There is an interesting story about a Syrophoenician woman
who comes to Jesus to ask for help with her demonized daughter (Mark
7.24-30). Jesus seems to act out
of character when he responds to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for
it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The woman responds, “Yes, Lord, but
even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” Jesus responds to this answer and tells
her that the demon “has gone out of your daughter.”
What’s going on in this exchange? I’ve been helped in thinking about the episode as having a
beginning, middle and the end. In
the beginning the woman comes to
Jesus and asks her request. At the
end of the episode she leaves Jesus
having received from him what she desired. That’s important to notice since we often get hung up on the
interchange in the middle. The
woman did receive what she desired from Jesus but she is also challenged by
Jesus. In the middle section of this short story Jesus is reminding her that he
is the Jewish Messiah. Her
response is one of faith. She
accepts Jesus’ perspective. She
did not come to Jesus to dictate to him how he should minister. She came in faith. When challenged by Jesus she answers
the challenge in faith. It’s also
helpful to remember that we only have the words of the exchange. We don’t have the tone of voice of
Jesus. Jesus’ words seem, to some,
to be harsh but the woman heard in the words of Jesus a challenge to keep interacting
with him. She did keep pressing in
by faith and received healing for her daughter.
What does that mean for us today? We too should come to Jesus in faith. We will often find that he challenges
us to deeper understanding of who he is.
Jesus did not come simply to dispense blessings. He came to manifest the Father’s glory
and bring us into communion with God.
We don’t dictate the will of God.
We come in faith—trusting in Jesus’ perspective on life.
So how do you view Jesus? Is a personal genie you appeal to whenever you have some
need or is the sovereign Savior to whom you come in faith in goodness? Jesus is always challenging but he is
also good. Come to him in faith
and trust in his goodness.
