24And 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. 25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And 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.” 28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (Mark 7:24-30)
We’ve seen all sorts of people meet Jesus in Mark: sick people, demon possessed people, leprous people, religious people, blue-collar people. In this passage, a mom meets Jesus.
There are two things we need to notice about this mom:
- Her little daughter is suffering, and she is powerless to help her.
- She is a Gentile.
The fact that she has a little daughter suffering with something beyond her power to cure (an unclean spirit) means that she is desperate. The fact that she is a Gentile means that she is not supposed to approach Jesus for help. Her desperation overrides her social propriety as she falls at Jesus’ feet begging.
How will Jesus respond? You would expect him to say, “Of course I’ll help you! I love you and your little daughter!” But he doesn’t. Instead he says something strange and unexpected:
27And 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.”
What?!? Is he insulting the poor woman? No, he’s developing her faith.
He’s giving her a parable to clarify what’s happening. Exhausted from serving thousands of Jews, Jesus feels like a mom at dinnertime with a table full of hungry kids. And this Gentile woman is like the family pet. They both know it would make as much sense for Jesus to continue ministering to the Jews rather than stopping to help her, a Gentile, as it would for a mom to focus on feeding the kids before feeding the puppy. But look at her response.
28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
She agrees with him, but presses him to help anyway, because she knows he is sufficient for both the Jews and the Gentiles. There is plenty of his power to go around, even for her, an outsider, a puppy beneath the table.
Satisfied with her faith, Jesus proceeds to heal her daughter.
29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Jesus’ priority was not to comfort the woman or heal her daughter. It was to develop her faith. He didn’t just want to help her, he wanted to do it in such a way that it drew the faith out of her, solidifying it.
You’ll find that God does this often. He answers our prayers in unexpected ways because his priorities are not our priorities. We want comfort and healing, he wants faith. So he answers our prayers in such a way as to develop our faith, which can sometimes means that uncomfortable situations continue. God is more concerned with developing our faith than solving our problems.
Discussion Starters
- Take some time to catch up. How is everyone doing?
- Read Mark 7:24-30 together.
- What all can we learn about Jesus from this passage? What are some of the implications of what we learn from Jesus in this passage?
- In what ways can you relate with the woman who approached Jesus?
- What does their interaction in verses 27-29 mean? What other scriptures can shed light on this?
- Have God ever answered your prayers in unexpected ways? Can you share any stories with the group?
- It seems that God is more concerned with developing our faith than solving our problems. What are some implications of this for our lives? For our prayer lives? For our expectations in life?
- With all this in mind, take some time to pray together.
