your evidence? Eating with tax collectors Healing outcasts like lepers Healing the Greek woman’s daughter, even though she was not Jewish Parable of Good Samaritan No – Jesus was prejudiced. What is your evidence? Jesus felt that his mission was first for the Jews – no stories of him going into Roman towns. Jesus did not want to heal the Greek woman’s daughter at first, and said she did not have the same priority as Jews Jesus did not have any women at the Last Supper or as part of his 12 apostles