Bible Study series: Mark 7:24-30. Jesus lifts her faith by putting her off at first, just to bring out the faith he saw in her.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 7:24-30
24 From there he set out and departed to the region of Tyre and went into a house and did not want anyone to know, but it was not possible to escape notice. 25 Instead, at that time, a woman, hearing about him, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, came and fell down at his feet. 26 But the woman was Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth. She asked him that he would expel the demon from her daughter. 27 Then he said to her, “First permit the children to be fed, for it is not right to take the bread for children and toss it to the little dogs.” 28 But she replied and said to him, “Lord, even the little dogs under the table eat from the little children’s little crumbs.” 29 So he said to her, “Because of this word, go on your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter. 30 She departed for her home and found the little child lying on the bed, the demon having gone out. (Mark 7:24-30)
Comments:
This is a true story about raising a woman’s faith by first reminding her of an ethnic barrier between her and Jesus and then momentarily denying her request, because she was not part of his mission to his fellow Jews. (Matthew’s version in 15:21-28, says that she was a Canaanite, a term bringing up all sorts of bad connotations because of the ancient history between Canaanites and Israelites.) But he must have seen something in this mother to throw down the gauntlet. He must have seen that she would rise to the challenge and overcome.
In the previous long pericope, Jesus pronounced foods clean. Now we are about to see that even Gentiles are acceptable before God and are “clean” before God.
The guest list is the messianic banquet, where people sit to enjoy the Messiah’s victory. The guest list includes Abraham’s descendants; it now includes anyone who has accepted Abraham’s Savior (Rom. 4; Gal. 3:6-9) (Strauss p. 315).
24:
It is now obvious that Jesus knew of a Jewish community up in Tyre, and he even knew someone up there, where he could retreat by himself. (Matthew’s version says that the disciples were with him, and they even told him to send her away because she was bothering them.) Now we know why Jesus went up to Tyre and went into a house to escape people’s notice. It’s okay to take a break once in a while, from the crowds. Whose house? We don’t know.
However, he was unable to escape the notice of the people. Which people? One in particular—this foreign woman.
25-26:
She fell at his feet. This is a desperate mother. She sought him out. He was her only hope. Since she was Greek, any Greek soothsayer must have told her that her daughter was possessed by one of the minor gods, so she should celebrate that divine blessing. She may have approached a Jewish exorcist, and either he did not bother with a Greek, a Gentile woman, or he could not expel it, even for a fee. However, the text is silent about these elements, but they fit the logic of a desperate mother. In any case, this woman knew better. She did not want the “divine blessing” of a minor deity, and she would not take no from this man named Jesus. Do we ever fall at the feet of Jesus? How desperate are we for our needy children?
Her request was direct and clear. Expel the demon from my daughter.
There are two main ways in the Greek NT to express demonic attacks to varying degrees, from full possession to just attacks: “have a demon” and “demonized.” The latter term is used often in Matthew: 4:24; 8:16, 28, 35; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22, but only once in Luke (8:36), and Mark four times (1:32; 5:15, 16, 18). John uses the term once (10:21). In Luke 8:26-39, Luke uses both “have a demon” and “demonized,” so he sees the terms synonymously. “Demonized” comes from the verb daimonizomai (pronounced dy-mo-nee-zo-my), which just adds the suffix –izo to the noun daimōn (pronounced dy-moan). It is a very convenient quality about Greek (English has this ability too: modern to modernize). Just add this prefix to a noun, and it turns into a verb. So it looks like “have a demon” and “be demonized” are synonyms. The context determines how severe the possession was. In this verse it is used generally, without precision as to the depth of possession.
Here in this verse, Mark says the daughter “has a demon.” “Demonized” is not the only verb to express a demonic attack (see Mark 3:22, 30; 7:25; 9:17; Luke 4:33; 7:33; 8:27; Acts 8:7; 16:16; 19:13). But I see no substantive difference between the two verbs and are used interchangeably in Luke 8:27, 36. What is more relevant is the soul of the person being attacked and how deep the attack goes because the person gives the demon access.
27:
This verse means that Jesus was a on a mission to his fellow Jews. He did not want to be sidetracked. So he puts her off only a little by using the diminutive word “little dog” or “doggie.” The Greek word is kunarion (pronounced koo-nah-ree-on), and it literally means “little dog” (or plural, as here, “little dogs”). It is contrasted with wild dogs that roamed the streets. So it is not a strong putdown, necessarily, because these puppies have access to the children’s table. Yet the term does draw a line between Jews and Gentiles. He said it to elicit from her hunger and desperation. Then she must go beyond those things and call out in faith.
Grammarian Decker writes (with my translation of his Greek words in brackets):
Although the diminutive forms in Mark do not always carry a diminutive meaning (many have lost that sense in the Koine), this one may still carry that connotation: “little dog, doggie” … It was a term that might be used for small dogs allowed into the house, with [dog] designating dogs of the yard and street, though [dog] could have an affectionate sense in some contexts. There are several diminutive forms used together here: “(little) dogs” eat the “(little) children’s” (… v. 28) “(little) crumbs” (… v. 28). This “looks intended for effect” (Gundry, 375), … . That Jesus intends [little dog] to be understood as a derogatory term that Jews sometimes used to refer to Gentiles is not likely (see Cranfield, 248) (p. 197).
Jesus is about to be delighted to “lose” the debate, so he can prompt or lift her to a greater faith.
