If you have ever read through the Gospel of Mark you know that Mark could have written the script for the Jason Bourne movies. The movie moves quickly from scene to scene – from one action packed encounter to another – each one revealing more about the character and those he encounters.
Likewise, Mark just moves Jesus along from one high- energy encounter to another without even taking a breath, each encounter revealing more of who Jesus is; his identity, his power, his objectives.
The gospel today portrays two of these rapid encounters.
The first encounter centers around a woman who would be the least likely to know about, much less encounter, Jesus yet she teaches us much about faith in Jesus. To my knowledge, she has never been acknowledged as a saint but maybe she should be.
It happens while Jesus is trying to relax; he is outside of Judea and Galilee in Gentile country – Lebanon today – where no one is supposed to know who he is or that he is there, and suddenly bam the door flies open and a woman rushes in and throws herself at Jesus’ feet.
She is a Greek, a Canaanite, a Syrio-Phoenecian, a pagan, a non-Jew, an outsider living in a place where Jesus really hadn’t gone or shown much interest in. She is one who would normally be despised by a reverent Jew, and would not be seeking help from a Jew in any case.
But the text tells us that she did, and it further notes her actions that should cause us to reflect on our relationship to Jesus.
She had heard of him, who he is and what he has been doing and that he has traveled far and wide – mouth to ear – outside of his local area of ministry to this far place. People were hearing of this man who has power to make things right, to fix broken people, to change people’s lives, and they couldn’t keep it a secret.
I find great irony in the fact that then, when Jesus was telling people to keep quiet about who he was and what he was doing, people couldn’t keep their mouths shut; they were so excited. If Jesus’ identity and location was to be a secret, then his circle of friends has more leaks than our government!
And now when we have the commission to proclaim who Jesus is and what he has done from the rooftops, we are much more inclined to keep it a secret. We are reticent in our time and place to talk about Jesus to others.
We need to share the news to make Jesus known to others in our individual worlds, in our circle of travels. Would a Syrio-Phoenecian Greek, non-believer, outsider, someone with wounds, fears, deep personal needs come to know of Jesus through what we say about him, about how we live? Somebody told this woman and she responded and her life was changed.
She came to Jesus. When she heard Jesus was in the neighborhood she went to him, with her problem. She didn’t wait for him to come to her. She had a need to see her daughter healed, she believed that Jesus could do it and so she went to him face to face.
Do we come to Jesus? We need to see him as the answer to all the issues in our lives. We need to seek to move toward him, to be closer to him, with our lives, trust him with our needs, for those who are precious to us. We need to seek him in prayer, daily interceding for our loved ones and for our own needs as well.
Then coming to Jesus, the scripture says, she cast herself down at his feet, she humbled herself before him. It is a position of worship. And she called him Lord, the word used by the Jews of God.
It may be she knew or at least trusted that Jesus was God’s son. Maybe as a Gentile living in proximity to the Jews she understood their hope for the Messiah, and she was convinced Jesus was he. She put her faith and hope in Jesus.
In our lives do we worship Jesus? As we seek him for our needs, for answers, solutions, guidance, in interceding for others, are we humble before him? Do we acknowledge that he is God submitting our lives and issues to him and waiting on his answer whatever it might be? Is he truly our Lord God? It appears that is how she saw him.
And then she begged Jesus, persistently beseeching him that is the sense of the verb used, for his help for her daughter. And she would not be dissuaded or put off.
How persistent are we in our prayers and dependence on Jesus? When we pray for people, when we pray for our own concerns do we stay with it until we see results or get an answer? It can be so easy to get discouraged, or distracted and forget who we are and whose help we are asking.
Then comes the interesting interchange. Jesus says to her: Let the children be fed first for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Why he responded with this statement is unknown. Was it a test of her persistence? Was it a test of her trust in Jesus or her knowledge of the messianic hope? Jesus is stating that his mission is first, primarily but not exclusively, to the Jews. That is where the action is but there is the hope proffered that her time will come, and she wants in on that blessing.
And then there is the reference to the dog: A common Jewish term of reproach applied to all Gentiles. Even though Jesus uses the diminutive form of the word that softens it, little dog or puppy, it still would imply the lesser status of the Gentile world and of this Syrio-Phoenecian Greek woman in the Jewish world.
And she responded: Yes Lord. She agrees! She acknowledged her lesser status as a non-Jew, her unworthiness of Jesus’ grace and attention (Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God). At the same time she acknowledges his authority to make the claim, given who he is, God Messiah; affirming that his response was true, that the Jews were to be first. But she wants in on what God is doing. She was admitting that God’s ways are God’s ways and she is not God.
She responds saying that even the puppies under the table get the crumbs from the children, the puppies being fed under the table, by children from their own plates. Hard to imagine that happened even during Jesus’ time but there it is.
Was it just a turn of phrase or did she have greater insight to the promises God made to the Jews and to the world?
As a Gentile, she seemed to understand what so many Jews couldn’t: the promise made to Abraham, that he and his descendants would be a blessing to many nations that the Jews would be God’s agent in blessing all the nations. And that she understands is happening in Jesus. As he comes first to the Jewish nation as they are fed, they will then feed the puppies, the rest of the nations, with what is on their plates.
She trusts that just the scraps will be sufficient; just a bit of what God provided will be sufficient for what she needs. Whatever grace this Jesus will give her will suffice. She seems to understand God’s great plan and her place in it.
She shows a deep, a profound and humble understanding of herself, her need, and who Jesus is in this encounter, and her faith, her humility, and her persistence are answered.
Have we the qualities of this woman in our lives? Have we heard of Jesus? I make the assumption that we have because we are here. Maybe more importantly, will others hear of Jesus through us?
Do we come to him daily, seek him out to get his help for our problems, his guidance for our decisions, his touch for our wounds, grow closer to him? Do we read our scripture to grow in our understanding of God’s greater plan and our part in it?
Do we worship him in our lives? Do we humble ourselves before him in our lives, and with our lives? Do we call him Lord and live life consistent with that profession?
Are we persistent in our prayers? Do we press on in faith in the midst of distraction and discouragement, knowing that God is God, and a mere scrap of his grace is sufficient for all we need?
I don’t know if this woman was ever declared a saint or not but she certainly gives us a model for faith in Jesus. May we seek to emulate what she teaches us today.
Take time to read your bible and reflect on this amazing woman. She has much to teach us.