Mark 7:24-37
Today I thought I’d take a challenging text and work with you on it.
Now it may be perfectly clear to many of you, but I know for at least few it is not.
It was one of the questions which came up in the adult Sunday School class last year, and today it is one of our lectionary readings from the book of Mark.
It is one of those stories in the Bible that highlight a special scenario with a woman and how Jesus treated them.
As difficult as learning the Greek language may have been, here is one situation where knowing the original language of the New Testament comes in handy.
The text we might wrestle with is the part where Jesus is quoted saying “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”
I am going to be honest with you….this is not a good translation.
The word used in Greek which is translated “dog” in your Bible, is “Kunarion” which actually means “puppies”, or “young dogs”.
Jesus is not calling the Syrophoenician woman a “dog” in the terms we might use today, to be demeaning.
Yes, in today’s language, calling someone a dog means they’re not very pretty.
But here again, as many times before, Jesus is using an example from everyday life.
As you may or may not already know, the Jews are the chosen people of God.
They were expected to bring about the kingdom of the Lord by the way they lived.
Unfortunately, they went a little off track, and Jesus was sent into the world to help guide them back onto the right path of righteousness and God’s plan for them.
This was Jesus’ original mission.
I’d like to make a bold comparison to help our understanding.
Let’s say you are the parent of an only child, and your only child is trapped inside the 3rd floor of a burning building.
There is another child trapped on the 8th floor, but you only have enough time to save one child before the building explodes into flames and everyone dies.
So what is your decision?
Do you save your own child, or the one you don’t know?
Here is Jesus’ situation…He came to save the Jews so that God’s plan could be fulfilled and through the salvation of the Jews, the whole world would be saved.
So here is Jesus, at a place where he believes he can go to get some rest.
Remember, he entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.
Having been a secretary for 5 Vice Presidents of a large corporation earlier in my life, I can relate to this situation.
As a secretary, my first job when answering the phone was to find out who was on the other end.
If it was someone important, the call would go through.
If it was a sales rep, I’d take a message and let the V.P. decide if and when they would call back.
Many of you may experience similar situations at home…especially during dinner, when unwanted telemarketers may bug you and you just don’t want to be interrupted at the time.
You want to be unavailable.
You need to be unavailable, so that you can spend some quality time with your family or close friends.
Now we can put this text into proper context.
The Syrophoenician woman was not on Jesus priority list.
She was on His secondary list.
His first responsibility…His “Priority List”, so to speak, was the Jews.
This woman was a Gentile, and so what Jesus was saying was that He must first feed the Jews with Spiritual Food.
But the woman showed sincere faith and belief in Jesus.
She was not going to go away and be turned down easily.
She had a great need.
Her daughter was posessed by a demon.
I would take a chance in saying that most likely, Jesus was her only hope for the salvation of her little girl.
She replies, “Yes, Lord”…again, the Good News Translation does this scripture no justice….The word she used was “Kurios”, meaning “Lord”, “Master”, “Supreme in Authority”….
She is addressing Jesus as the one to whom she submits herself….
“Yes, Lord, even the puppies under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
She’s not asking a lot for herself.
She’s not asking for the whole cherry pie.
She’s not asking for the whole enchilada.
She’s not asking for a personal pan pizza.
She’s asking for a small portion of Jesus’ power, love, and grace…
Just some tiny crumbs.
She is acknowledging Jesus’ priority.
And at the same time, she is acknowledging Jesus’ authority….
His ability to cast out the unclean spirit from her daughter.
In fact, the text we are studying today is titled, “The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith”
This is a story about faith.
It’s not about Jesus putting women down.
In fact, in Jesus’ day, he could have been killed, as a teacher of the law, for talking to a woman….and more importantly, most likely, a married woman, since she had a daughter.
But that is not what’s important here.
That is not the focus of this text.
The focus is the faith of the woman.
Great faith.
She wasn’t going to let her gender or her ethnicity get in the way of her faith.
She broke through the barriers of her culture.
