Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g] 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.
I want to encourage you to read the version of this story which is in Matthew 15. The two pieces of Scripture complement each other perfectly, and together they bring a clearer view of what’s going on.
Jesus has left the town of Capernaum in Galilee where he was largely based, and moved a considerable distance to the north west and the Mediterranean coast. I want you to notice that by travelling to Tyre, Jesus has left Israel. He is in a mainly gentile area, in modern Lebanon, which is part of the ancient Phoenecian empire and has been subject to Greek influence for generations. There is still much that Jesus needs to teach his disciples, and time is short, so moving to the area around Tyre may have been an attempt to reduce the distractions caused by crowds of people, and of course, Pharisees. Mark tells us that Jesus found a house where he hoped to find some privacy, but the word was out. I get the impression that before he’s even gone into the house, this local woman is pleading for his help. Matthew tells us that this woman was a Canaanite. The disciples were keen to send her away. Of course, they see her as a nuisance, but more tan that, a rabbi would not normally allow himself to engage in this way with a woman – certainly not a gentile woman.
She falls at his feet, reflecting respect and desperation. She begs for Christ’s help. Her daughter is very sick. This is a mother who is fearful for her much loved child. You can sense her anxiety and distress. She persists in her approach in spite of the disciples.
In the UK we love our pet dogs. We look after them, and if we see a neglected animal we are likely to do something about it. You don’t have to travel far, even into central Europe, to find a very different attitude which is closer to 1st Century Palestine. The majority of dogs were wild, diseased, uncared for scavengers. Even for us, to call someone a dog is always an insult, but in a culture where dogs steal and scavenge to stay alive it carries much more weight.
Christ’s response to the woman looks challenging. Some people are deeply troubled by it. I don’t think we need to be. I’m not going to deny that it looks harsh and downright rude, but I’m going to raise a note of caution that something which, when translated into your language, sounds rude to you might mean something quite different in its original language and culture. Words which sound harsh when spoken loudly, can have very different nuance when spoken with a gentle smile. We’ll look at what Jesus meant by his response, but the core of his answer appears to be ‘No.’
A few years ago I was working in Egypt and I was invited to dinner with a large and wonderful family in a village near Asuit. It was only towards the end of the meal that I realised that I was eating only with the invited guests and the men of the household. We were the first to eat. The younger members of the family, including most of the woman, had not eaten. They were to be called to the table only after I and the others had finished eating. In short, the children would be last to eat. How appalling would it have been for me to offer food to the dog after I had had my fill, but before the children had the opportunity to eat.
In Matthew 7:6 Jesus refers to those who reject the Gospel as dogs. It clearly conveys a sense of insult. However, the word used at this point in Mark’s Gospel is slightly different. It indicates small dogs. Alongside the feral dogs, there was a culture which is familiar to us, of small dogs being kept as house pets. These dogs might well be accepted lingering close to places where people were eating, ready to clear up any scraps which reach the floor, but of course we wouldn’t deliberately feed the dog until after the children have eaten. I don’t think there can be any doubt that this is a rule which, in every culture, is sometimes broken. The point is, the ‘dog’ in question, is typically part of the household, and that, I think, is significant.
In the light of all this, Jesus’ comments sound less harsh than they might have done a few minutes ago. The implication that the children implies the of Israel would not be lost on the woman. They should be able to eat all they want before the others, the Gentiles, have their opportunity to eat anything.
There’s no suggestion that the woman is offended. On the contrary, she picks up his analogy and runs with it. In Christ’s presence, she, as a gentile, might have a similar status to a house dog, but even they hang around the table and pick up scraps which might fall to the floor. It seems to me that this is a recognition that Jesus is right – she has no claim of right for his help. There is an extraordinary humility here. Yet she knows Jesus can still help if he chooses to do so.
I’ve mentioned often that as a contemplative, I find it helpful to imagine that I was in the room, watching biblical scenes unfold. If only we could see the body language, how much more might we learn of an interaction like this. The text doesn’t suggest this and we need to be careful not to add to it, but I found myself wondering whether along with Jesus, the woman and the disciples, there might not have been a house dog and some children in the courtyard? In my mind, I see a growing smile on Christ’s face as he reflects on her response. Her respect. Her humility. Her faith in him. It’s a gentle, kind smile.
Matthew’s account says that Jesus said ‘You can go. You will find your daughter healed.’ Mark’s account says that she did.
One last word on this story. Like the woman, apart from his grace, we have no claim on Jesus. It is for us to approach him with the greatest respect, the deepest humility, and our fragile faith.
‘Those of us who are of non-Jewish descent need to remember that we are wild olive branches that have been grafted into the tree of Israel (Romans 11:17-18). In terms of redemptive history, we are the dogs. But because the children refused the gift of the Father to them, the Father gave that gift to us who had no claim on it originally.’
RC Sproul, Mark: An Expositional Commentary, p160
We have seen his family, or at least some of them, before. Do you recall that earlier in Mark’s gospel we saw his mother and some of the brothers travelling to Capernaum to bring Jesus home (