Slices
Prepare
Remind yourself of how the Pharisees respond to Jesus in verses 1 to 23. Ask God to help you marvel at today’s contrasting response to him.
Bible passage
Jesus honours a Syro-Phoenician woman’s faith
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 ‘First let the children eat all they want,’ he told her, ‘for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’
28 ‘Lord,’ she replied, ‘even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’
29 Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.’
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Explore
Jesus has swept aside the regulations of the Pharisees. Now, probably wanting to escape their fierce opposition and maybe even Herod’s sinister interest in him (6:14), he travels to the Gentile area around Tyre, on the coast of modern‑day Lebanon. Mark even suggests Jesus wants to hide (v 24). In Jewish eyes, he is discovered by the most unacceptable person possible – an ‘unclean’ woman, a Greek Gentile, from the deeply pagan area of Syrian Phoenicia.
She hasn’t come to criticise. All that comes out of her heart (v 21) is a desperate and bold request. Jesus tells her she is not a priority and even infers she’s a dog. (The Greek word suggests a little dog, like a pet.) Astonishingly, she’s not offended but accepts his primary Jewish calling, yet claims her own right to his attention. What a contrast to the hostility of the Jews!
Her daughter is restored to wholeness. Far more than that, Jesus has forever commended her with the words, ‘Woman, you have great faith!’ (Matthew 15:28). Martin Luther wrote, ‘She took Christ at his own words. He then treated her not as a dog but as a child of Israel.’*
*R Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Nashville: Abingdon, 1950, p362
Respond
Jesus, knowing this woman’s background, still accepts her and gives her far more than she expected. Pray for anyone you know who feels second-class in God’s eyes, asking that they hear Jesus’ words of acceptance and affirmation.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Nehemiah 1,2; Psalm 78:1–37
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the children and young people who will be going on an SU holiday this summer. Pray they would be excited about the time away and be ready to connect with each other, with the event leaders and with Jesus.
