Mark 7:24-30
And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.
But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”
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| Photo by Amy Humphries on Unsplash |
Comments:
On this particular occasion, Jesus left Jewish territory for a little walk-about trip up north. During this time, Jesus was approached by a Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. She begged Jesus to deliver her daughter but he gave a seemingly harsh answer. However, I don't think that it was really communicated that way.
The dialogue between Jesus and the woman cuts through many of our questions. More of the details of the dialogue are contained in the parallel account in Matthew 15:21-28. So why this seeming insensitivity to her great need on the part of Jesus? Perhaps He was dealing with her motives for seeking help and the way in which she assumed she could even receive help.
- Was it because she was a Syrophoenician, the upper crust of worldly knowledge and philosophy? No, she was just a person in need.
- Was she demanding? No, she was begging, “Lord, help me.”
- Was she asking Jesus to step outside of His calling and the priorities that God had established? No, she was simply asking for whatever might be leftover or discarded and seeking a mere crumb from the floor in humble faith.
I believe that Jesus was teaching his disciples a lesson, by honoring the faith of this woman with a serious test.
There is another reason that this passage seems so strange on the lips of Jesus. These words seem so out of keeping with the rest of Jesus' encounters with people from all walks of life. Doesn't it seem decidedly un-Jesus-like? I contend that Jesus was actually speaking out loud the faulty culturally biased worldview of the disciples. His speaking their position makes it sound so strange. The woman, perhaps catching the ironic tone in his voice rolls plays along admirably. In this scenario, Jesus does what he always does, the woman's daughter was delivered, the woman was held up as an example of great faith, and the wrong thinking of the disciples was corrected.
Kenneth E. Bailey covers this pericope in chapter 16 of his masterful book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels and he brings out several of these points in the helpful comments below...
Jesus had compassion upon the caregiver:
Ibn al-Tayyib was one of the most distinguished medical doctors of the eleventh century in the Middle East. In his thoughtful thousand-year-old commentary he notes that the woman does not cry out, "'0 Lord, have mercy on my daughter,' but rather, `Have mercy on me.' This was because her daughter was not able to feel what the mother was enduring. The mother was in pain! Ibn al-Tayyib then notes that at the end of the story "Jesus does not say, `O woman your daughter is healed,' but rather he says, `let it be to you as you desire.'" It is the theologian /physician who notices that the caregiver is at the end of her rope and that she also needs healing.[1]
A “teaching moment” for his disciples:
"Send her away; for she is crying after us," [Matt. 15:23] they demand. But this outburst merely begins the three-scene dialogue. The text can be understood as follows: Jesus is irritated by the disciples' attitudes regarding women and Gentiles. The woman's love for her daughter and her confidence in him impress Jesus. He decides to use the occasion to help her and challenge the deeply rooted prejudices in the hearts of his disciples. In the process he gives the woman a chance to expose the depth of her courage and faith.[2]
Who was Jesus talking to? Both the woman and his own disciples. We should not forget the ever-present community!
Jesus was voicing, and thereby exposing, deeply held prejudices buried in the minds of his disciples. In the process, he was speaking to both audiences. To the disciples, he was saying, "Of course I want to get rid of her! We have no time for such female Gentile trash." But to the woman, Jesus was initially communicating, "You are a Canaanite and a woman. I am a son of David. You are not part of my divine mandate. Why should I serve Gentiles like you?" …Was her concern for her child so deep and her confidence in the universal compassion and healing power of Jesus so profound that she would proceed with her request in spite of this apparent slamming of the door in her face?[3]
How might the disciples have felt?
It is acutely embarrassing to hear and see one's deepest prejudices verbalized and demonstrated. As that happens one is obliged to face those biases, often for the first time.[4]
What about the term “dogs”?
The Jews considered the Gentiles to be dogs at that time. Not pet dogs but nasty, unclean, mangy street dogs. The argument about the meaning of the particular word used for “dogs,” while of some value seems to be beside the point. Bailey gets this,
The reference to dogs is primarily for the disciples' education. Jesus is saying to them, "I know you think Gentiles are dogs and you want me to treat them as such! But-pay attention-this is where your biases lead. Are you comfortable with this scene?"[5]
Jesus is the Savior for the Gentiles as well the Jews, women as well as men. Even the breadcrumbs that fall from the table are sufficient for our needs. Those who live according to cultural prejudices will be challenged by Jesus' words and deeds while he honors humble faith.
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