Mark 7:24-30 “From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” This episode talks about what Jesus really went on in this exchange with Jesus and the woman. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Woman, You Have Great Faith!
Mark 7:24-30 “From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.”
When I came across this scripture a while back, I avoided it. I avoided it because I don’t think I can explain it as well as it was explained to me. I avoided it because I think it makes Jesus sound rude and I know He is not. Listening to it makes me confused. I always felt like Jesus was very dismissive of this woman and that was confusing as I know that is so out of character for Him. I have heard it explained several times now and although I’m not sure I can do it justice, I want to try as it is such a powerful verse when properly understood. I will also put a link for an article in the show notes where is explained really well. You can also just google meaning of Mark 7:24-30 and I am sure you will come up with some good explanations.
Jesus had just left the Jewish communities and was trying to get some rest. He entered a Gentile community hoping no one would recognize Him. It didn’t work and a woman who had a child that was possessed saw Him. She begged Jesus to cast the demon out of her little girl. What happens next is the part that I was confused at. Jesus says, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and through it to the dogs.” Doesn’t this sound like an insult? Doesn’t it sound like Jesus is being dismissive of this woman? I didn’t understand why He would say this to her. Aren’t there other ways He could say what He wanted to say? After listening to others explain this time and time again, it is clear that without context and maybe some knowledge on the language back then, it would be hard for anyone to understand.
What Jesus was saying to this woman was not an insult, it was a parable. He was saying to her that there is a certain order to they way things should be done. First He came to feed His children. He wasn’t saying that He wouldn’t ever help the Gentiles, he was just saying that He was feeding His people first. What is amazing is that the woman understood what He was saying. She didn’t take offense to it. This is something that I struggle with daily. I take things personally and can sometimes get offended easily. If this was me, I can see how I might have argued with Jesus. I might have been offended at what He said, and argued that I had just as much right to healing as His people did. Doesn’t this sound like what most of us would say? It seems we think we are entitled to whatever we want these days. Especially if we are told we can’t have it.
This woman was different. She didn’t argue with Jesus, she didn’t take offense and try to defend her rightful place at the table. She wasn’t claiming equality. This is the thing that I think many of us miss. Or at least I know I missed it. I had heard people say that she humbled herself but I didn’t quite understand what they meant. After Jesus said that to this woman, she replied, ““Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” This made no sense to me. In Matthew 15:28 it says, “Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.” How does what she said show that she has great faith? What did she even say?
When this woman said that even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs, she was showing Jesus that she understood His parable. She was showing Him that gets it, she is not of Jewish decent. She is not one of the chosen ones that Jesus came to heal. And instead of arguing that she is just as worthy as they are, she owns that she is different and still asks for His help. By saying that even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs, she is acknowledging how powerful Jesus is. She is saying, ok, you aren’t here for us and yet you have so much to give that after you feed all of your children, there will still be some left over. So, I need mine now. I know it’s not the time but my daughter needs you now. This is why Jesus says that she has great faith. She not only believed that He would heal and minister to His children, but to others as well. There is a quote from the book that the article I read was based on that I really liked. They were talking about the assertiveness of the woman and it said, “She’s not saying, “Lord, give me what I deserve on the basis of my goodness.” She’s saying, “Give me what I don’t deserve on the basis of your goodness—and I need it now.” This is a quote from Timothy Keller’s book Jesus The King. The article I found it is was titled, Meaning of Mark 7:24-30 by Austin Gentry. (Click Here For Article)
Wow, this is something that I think we could all spend some time thinking about. When we ask God for things are we trying to rely on our goodness? I know sometimes when I am praying I says things like, please God, she is such a faithful daughter, or she had done so much good and she has so much faith, and so on. I am explaining to God why this person deserves healing. I have read in several healing books that we don’t need to do this as God knows everything about each one of us. I don’t think I ever really understood until right now that we aren’t healed because of our goodness, we are healed because of His goodness. When I pray for people sometimes I feel as though I need to do something a certain way. Should I be kneeling? Should I lay hands on that person? Should I close my eyes, should I keep them open? The Holy Spirit is slowly and gently bringing to my attention that I am making it all about me. It doesn’t matter what I do, God doesn’t need me to do anything but ask. The Lord is not healing people or answering prayers because I am doing something. He is doing it because I asked and because of His goodness. It’s not about me.
I hope that this explanation has helped you understand this verse. I hope you will take a few minutes to read the article because it goes into so much more detail and is explained much more eloquently than I explained it. I am so glad that I decided to try and explain this verse today as it has really opened my eyes and has me thinking differently about how I pray. It also reminds me of God’s abundance. He is not a small God, He can do all things. He has enough power to answer all the prayers from everyone who asks. He is the God of all people. He is amazing and I am so very thankful that He is my God too!
Dear Heavenly Father, please bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, please give everyone listening a better understanding of this verse. Please open our eyes to all the ways that we are making our prayers about us instead of you. Open our eyes to any ways that we are trying to rely on our goodness instead of your goodness. Lord, help us to be unoffended by you. Help us to see what you want us to see in all that you are doing in our lives. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!