Christian Photographers Community

Mark 7:24 - 30
How Do You Really Feel About Him?

How do you feel about Jesus? What I mean is this: when you read in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John about what Jesus said and did - what are your feelings? Does it move you? Do you read only because it's what you're supposed to read today, because it's the next chapter in the daily guide, or is it because you're so intrigued by this Rabbi Jesus Who claims to be from heaven that you just have to read more about Him?

And then another question: does reading about Him ever awaken or reawaken in you a certain sense of awe, a deep wonder, a certain excitement about this Man Who is so much more than a mere man?  Is it excitement about a Man to Whom you want to relate as closely as possible because He's the most wonderful Person you've ever known? Let me put it very, very simply: are you excited about Jesus, not only because of what you think He can do for you, but because of Who and What He is?

In Matthew's Gospel, he tells us that Jesus commended the woman before us today for having great faith (Matt. 15:28). But I'd like us to notice that she also had something else.  She had unusual humility.  She didn't at all mind putting herself in the same category as "the dogs beneath the table," as long as she could at least receive from the Master in the same way that the "dogs" beneath a table might receive from theirs! It's an interesting attitude, one that could just possibly instruct us about both faith and humility - about how each of us should relate to Jesus.

With these things in mind, it's very important for us to look at this incident a little more closely.  It's especially important when we see that the attitude this woman had toward Jesus resulted in a very, very great blessing - her little girl was delivered from a demon! 

When Jesus said to the woman, "For this saying, go your way – the demon has gone out of your daughter!" the "saying" Jesus was talking about was the woman's answer to His apparent refusal to help her. It was an answer that revealed some really wonderful things about her, things that really moved the Lord Jesus. It revealed, for instance, her full agreement with Him that she was just a "dog beneath the table." 

She was after all a Syrophoenician  Gentile, and as such she had to be  compared somewhat negatively with God's special people Israel.  It's as though Israelites were God's close family, while she and other Gentiles like her were mere "dogs" and could only have the "scraps" from the family table.

Yet this woman's attitude revealed her heartfelt belief that of what the "children" were eating even the "crumbs" were precious! To her it was no shame to be only one of the "dogs," if by so being she might receive even leftovers from the feast Israel should have been enjoying!

And what Israel had been receiving was indeed a feast, though not all Jews cared about it! But this woman, though not a Jew at all, had a kind of faith that saw what a wonderful feast it was!

She was obviously acquainted with Judaism, having lived for some time in a bordering region. She knew of the temple, the sacrifices, the law, and, apparently, the hope for a Messiah to come.

Here, amid the great multitude, she kept hearing that this Man Jesus was claiming to be that Messiah!  And she couldn't help but believed it!  She heard Him teaching with wisdom and grace.  She watched as He healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind.  She observed as He listened to multitudes of complaints, yet wisely dealt with each one.  She was amazed!  For her there was no other explanation – this wonderful Man had to be the Messiah!  She was impressed by Him!

She had probably gone out to the market that day, and, while there, happened upon this great multitude of people listening to Jesus.  He was saying that the scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites, but He was at the same time teaching the people the true meaning of their previously misunderstood traditions and rituals.  She was drawn by Him!

Besides, things at home weren't exactly attracting her to return immediately. Her daughter had been possessed by an unclean spirit for a long time.  There was constant fear for the lives of all, constant need for attention, constant despair. So, since she was already this far away from home, and since the opportunity presented itself, she joined the crowd to see and hear this wonderful Man and to hear the excited comments of many among the onlookers.

Then, at some point as she watched and listened, she became convinced that Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah.  New faith was born! 

She wanted to get closer and hear more.  She edged through the crowd, gradually moving closer and closer to Him as He spoke. Finally, just as He finished teaching, she arrived where He was, and, on an impulse born of long desparation, along with new faith and hope, she simply threw herself down, prostrating herself at His feet, and kept on, over and over again, crying out to Him for help.

But we need to remember that there wasn't just this one woman.  Jesus was distracted by great numbers of people constantly surrounding Him and pressing in upon Him for all kinds of needs. The Syrophonician woman's continual cries were just one more noise among the many. Besides, she wasn't even an Israelite - she was a Gentile!

Finally, though, fully knowing what He would do, and caring for this woman far more than she could know, He turned and answered her. But He answered her somewhat roughly - as though He were only the Messiah of Israel, not of Gentiles. Not that His answer to her was ungentle or unkind, but He simply explained that it wasn't right to do something for her, since it would be like giving the children's dinner to non-family members.

But this woman wasn't like others and He knew it. He intended to draw out her faith.  She had come to believe that this Jesus was truly sent from God, and that, as such, even the least of His blessings would be more than adequate for her need. She wanted "crumbs from the children's bread" because she believed the "bread" was precious. She had come to love and trust Jesus Christ!  In only a short while she had come to have the highest possible esteem for Him. She worshiped Him and held Him in awe! 

We need to examine our own faith in the light of this beautiful incident. In Matthew's account we read that Jesus commended her faith and was pleased with it. Is He pleased with your faith?

One element of that pleasing faith, an element we see too little in present-day Christianity, is the element of awe and reverence. This Gentile woman came and prostrated herself at Jesus' feet. Have you ever done that (or at least felt that way about Him)? She was deeply impressed, and we can see it in the way she called Him "LORD." She was even moved to give up self - she became ready to admit that she was a mere "dog beneath the table." She felt that anything HE said must be true.  Do you believe what He tells you about yourself?

But she had seen another thing about Him – she had seen that He was also wonderfully approachable! How about you? While you're awed because He's GOD, so awed that whenever you pray to Him, you address Him as "O GOD!!!" yet do you also believe that He hears every word you say - that He knows and cares about every thought you think? And so, while you're overwhelmed, do you also dare to come to Him because He's so mercifully approachable?

These are things we need as we come to Jesus. Like this woman, we need deep, reverential fear, a deeply felt awe of His almightiness, of His holiness, and of His majesty and power – but we also need to be ready to receive His love. And we need to believe in our hearts that He won't refuse to hear us, even though we aren't deserving.

Is that the way you came to Him the first time? Do you still come to Him that way?  Or do you come as so many do in our day - with a kind of flippant assurance that He's obligated to give you all the benefits of His salvation just because you have "accepted" Him as Savior?

Has your personal observation of Jesus led you to worship Him as Messiah - as having been sent from GOD, so that His Words are therefore the true words of GOD?

This isn't to say that we can't come to Jesus with our problems, our crises, and our disasters. The Syrophoenecian woman came to Him requesting deliverance for her daughter. But it wasn't only because of her need that she came. She also came because of the way she felt about Him as LORD. And she persisted even in the face of apparent refusal.

She came because she saw His true glory, the glory, as John put it, "as of the only Begotten of God, full of grace and truth." They revealed to her a God she just had to love and worship.  Is that why you're here to worship Him this morning?