“I came that they may have life…” John 10:10
There was a Canaanite woman who came to Jesus once for help. Jesus replied that his ministry was to Israel, not to outsiders.
Law.
He turned her away accordingly.
Justice.
She might have just walked away sad like a certain ruler (Luke 18: 18-29), but the woman responded that “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
Faith.
Jesus, delighted, remarked at this and disregarding the law, helped her according to her request.
Grace.
With his miracles, Jesus undoes the physical handicaps of God’s wrath. And without condition. But if he came just to do that, he could have waved his arms for the whole world at once.
But that’s not what he came to do. He came that we might “have life” (John 10:10). And this “life” means to “know him” (John 17:3).
And to know him demands personal engagement.