Strauss writes:
Furthermore, the kingdom of God is both “already” and “not yet” in Jesus’ preaching; the presence and power of the kingdom is already available to all who respond in faith—whether Jew or Gentile. While the orderly progress of the gospel remains intact (from Jews to Gentiles), at all times salvation comes be grace through faith for all who believe, not through membership in ethnic Israel (Rom. 9:6-8). Jesus’ choice of the verb “eat their fill” or “be satisfied” … may also be significant here. The only other times Mark uses this word is in two feeding miracles (Mark 5:42; 8:4, 8). While the first of these represents Israel’s presence at the messianic banquet, the second likely previews the presence of the Gentiles. (comment on v. 27)
As noted, it is designed, however, to elicit a response of faith. How much faith does she have in Jesus? Will she turn around and walk away, mumbling under her breath that she did not get an instant answer? Or will she press in?
The next verse answers the question.
28:
“Lord”: in Mark’s theology is the right translation, because the woman understood who he was. She “gets it” in terms of Jesus’s identity (Strauss).
She retorts with a degree of defiance. In effect she says, “Yes, I know we Greeks don’t fit into your mission, and I have heard of the ‘dog’ label before. But I notice you said ‘little dogs,’ so I have hope. I’m pressing in to get my answer for my daughter. Yes, lord, but even the little dogs eat the little crumbs from under the little children’s table. I’m just asking for a small portion of the little crumbs, not even a small piece of bread fed by the hand of the children. Just give me one crumb that falls from the table. Those little crumbs won’t distract you from your mission, surely!” She showed desperation and faith and moxie. God values bold faith that won’t be put off.
29-30:
It is first her faith and then her words, which bring the answer. She knelt before his feet, which indicates that she knew who the source of any blessing was—Jesus. Her faith was in him, not in her own faith. She did not issue a decree that Jesus had to answer. She sought the Lord, and he heard her. Faith is directional—in God, not in ourselves and in our own words and decrees.
It is possible to detect, by the Spirit, faith surging in someone. Paul saw faith in a man crippled from birth, and the man was healed (Acts 14:9). I believe Jesus saw extraordinary faith in this woman.
Jesus must have smiled. He got it out of her! She demonstrated great faith by her riposte (retort) to his denial. He really was a soft touch, must like a father who gives in to the pleading of his special child. “That girl has me wrapped around her little finger!” He gladly let himself get “defeated” not by a learned rabbi but by a Gentile and a woman, which disqualifies her from any spiritual insight, said Rabbinic Judaism at the time.
The woman moved from desperation to faith. She conquered him with her faith. And her faith was demonstrated by her words. Never underestimate the power of spoken words to reveal your faith. Ask God out loud in your prayers.
Recall this expanded translation (from the context) of Matt. 7:7: “Continually ask, and it will be given to you. Continually seek, and you will find. Continually knock on the door, and it will be opened to you.”
She got her answer to prayer that very moment.
This story moves me. It seems that he went up north just for her.
So why was Jesus apparently so harsh and standoffish? We cannot catch the scene fully when we read these words. We have to picture a lively dialogue.
I really like how France summarizes the whole wonderful dialogue:
Misunderstandings of the pericope spring largely from the failure to read it as a whole. It is a dialogue within which the individual sayings function only as parts of the whole, and are not intended to carry the weight of independent exegesis on their own. The whole encounter builds up to the totally positive conclusion of vv. 29–30, while the preceding dialogue serves to underline the radical nature of this new stage in Jesus’ ministry into which he has allowed himself to be ‘persuaded’ by the woman’s realism and wit. He appears like the wise teacher who allows, and indeed incites, his pupil to mount a victorious argument against the foil of his own reluctance. He functions as what in a different context might be called ‘devil’s advocate’, and is not disappointed to be ‘defeated’ in argument. As a result the reader is left more vividly aware of the reality of the problem of Jew-Gentile relations, and of the importance of the step Jesus here takes to overcome it. The woman’s ‘victory’ in the debate is a decisive watershed as a result of which the whole future course of the Christian movement is set not on the basis of Jewish exclusivism but of sharing the ‘children’s bread’.
Never forget that the words on the page do not reveal the spirit of the interaction between him and her. Was there a raised eyebrow? A knowing look from him, which communicated to her to keep pressing on? Jesus was playing the role of a reluctant teacher to bring out the best in his student. We must not look at this text on the surface. Jesus was simply playing the role of a reluctant teacher to test the hunger of the woman in need, to incite more of her hunger that he saw in her words. She succeeded. The lesson for us: when you seek the Lord with all your heart, you will be found by him (Jer. 29:13). After you demonstrate your hunger, he will give you his good purpose and plans (Jer. 29:11). Our relationship with God in heaven cannot be casual or complacent, so we get what we want by just snapping our fingers. No shortcuts with God, as if he is our cosmic butler.
This was a true story of how Jesus temporarily withheld an answer to a woman who was not part of his mission, just to draw out from her the faith that he must have perceived in her.
These verses are a good ending to this startling pericope:
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, (Jer. 29:12-14, ESV)
Seek him hard, everyone!
Jesus Turns a Gentile Mother’s Desperation into Faith
GrowApp for Mark 7:24-30
1. Have you ever fell before the throne of Jesus out of desperation, to get your answer?
2. How has your desperation turned into to faith?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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