And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.[a] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 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.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
-Mark 7:24-30
In this passage, our first gut reaction is often, "Did Jesus just compare this woman to a dog?". As rude or crazy as this might sound, as with all things Jesus does, there's a purpose for this but first we need some background information to set the stage.
First we want to break down some of the words here. So first we hear that the woman is labeled as as a Gentile. What this means is the woman is not a Jew or one of God's original chosen people, the Israelites. She's also referred to as a Syrophoenician and it is mentioned that Jesus is in the region of Tyre and Sidon which is actually outside of Israel, where Jesus usually did his spent his time, which also explains why Jesus would run into a Gentile woman. The last thing to understand before we go into the passage is that for the most part Jews and Gentiles did not get along. Jews believed in God, while Gentiles didn't so there was a definitely a strong prejudice between them.
So now back to the story, a woman has a daughter possessed by a demon and is coming to Jesus for help. This is when Jesus responds with this controversial statement, saying that why would you take bread away from the children and give it to the dogs? The children representing the Jews, the bread representing Jesus's message which leaves the dogs to represent this woman and other Gentiles. Despite this statement, the woman responds with with incredible faith and persistence, saying that even the dogs get to eat the crumbs from under the table.
You might again be wondering why Jesus would even make the comparison in the first place, but Jesus was using this to test the woman's persistence and faith. He wanted to see if this woman would simply give up in the face of a little pushback or continue with determination. The woman knew that Jesus had the power to heal her possessed daughter so there was nothing that was going to stop her. Jesus saw her faith and responds by healing her daughter.
Can we be persistent? Do we really believe that Jesus is the answer to our problems just like the woman did? If we really do believe that Jesus has the power to do so, we should continue pursuing him no matter what gets in the way. Jesus tested the woman to check her resolve, but what are the things that get in our way of coming before Jesus? Whether its your busyness from school or extracurriculars, guilt from your sins or, maybe like this woman, insults directed at us; don't let what anyone says or anything you do get in the way.
Don't be discouraged, without skipping a beat, the woman didn't let what Jesus said deter her. Pursuing Christ will not always be easy, but if we, like the woman, believe that He truly holds the answers, then just like her, persistently pursue him.
Pray that you can be are not discouraged or deterred in your pursuit of Jesus and for wisdom that when hurdles do appear, you know how to deal with them.
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