the Syrophoenician woman

Just As You Are

Posted on by Betsy

There was a time in Elementary School when I felt like the least, the last, and the lost. The cool kids’ table had no seat for me. I felt the sting of being at the bottom of the popularity heap. While I was never terribly bullied or completely left out, my low position on the social strata of my school left me wanting inclusion and acceptance.

I experienced some bullying when I grew way too quickly and towered over everyone in the third grade, including the teacher. Because children tend to reject what is not normal, my height (5’6” in the third grade) resulted in my being called names. The one that brought the most hurt was “Jolly Green Giant”. This was yelled at me the Monday I proudly wore a brand new green faux fur jacket that we had purchased at the Berlin Auction over the weekend. I loved this jacket, and was relieved that it actually fit. It replaced a jacket I had definitely grown out of. But the name calling was too much, and so on Tuesday, I wore the four-sizes-too-small coat to school. Or tried to.

My mother, wise and wonderful, asked me why I didn’t want to wear the new green one. I hesitated to tell her about the name calling, so I tried to pass it off as a problem of the new jacket being uncomfortable and not warm enough. (Winter in New Jersey can be frigid, and we had to walk to school. Uphill. Both ways.)

She wasn’t buying it.

I can still remember her words to me that morning. She reminded me of how much I loved the jacket, told me that it fit well, and said that if I gave into the pressure of capitulating to the name callers, I would never overcome them. But if I wore my jacket proudly and ignored them, they would eventually stop.

I wore the jacket and she was right. Only one kid persisted in yelling, “Hey Jolly Green Giant!” at me for a few more days, and I heard my mother’s strength coming out of my mouth as I yelled back, “Well, at least I’m JOLLY!”

Yes, I was sassy at a young age.

I learned an important lesson about rejection that day: we fear rejection because we want to be accepted by those around us. But we should never, never, let anyone’s opinion dictate our self-esteem and feelings of self worth.

I heard a remarkable sermon about a woman who also felt left out. She was the lowest gal on the totem pole of life, rejected by society and worse, rejected by Jesus. I have to say that this passage has always bothered the heck out of me. Until now.

In the 7th Chapter of Mark we meet a Syrophoenician woman whose daughter is possessed by a demon. She came to Jesus and asked him to cast the demon out. He told her, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” She boldly replied, “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

The pastor explained two key understandings:

1. The Canaanite culture the woman belonged to were Satan worshippers; this is how the child was possessed.

2. The word “dogs” in its original translation is understood as “puppies”, and therefore they were understood as members of the family…but not the status of children.

So instead of rejecting the woman, Jesus is telling her that her choice to follow Satan was an impediment to her request. By worshipping Satan, she rejected God, yet Jesus included her. He saw her outside of the community, and he felt her sense of rejection. He then granted her request and healed her daughter.

NOBODY is outside of Jesus’ worldview. Nobody is separated from him, unless they choose to separate themselves and remain separated.

Romans 8:31-39 (New Living Translation)

Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Hurt and rejection are things that the world gives us. But in Christ, we are known and cherished. There may be a time in your life, past, present, or yet to come, where you feel left out and unwanted.

Know that the Savior of your life sees you, wants you, and accepts you as you are.

We Are Known

Good Answer

Posted on by Betsy

Are there Bible passages that absolutely stump you? Do you read stories in scripture that not only make you scratch your head in wonder, they make you look away in avoidance?

Today’s reading is one of those passages for me. I am confused, saddened, and honestly, a little repulsed. But scripture itself assures us that all scripture is beneficial for teaching, so let’s jump in together and see what we can learn.

Mark described a moment in Jesus’ ministry when Jesus was traveling throughout Israel, teaching, ministering, and healing people. The word of his miracle-making had preceded him and in a futile attempt at some rest, he tried to stay away from the crowds. But people knew he was in Tyre when a persistent mother sought him out:

Mark 7 (Common English Bible)

24 Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. 25 In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. 27 He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

I’m sure you can anticipate my objections to this passage. I don’t understand how the Messiah, who came because “God so loved the WORLD, he sent his only son,” would reject a mother’s plea for her child to be released from demonic possession. I know that his reference to “the children needing to be fed first” refers to the fact that he was sent to the Jews for their salvation. He was their long-awaited Messiah, whom prophets had foretold for centuries leading up to this moment. But how can Jesus say this to the woman? Is he rejecting her because she is a Syrophoenician? What the heck?

Let’s unpack this.

First, verse 24 tells us that Jesus traveled (over 50 miles) to the region of Tyre, which was where the Gentile cities were located. When he entered a house there, he entered a Gentile house. This was against Jewish law that said that Jews and Gentiles shouldn’t mix, but Jesus overcame this to be present in this moment with this Gentile mother. He chose to be there.

Next, we need to consider the “pericope” of this story. The pericope includes the stories that come before and after the text you are studying, and thus sets the passage into context. Jesus had just had a lengthy conversation with the Pharisees where he had basically undone the “clean or unclean” laws in regard to food. Is he now undoing the idea of “clean or unclean” people in this Gentile community where he has been received?

Finally, consider the woman. She is clearly not a Hebrew. Her background and her current residence in a Gentile city suggest that she is a pagan. In any case, she is not part of the “lost sheep of Israel” and thus has no concept or context for Jesus’ messiahship. Why has she come before him, then? Might she be hoping that his magician’s parlor tricks would work on her daughter? Surely she has no idea that she is standing before the incarnate Son of God, so who does she think she is asking for help?

Yet, she asks, and Jesus referenced the children needing to be fed before the “little dogs.” Don’t miss the fact that he didn’t refuse her. He didn’t say that he won’t heal her daughter…what he said was “yes, but not quite yet.” Perhaps he wanted a moment to rest…or perhaps he had already healed the daughter and was teaching the mother about persistence in faith.

28 But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

You do have to admire her persistence! She is like a dog with a bone, nipping at Jesus’ heels and letting him know that “not yet” was NOT the answer she had come for. Perhaps at this moment she has a Holy Spirit awareness of who Jesus was, and she is now able to stand before the Savior and ask for her daughter’s salvation. She may realize that the power of God within him is more than enough to save both Jews and the Gentiles alike. Or perhaps she still thinks he is a magic man, but at least he’s a good one. We’ll never know, but it is obvious that to Jesus, it doesn’t matter in the end who she thinks he is. He knows who he is, and he knows who sent him to save the world.

29 “Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.” 30 When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

This event made it clear to all who observed it that the Jewish Messiah had a ministry beyond Israel. As the disciples, the Pharisees, the Gentiles, and the nations watched, he announced the full inclusion of everyone he came to save.

I think this passage gives us all permission to persist. Persist in prayer. Persist in asking for healing even if you feel unworthy. Persist in gaining an understanding of who Jesus is. Persist in interceding on someone else’s behalf. Persist in your faith.

When the timing is right, Jesus will answer your persistence just as he did the Syrophoenician woman. Just don’t give up!

Don’t Give Up by Michelle Robertson