Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
Ask anyone on campus if they believe in human rights, most will say yes. Even if we don’t actually know what those rights are, or how many there are, we believe them to be self-evident. Human rights are universal and inalienable. It can’t be taken away. Accordingly, we all have a duty to respect and protect these rights. Even more so in the case of institutional authorities.
Now, do you think the same applies when it comes to God? We believe every human being has the right to health, the right to a fair trial, the right to remain silent. (Ok, the last one might be inspired more by tv shows.) Do we also have a right to God, whatever that means? Just as parents have a duty of care for their children, doesn’t it follow that God has a duty of care to those whom He created?
Our passage in Mark 7:24-30 is a provocative passage to say the least. But it is not a scandal without purpose because Jesus will show us two important truths.
Firstly, God is not obligated to care for everyone
Would it surprise you to learn that God is not obligated to care for everyone? Probably not. After all, the thought of God caring for Hitler as He does Mother Theresa is troubling. Same goes for terrorists, rapists, child abusers. Ask any Jewish person after world war 2, it’ll be the nazis. Ask them during the time of the Roman Empire? It’ll be someone like we see in this passage.
Mark 7:25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
First of all, she’s a woman. The reality is that back then she would have less rights in society than men. Secondly, she’s a Gentile. She doesn’t even worship the same God that Jesus does. It’s like ‘why are you here? You don’t even believe in God.’ Thirdly, she’s a Syrophoenician by birth. This is an especially important distinction, enough for the author to highlight to us. That’s because this woman is a descendant of a particular people group – the Canaanites, Israel’s oldest enemies. We can’t miss the implication here.
If she was just a Jewish woman, you could say to her get in line. Behind the men, obviously. And if she was just a gentile woman, you could say to her get in line, but with certain conditions. You’ll need to renounce your heritage and leave your home. Apply for PR and hopefully get your new citizenship. Then, and only then, will you have access. But being a Syrophoenician takes that to another level. People would say to her how dare you! God is not obligated to care for people, most of all someone like her. Now if you’re feeling slightly uncomfortable already, it’s about to get worse.
27 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.”
Is Jesus calling the woman a dog? Yes. As uncomfortable as it is for us to say, he does. Jesus is discriminating. This is particularly hard to accept for those of us who live in a society that enshrines equality. So Jesus’ statements here grate against our conscience. How can God discriminate like that?
We could come to terms with it by considering how it is in fact good news. Because as much as we are committed to equality, it is in our nature to want to condemn evil. To lock up paedophiles and throw away the key. To dish out justice against those who would abuse the weak. To make people who cheat the system pay for what they’ve done. If we’re honest, we don’t actually want God to treat everyone the same do we?
Now someone might say in response, well that may be true, but that’s not the case here because it doesn’t seem like this woman is a criminal mastermind or something. She’s a mother worried about her daughter. And you’ll be right to think like that. Which is why Jesus shows us our second point.
Secondly, God is not oblivious to anyone suffering
27 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.”
Look again at Jesus’ response. First of all, he didn’t refuse the woman out right or chase her away, even though no one would have an issue if he did. But second, he says let the children be fed first. We don’t realise how controversial Jesus is being here. We modern people don’t like the discrimination and think it’s wrong. The Jewish people of the day would have had no problems with it. In fact, they would think it’s wrong for Jesus to help the enemy. It’ll be akin to befriending a Nazi SS officer who murdered your fellow countrymen.
Jesus’ response here is incredibly profound. He doesn’t ignore the racial and ethnic divisions, as though they don’t exist. But at the same time he doesn’t treat an outsider the way most people would. Instead what Jesus does here is offer a challenge, by hinting at the possibility of being fed after the children, just like a dog. The woman’s response is astonishing.
28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Just try and put yourself in this woman’s shoes. You have a little girl who’s sick. You’ve probably already exhausted every treatment option you could afford. It would not be surprising if you were without a husband or societal connections, since you had no one to make a petition on your behalf. You have no money to offer as payment. What’s worse, you have the wrong skin color and an even worse last name. You would have had to endure the scornful looks and judgmental stares even before you arrived at the door. When you finally meet Jesus, he responds to your plea with a seemingly humiliating disregard. If it weren’t for the fact that your daughter needs you, would you not have given up hope? The weight of all that she endures would have crushed me long before I even got to Jesus.
Her response to Jesus is as astonishing as it is revealing. It reveals just how low she has gotten, by her acknowledgement that she has no right to demand anything. All she has left is her humiliation and the hope that she might find reprieve as a dog yearns for crumbs to fall off a table. And it is this humility that turned her shame into a strength as Jesus recognises and honors her faith.
Something worth pondering is what exactly this woman had hoped were to happen, since she came to see Jesus without her daughter. Did she expect Jesus to go to her house as he has done in other occasions? Or did she expect and was satisfied merely by Jesus’ promise that her daughter is healed? But this will take us beyond our time here.
What this means for us
Two things in this passage.
God is not obligated to everyone.
God is not oblivious to anyone.
What does it mean for us? It guards us against entitlement. It speaks to those who think they deserve more than they have. To those of us it says, no, God is not obligated to care for you. We are nothing special. God owes us nothing.
But at the same time, it offers us hope because God is not oblivious. It speaks to those who are the opposite , who struggle with self-worth, who constantly feel like an outsider. To those of us it says, yes, even you will be fed.
Whichever way you lean, whether you tend to think you deserve more than you have, or whether you think you are less than you actually are, this passage brings us back to the centre. Before God, we have nothing and everything at the same time. Let me put it another way. In God’s house, even the dogs have more than enough to eat. Anyone is free therefore to choose what they want to be. Do we cling to our autonomy and dignity, relying on our own strength? Or will we forsake our pride and take our place and find security and peace? That’s the challenge. But how do we do that? Shall I tell you how I achieved my humility? No! We do it by looking at Jesus.
The Bread that was thrown to the dogs
God is not asking us to do anything He hasn’t already done. Jesus humbled himself by being born as a human in a stable. The one who had everything gave it all away and became nothing so that those of us who are nothing might gain everything.
27 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.”
We read this and we are offended for this woman. But that just shows how self-centred we are because the real offensive thing here is what Jesus says. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. It is not right for the bread to be broken into pieces and cast aside. It is not right for the Bread of Life to be condemned to die by evil men. It’s not right. Jesus did it anyway. Can you see what Jesus is talking about now?