Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not"(John 1:5).

Our blessed Lord, as representative of the Father, and as exhibiting His own inherent character, could only be light, for "God is Light." He was in a world of darkness, for man had turned from God, and could only be left without that which comes from God alone, the light. He was thus the subject of the ruler of the darkness of this world, or age, "the power of darkness" (Lk. 22:53).

We need not be surprised therefore to find the constant and deepening antagonism between the darkness and the light increasing until its culmination in the apparent triumph of the darkness at the cross, a triumph that was of short duration.

This antagonism was more fully seen when the Lord was met by the rulers and religious leaders. Indeed, "the common people heard Him gladly" (Mk. 12:37); "To the poor the gospel is preached" (Lk. 7:22). But those who should have been witnesses for God and His mercy were the farthest from Him, and the bitterest opponents of our blessed Lord.

Nor is it difficult to find the reason. Our Lord was here to glorify and to manifest God:that was His only purpose – a blessed and all-embracing purpose it was, including the reaching out of the love of God to the need of lost man, for God is Love, as well as Light, and each is combined with the other. The rulers of the Jews, representatives of all men, were set for the exaltation of self; and what fellowship can there be between these two?

We see this antagonism, and, may we not say, the supremacy of good, in the chapter before us. In the first part we see the religious leaders busy with their ceremonial teachings and obligations. Not content with practicing these-with many a modification to please themselves- they would blame those who were learning in a better school, and from a infinitely kinder Master.

And what was it all about? "When they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault" (ver. 2). It comes out that they taught the greatest punctiliousness about constant ceremonial ablutions. At every turn, coming from market, in the house, there was this constant ritual of washing, "baptizing," as the word is in the original.

It was indeed "a fair show in the flesh," an ordinance of man, calculated to eclipse even natural affection and the will of God. Such is human ceremonial. And it can easily be seen how such a system would be an intolerable burden to the conscientious, and a rod of cruel tyranny in the hands of those who would not touch with one of their fingers the grievous burden they laid on their followers.

Their authority? "The tradition of the elders." At best, if there could be a "best" to such a system, it made the outside of the cup appear clean, and left the inside with all its corruption untouched. They might honor God, apparently, with their lips, but the heart was far from Him.

Not only so but there was the most glaring violation of the plain command of God. He had commanded, "Honor thy father and thy mother," but a little ceremonial ordinance was sufficient to set all this aside. So it ever is with the ordinances of men which are observed for the attempt to establish a human righteousness before God.

Such is carnal righteousness, an empty, useless thing, calculated to feed all that is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Now mark the contrast. The Lord Jesus goes to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, away from the highly-favored land of Israel. Here He is found-"for He could not be hid" by one whose only claim upon Him was her wretchedness and need. The dreadful mastery of Satan had laid hold upon her home. Her own child was subject to an evil spirit. There is no indifference here. She must have help.

How the Lord took pleasure in her faith! He tests it, not to rebuff her, or to send her away, but to strengthen it, and to bring out the confession of that faith in Him. He contrasts the "dogs" of the Gentiles with the "children." Is it right to take their food and give it to those away from these covenants of promise?

She is not indignant at the name put upon her, but accepts it and all that goes with it. Truth it was, but there is "bread enough and to spare," even for the outcasts. What she craves is not exaltation but deliverance from the power of evil. And this ever appeals to the tender heart of the Lord. The need is met. Deliverance is given.