City Life Starter

The Word: Mark 7:24-30

A Gentile Shows Her Faith

24 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. 25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

28 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”

29 Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”

30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

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7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. –Matthew 3:7-10

By Aisha Darwesh

The Gospel and Race have been a dicey subject, to say the least, but it has been such a blessing to see the different perspectives and to take part in enriching dialogue in a safe environment.

Tensions between different races and people groups are nothing new. We see relevant examples of this in the Bible. Moses’ siblings harshly criticized him for marrying a Cushite woman. The Shulamite woman in Song of Solomon seemed to struggle with insecurity about her complexion. Hadassah, or Esther, was told to hide her Jewish heritage. The list goes on.

However, today I would like to emphasize the superseding factor that trumps any characteristic we have in the natural–that is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the story of the Syrophoenician woman who came to Jesus to heal her sick daughter, we see a different side of Jesus. He actually tells this woman it is not good to take the children’s bread and give it to the little dogs.

Now, for anyone who has trouble following what’s happening here, someone is being called a dog in this scenario! Is Jesus belittling this woman based on her background or race? Not in the least bit. If you look closer, Jesus is actually giving this woman an opportunity to display her faith and enlarge God’s goodness in her life.

Think of all the manner of ways this woman could have reacted to Jesus’ statement. Was she offended? Could she have walked away in shame and defeat? No way! This woman may not have been a physical descendant of Abraham, to whom the promise of healing and salvation belongs, but this woman had tenacious, unrelenting faith! She was not going to back down. It didn’t matter that she was from a different neighborhood. She got a glimpse of who God is and she held onto it.

She answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” (Mark 7:28).

What a response! I’m astonished at the sheer wisdom in it. In effect, this woman is saying “Yes God, I know I don’t deserve this, but I know You are so good and so BIG that it doesn’t matter. Even a crumb of Your goodness is enough for me and my daughter.”

Jesus responds by commending her faith and healing her daughter. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you’ve been through, if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, you will not be disappointed. He’s worthy of our total surrender.

Application

Do you feel limited in life because of a physical trait or do you feel like something is holding you back? I challenge you to take it to the Lord and respond in faith. At the end of the day, it’s not about us as individuals. It’s all about how God in His mercy and wisdom is bringing everything together in perfect harmony. He uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity or walking around with a chip on your shoulder because of the way things are, allow God to heal you everywhere it hurts. If you have personally received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are a child of God, with His divine nature on the inside of you and you simply cannot escape His goodness!

Prayer

Father God, give me a new mentality about those things in life which I find impossible. Nothing is impossible for You. You have given me mountain-moving faith, and I intend to use it every step of the way! Lord, I receive Your great love and mercy. In Jesus Name, Amen.