Gaining the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ—As Small Crumbs and the One with All Authority

Needing the Excellency of the Knowledge of the All-inclusive Christ

This week I was nourished by appreciating the many wonderful items of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew. In this post I will focus on Christ as the bread, even the crumbs under the table (Matt. 15:21-38) and the One with all authority (28:18-19).

Before considering the Christ revealed in Matthew, I’d first like to mention a question that came to me this week.  Why is the knowledge of this all-inclusive Christ so important to our Christian life?

My answer was that the ending of this age depends on readiness of Christ’s bride (Rev. 19:7). The readiness of Christ’s bride depends on the growth and building up of Christ’s Body (Eph. 4:15-16; 5:26-27). The building up of the Body depends on the believers’ full growth in the divine life (4:12-13). The believers’ growth in life depends on their experience of Christ (3:17-19). And the believers’ experience of Christ cannot go beyond the revelation they have received of Him. This is why we need to pursue the excellency of the knowledge of Christ as Paul did.

Appreciating Christ, Gaining Christ and Being Found in Christ, to Know Christ

The apostle Paul saw the “excellency of the knowledge of Christ” (Phil. 3:8) when Christ was revealed to him by God (Gal. 1:15-16). Such an excellent knowledge of Christ is like our appreciation of some of the rich food items in the store or a nice restaurant. The issue of such an appreciation or “knowledge,” is that we purchase certain appetizing food items. This can be likened to our “gaining Christ” (v. 8b).

After gaining the food we need to be found in it. That is, having gained something of the riches of Christ (for example, some of these 27 items of Christ in Matthew) we need to be “found in Him” (v. 9)—to be immersed and saturated with the riches of Christ we have gained. This is our eating the delicious food that we have obtained.

The result of such an eating is that we know by experience how good the food is. Paul aspired to “know Him” (v. 10)—to know Christ by his subjective experience and enjoyment of Him. It is by this way we can say we “have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pet. 2:3).

Eating Christ as the Bread, Even the Crumbs Under the Table

The revelation of Christ as the children’s bread, even the crumbs under the table is such a precious item of Christ for our enjoyment. Christ came to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24) to be their food, that is “the children’s bread.” However, those to whom Christ came rejected Him as their bread causing Him to withdraw to Tyre and Sidon.

The Gentiles there were considered as “dogs” by the Israelites. However, one needy Canaanite woman came to the Lord asking for His help. He answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (Matt. 15:26). Christ considered Himself as the bread for God’s people and this Canaanite woman a Gentile dog. However, the woman said, “Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). Jesus called the woman a little pet dog. The woman did not disagree, but indicated that Jesus was “the crumbs that had fallen from the masters’ table.”

What happens when the “dogs” get the “crumbs”? They become the kingdom. Christ, the King, became “crumbs” that reached us “dirty dogs.” So the King became edible. So we eat the King and become the “dom”—the kingdom. By eating the King who is God processed to be “the crumbs,” these “little dogs” have become the same as God in life and nature but not in His Godhead. We are being ruled by Him as life-giving, nourishing, and supplying bread crumbs. This is our wonderful Christ.

Being Commissioned by Christ with His Authority to Disciple the Nations

On the one side, we come to Christ as the needy, hungry dogs. Christ as the crumbs under the table satisfies us and makes these little dogs the citizens of His heavenly kingdom. Then this King, with all the authority in heaven and on earth, commissions us to go to disciple the nations, to make them the kingdom people also (Matt. 28:18-19).

On the one hand our Christ is as small as bread crumbs under the table so that we can eat Him. On the other hand He is as great as the universe, such that He has all the authority in heaven and on earth. On the one hand we come to Christ as lowly pet dogs to receive Him as our bread crumbs that we may live. On the other hand we go with Him as our divine, kingly authority to disciple people into the heavenly kingdom into which we have entered. The lowly dogs eat the crumbs and become Christ’s sent ones with heavenly authority. What a gospel!

The inspiration for this post came from my enjoyment of The Holy Word for Morning Revival  on The Crucial Elements of the Bible which is based on The Life-study of Matthew, by Witness Lee, especially messages 46 and 72 available to read online at ministrybooks.org. Also, for more appreciation of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ you may enjoy reading The Life-study of Philippians, messages 19 and 21.