“24 From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet He could not escape notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 28 But she answered Him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ 29 Then Jesus said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go, the demon has left your daughter.’ 30 And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone” Mark 7:24-30.
Aside from the obvious healing, Jesus is really making a political statement here about who He is! Jesus was always very conscious of the fact that His primary focus, or vocation, was not to spread the Gospel to the Gentile world, but to tell the Jewish people themselves that their long-awaited deliverance was here, and that it was about to be delivered in their sacred city of Jerusalem. Remember it took years for the early church to begin to bring the Gospel to the Gentile world and to understand the vocation of Jesus in Jerusalem. All Jews believed that when Israel was redeemed, it was time for the rest of the world to be brought under the saving rule and judgement of Israel’s God, the creator of the world!
Jesus isn’t denying that Gentiles have a claim on the love and mercy on God. No! But Jesus’ primary work wasn’t to be a missionary to all the world, but to inaugurate God’s Kingdom by saving the world! So Jesus’ words to the Gentile, Syrophoenician, woman refer to a temporary, short-term urgency wherein Israel needs to hear the Gospel before it’s too late. And this all comes to an end with the crucifixion of Jesus, never to occur again.
Remember in this Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, what the Roman Centurion confirmed at the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross: “Truly this man is the Son of God” Mark 15:39. What the Syrophoenician woman wanted became universally true: The King of the Jews was the Savior of the world!
So dear friends, today Jesus is calling us all to give our lives to Jesus, the Savior of the world! Let that be your prayer — and let that be our life!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner!
From the Bible:
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world” 1 John 4:14.
“The next day John the Baptizer saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’” John 1:29!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” John 3:16, 17.
“In Jesus Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” Ephesians 1:7.
“Wait for our blessed hope in the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” Titus 2:13.
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among all people by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12.
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