In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ”First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” ”Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” (Mark 7:25-29)
This story always raises a few eyebrows. Basically the story goes as follows…
Jesus leaves the area of Galilee and travels into Gentile territory near Tyre (modern Lebanon…in fact it is a beach resort today) in order to withdraw for a time from the growing crowds and the growing opposition in Israel.
A Gentile woman hears that Jesus is in Tyre and immediately finds him. Matthew’s gospel notes that this woman (Matt. 15:21-28) repeatedly cried out for Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus however remained silent. But the woman was so persistent that the disciples began urging Jesus to send her away, presumably implying, “Go ahead and heal her daughter so she’ll leave us alone.”
Jesus instead replies that He is sent to the lost sheep of Israel (Matt 15:24) and that the food meant for children should not be given to the pet dogs in the house.
To this the woman replies, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs in the house get the crumbs from the children’s food.” When Jesus hears this, he is amazed at her faith (”You have great faith!” Matt 15:28) and heals her daughter.
What in the world is going on in this story? I can’t say that I understand it fully but at least two thoughts are evident.
1. The woman’s persistence revealed her passion and her faith. This woman was passionate about her daughter and she had faith that Jesus alone could heal her. In Matthew’s gospel, the woman addresses Jesus as “Lord, Son of David” and in Mark’s gospel she addresses Him as “Lord.” It is interesting that in Mark’s gospel this is the only time Jesus is referred to as Lord. Whoa. This woman is the only one in Mark’s gospel to really see who Jesus was. She knew that He was Lord–Lord over nature, Lord over disease, Lord over demons. Because of her faith and her love for her daughter, she would not give up. Persistence is always a measure of our true passion and faith. When we give up too easily, it is evidence that we either don’t really have a passion for it or don’t really have the faith that God can answer. I believe Jesus allowed this woman to persist to teach His disciples what true faith looks like.
2. When the children don’t eat all their food or don’t want their food, the dogs in the house get the benefit of eating it. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. He came primarily to lead the Jewish nation to repentance and to be their King. But though many of the Jewish people wanted Jesus to rid them of Roman rule, they did not want Him to rid them of their own sin. They are like many of us–we want Jesus to solve our problems not change us in the process. Since many of the “children” (Israel) did not want Jesus, the benefits would go to the “dogs” in the house (Gentiles). Thus this story becomes the foreshadowing of Jesus’ rejection by Israel and the Gospel going to the rest of the world. It is a reminder to me that God’s blessings and benefits do not go to the people who are the most privileged but to the ones who are the most hungry for it. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).
Lord, stir up a hunger in my heart for more of You!
BTW…if you want to read a fuller commentary on this passage in Mark 7, you can visit the following link at www.bible.org. http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=3919