The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith (Mark 7:24-30; Matthew 15:21-28)

The Gospels tell us that sometimes Jesus went to surprising places to meet some surprising people. Here are some examples. Who would have expected Jesus to go to the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon and interact with a woman who lived there? Who would have expected him to go to the Samaritan village of Sychar and speak with a woman from that community at the local well? Who would have expected him to go to the Gentile area of the Gadarenes to help a demon-possessed man and turn him into a preacher? Who would have expected Jesus to go to the booth of the tax-collector Matthew and call him to become a disciple? Who would have expected Jesus to invite himself into the house of Zaccheus, the wealthy tax-collector of Jericho?

 

The fact is, the disciples discovered that they could not predict what Jesus would do next or where he would work next. Neither can we. Although he is now highly exalted in heaven, he still does surprising things on earth and will do so until he returns at his second coming.

 

Why did he go to Tyre?

It is possible that Jesus went there with his disciples to get away from the crowds for a short time and have a break. Some time earlier, recorded in Mark 6:31, he had said to them, ‘“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.’ They set off for such a place, but the crowd followed them, preventing them from having a break. He then performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand before sending the disciples across the sea to Gennesaret, during which journey a storm arose and he appeared to them walking on the sea. When they reached Gennesaret, another crowd of needy people came to him for help (Mark 6:53-56). This was followed by an unpleasant encounter with the Pharisees who opposed him (Mark 7:1-23). Events had prevented them from having the period of rest. After that encounter, he and the disciples finally managed to leave the crowds behind, although it is interesting that they had to go outwith the borders of Israel for recuperation. No doubt, the desire for a rest was one of the reasons for them going to the area of Tyre.

 

Jesus, however, also had another reason for going to that Gentile territory, which was to meet with this unnamed woman and help her demon-possessed daughter. This would be the main reason for him going there, and it would not be a straightforward process, and could have interrupted their other plans.

 

We can see a third reason for Jesus taking them there, which would be to teach his disciples important lessons about the spiritual life. For example, we can see from Matthew’s account of what took place that the disciples imagined that it was inappropriate for the woman to persist in asking Jesus for help, and asked Jesus to send her away, which was a wrong request. The situation was designed to teach them about the value of an outsider in the sight of Jesus. And there were other discoveries that they would find in this situation.

 

Lessons to take

There are two other lessons that we can take from this incident. One would be that Jesus will lead us out of our comfort zones into situations of potential difficulty. The disciples here were in a strange place with a woman they did not know. Their response indicates that they did not like what was happening, yet of all possible places Jesus had taken them there.

 

Jesus still does that kind of thing. Indeed, we can say that he does it frequently. That is why we can never say about a situation that because it does not feel right for us we should assume that it is not God’s will for us to be there. It may be that Jesus is taking us out of our comfort zone by taking us to that place where he can use us.

 

Another lesson is that there is a kingdom of darkness affecting the world and the only One who can deal with it is Jesus. We have no idea how this young girl came to be demon-possessed, but she was. Nor do we have any idea in what ways this possession showed itself. This kind of experience is not the usual way of how the devil has influence over people. Yet we should remember what the apostle Paul said to the Ephesians: ‘And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Eph. 2:1-3). Wherever we are, we are not far from expressions of spiritual darkness and may have to confront it.

 

The cognizance of the woman

An obvious question concerns how this woman knew about Jesus and his availability and his abilities. Had she heard about him before or even seen him? Earlier in Mark we are told this: ‘Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him’ (Mark 3:7-8). So the people from this area knew about Jesus and his teachings and actions.

 

For all we know, the woman may have been among them crowd on that previous occasion because she recognised him when he came to her locality. Maybe she had been praying that he would come there and help her. Or maybe the people in the house where he was going to lodge recognised him and sent word to the woman. If that was the case, it is a reminder that unknown people play a part in bringing a sinner and the Saviour together.

 

The circumstances of the woman

The first detail to note is that something had happened in her experience that put the rest of her commitments into real insignificance (her dear daughter was demon-possessed), but which also gave her a clear priority in life (find deliverance for her). The second detail would be that the pagan religions of Tyre and Sidon had been unable to help her in her dilemma (this is not surprising because they too were blinded by the devil and could provide no spiritual help for her). The third detail is that she discovered that Jesus was close by, so she went to him for help. In other words, she took the opportunity given to her in providence of approaching him.

