Was Jesus being a Jerk?

(I preached the following sermon yesterday. It was based on Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman in which it sounds like Jesus is implying she is a dog. Matthew 15:10–28).

The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli was published in 1532, five years after Machiavelli died. Since that time, there has been a great deal of debate about his work. Is it a serious treatise designed to guide rulers — the idea being that it is better to be feared than to be loved? To be Machiavellian where the ends justify the means? Or is it a work of ironic literature — identifying the worst methods and tactics in…