She was a Gentile, she was an alien to the Israeli people.
She overcame the situation she was born into.
She stepped out in faith to ask for healing for her daughter.
And what she got, by stepping out in faith, was a wonderful blessing…a wonderful miracle.
Jesus said to her, “For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter.”
So the woman obeyed Jesus, went home, and found her daughter lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
Here we are again, in a spiritual battle.
Acknowledging the existence of demons on the earth.
Acknowledging the existence of demons possessing a person.
And the greater acknowledgment, recognizing Jesus as the ultimate power and ruler over demons.
The mighty power came from words.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you words are not important.
The words of the Syrophoenician woman effected a move in the Savior’s heart.
The words of the Savior effected a healing in the faithful woman’s daughter.
This is powerful stuff.
Not to be taken lightly.
But how does this text apply to our lives.
We know that Jesus came to save us all, Greek, Jew, Man, Woman, Slave, & Free.
Remember, this story is about a woman’s faith.
When your life seems to put a barrier in your way…
When it seems like there’s a wall between you and God…
Listen carefully to the faith of this Greek woman in a man’s culture.
Hear her not let anything get between her need and her Lord.
There is nothing more powerful than Jesus.
Whatever needs to be overcome…
Doubt…
Fear…
Addiction…
Anger….
Intolerance…
Prejudice…
Pain…
Impatience…
Give your problems to Jesus in faith….and allow Jesus to touch you and heal your wounds.
(Ask everyone to bow your head, & close your eyes, and keep your eyes closed until I ask you to open them.)
If anyone is suffering from what feels like a barrier between you and God, simply raise your hand so I can see it. Acknowledge your pain….acknowledge your doubt…acknowledge your fear…acknowledge your woundedness…for we have all been wounded in one way or another in our lives…There are none of us who are exempt.
Don’t be afraid to acknowledge your need for Jesus..
(Hands down.)
If you raised your hand, let’s pray together…
Jesus, I need you.
It seems I can’t feel your presence right now.
I feel lonely, abandoned, and afraid.
I even find it difficult to pray.
I want to feel your presence.
I want to know your love.
Help me through this time of trial in my life.
I want to have the same faith as the Syrophoenician woman.
I want to believe you can help me.
I want to trust you, Lord.
I want you to be the Lord of my life..the Supreme in Authority.
Be my Savior.
Save me from despair and give me hope for tomorrow.
I submit my struggles to you now, Lord God.
Take my struggle and set me free from this heavy burden.
For it has weighed me down and I choose to give it to you.
I pray in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, My Lord, My Savior, & My Redeemer. Amen.
Let’s all continue in prayer.
Lord God…
We acknowledge the spiritual presence of warfare in our world.
For we seek peace where we see injustice.
We seek freedom where there is bondage.
We look for purpose and meaning in difficult times.
Help us to grow.
Let us be pruned by the vine grower.
Let our dead branches be pruned away, so that we may receive a regeneration of life from you.
Take away from us all that is unproductive.
Give us new life in Jesus Christ.
Renew our faith.
Strengthen our walk with you.
Give us courage to live in the world, but not to be of the world.
We lift up all the leaders of this world, that some day, they may all submit their authority to you and there may be justice for all.
In the mean time, give us the patience to endure the battle.
Help us to be tolerant.
Help us to love those who seem to rub us the wrong way.
Help us to serve you and this church with a purpose.
Thank you for all those who actively seek your face.
Thank you for blessing this congregation with good fruit.
Thank you for the Sunday School teachers, Consistory, Ladies’ Aid, Greeters, Ushers, Our Organists and Pianists, our choir, our children, our drivers, King’s Daughters, our secretary, our chair lift operators, those who visit our shut-ins, our sextons, those who take care of our offerings, all those who serve on the various committees of this church, and everyone who worships in this Holy House.
May our family be strengthened by your will, O Lord, as we pray together the prayer of our Savior,…Our Father, who art in heaven…hallowed be thy name…thy kingdom come…thy will be done…on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
