A Mother's Determination
“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. When she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
“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.”
“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Mark 7:24-30 - New International Version”).
I thought it necessary to show the location of Jesus’s journey. He is approximately 100 miles in a straight route from Jerusalem to Tyre. Phoenicia was formally before the Maccabean Revolt in 164 BC, a Greek/Hellenistic province (Bartholomew and Goheen). Mapping the extent of Jesus’s travels and the magnitude of His fame throughout the regions and explaining the Greek heritage of the Syrian Phoenician mother, who dropped everything and hastily visited Jesus and petitioned Him for her daughter’s miracle.
However, when she arrived at the table of Jesus, she was met with silence, which she countered with persistence; like the widow and the judge, she did not quit; Jesus is the judge, and she is the widow. Like the judges annoyed neighbors in the middle of the night, the disciples asked Jesus to make her leave. Yet, He remained silent, knowing that the silence would increase her determination and the disciples' anger. In their minds, ‘how could Jesus tolerate a Greek woman?’ When Jesus broke the quiet, it was not what everyone had expected to hear. I imagine it was a moment of silence. Jesus replied, “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” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Mark 7:24-30 - New International Version”).
What was Jesus saying? “The exact word Jesus used here, in Greek, was kunarion, meaning “small dog” or “pet dog” (“Why Did Jesus Call the Canaanite Woman a Dog?”). Jesus said, ‘Let the spiritual leaders eat first (the big dogs), and then we can feed the puppies.’ How would she reply? She has listened to the insults of the disciples, and yet no one has carried her away at this point or forced her to leave, I notice that none of the disciples had the title ‘usher’ attached to their names. To her, this was but one more hurdle to leap; she was lacking humility; she presumptuously entered in knowing that according to Hebrew custom, she could defile all, for after all, she was a Greek. Instead of jumping the hurdle, she climbed under it and asked for the crumbs.
“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then He told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Mark 7:29-30 - New International Version”). The central theme is that grace is available to all if we ask for it in humility and thankfulness. Jesus Christ’s authority is proven Sovern and Autonomous in that His authority covers all regions, and His faith cast out a demon without even saying a word, nor did Jesus have to go and visit the child and lay hands on her; the demon left, vacated without hesitation, it probably left in fear, a thing which it has sown in humanity for centuries.
The major players are mostly not mentioned by name, but by title, and only one minor character was mentioned by title; it was not the dog; it's lower; it was the demon. How could this event have changed history? How did it propel The Drama of Scripture? After the King has risen, we find cohesion of grace again challenged in the scriptures.
“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists [a] arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, [b] pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Acts 6:1-7 - English Standard Version”).
Once again, the demon has reappeared, this time to cause strife amongst the Hebrews and the Greeks. A couple of years earlier, an annoying, uninvited dinner guest arrived at the disciple's table, and they were taught a lesson in grace. And what was the outcome? “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Acts 6:1-7 - English Standard Version”).
Summary
A long trip to a different region, a reckless woman, a despised culture, a possessed child, arrogant disciples, and a fleeing demon combined to make history, establish a president of cultural unification, and push forward The Drama of Scripture.