 

The comprehension of the woman

For someone living in the region of Tyre, her grasp of who Jesus is was astonishing. We can see from Matthew’s account that she called him by two divine names, but names revealed mainly to Israel. She regarded him as the Lord and the Son of David revealed in the Old Testament. In other words, she told him that she believed he was the promised Messiah. It is not possible to say how much she knew about the Old Testament prophecies. But there was one detail that she was aware of, and that is that it was allowable to ask the Messiah to show compassion to her. It looks as if she believed that what he had done for others, he could also do for her daughter.

 

The continuance of the woman

Despite her earnest pleas on behalf of her daughter, she experiences much discouragement. One discouragement is the response of the disciples of Jesus who had no desire for her to be helped by him. Instead, they wanted Jesus to send her away and to cease her disturbance of them.

 

A second discouragement was his response to the request of the disciples because he seemed to be agreeing with them when he said that he was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to the Jews. But perhaps he was going to show his disciples who the real Israel are.

 

A third discouragement was his initial silence to her plea. Did this mean that he did not care about her? Divine silence is a common experience for God’s people. Indeed, the silence can get louder as the problem becomes deeper or stronger.

 

Yet despite those discouragements, the woman persisted in her request, except now she also bows before him, as Matthew tells us. She did not collapse in front of him out of despair and in a state of confusion. Rather, she went up to him and in a deliberate action she knelt in front of him and pleaded for her daughter. In her case, her action spoke a thousand words. She worshipped the Messiah who seemed to have no time for her. And she affirmed that she believed that he was able to help her.

 

The capability of the woman

We discover from the incident that the woman from Tyre was able to converse in a spiritual manner with the Saviour. What extraordinary capability she possessed! She knew what to say to him, even when his words seemed to say that he had nothing for her.

 

His reference to children and dogs are a reference to a situation in everyday family life. Parents will not take food from their hungry children and throw it to the dogs. The word for dogs that Jesus uses is not a reference to wild dogs but to the little dogs or pets that the children would have. What was there in that statement that encouraged her to speak to him? Normally, when saying that Gentiles were unclean dogs, the Jews would have referred to them as wild dogs roaming the streets, untamed by the law. But Jesus had not called her a wild dog, but had likened her to a pet dog, and she seems to have taken hold of that distinction and used it in her reply.

 

She would have known that pet dogs sitting under the family table would eat the crumbs that fell off the table. The pet dogs received benefit from the food that was not primarily for them. In a similar way, she as a Gentile could receive benefits from the blessings that initially were not for Gentiles but for the Jews. Perhaps she was saying that all the healings that Jesus had done in Israel were like the bread on the family table, but it would be good if some crumbs would fall into Tyre and Sidon and heal her daughter.

 

Moreover, the illustration includes the detail that the owner of the house provides what both the children and the dogs receive, and one way of reading that detail is to realise that the good that favoured Jews and outcast Gentiles receive comes from the same divine hand.

 

The commendation of Jesus

Right away Jesus commended her for her spiritual insight, insight that revealed she had true faith. Not only did she have true faith, but he said that she had great faith. What can we say about her faith in Jesus?

 

Obviously, it was marked by a firm persuasion, she was convinced that Jesus could help her. Moreover, it was marked by perseverance even when she seemed to be rebuffed. It was also expressed in a manner that revealed her sense that she was undeserving of any blessings. Faith in Jesus creates reverence for Jesus in a sinner’s heart. Her faith was marked by expectancy and humility.

 

The class is over for the day

What did the disciples learn that day in the classroom of Jesus, lessons that they would never forget? First, they learned that Jesus has his followers in unexpected places.

 

Second, they saw that a useful argument for obtaining blessings from Jesus is to take his words and apply them in a special manner according to one’s circumstances; they saw what Spurgeon described when he said that she ‘depended upon the goodness of Christ’s heart, not on the goodness of her cause’, which is a profound comment.

 

Third, they learned what Spurgeon also stated in the same sermon on this incident, which is that the mouth of faith can never be closed – the woman was going to pray until she received her desire.

 

Fourth, they learned that hard experiences from God are meant to test us in our commitment to him, and that the blessing will come if we persevere.

 

Many years later, Paul was able to call at Sidon to see his friends when he was on his way to Rome by boat. Were two of them this mother and her daughter? Who can say?