Mark 7:24-30
Key Verse: 7:29......“Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.’”

In the last passage we learned how Jesus defended his disciples’ eating without washing their hands. The Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” (Mk 7:5) Jesus rebuked their hypocrisy. Jesus rebuked them that they served God with their lips, not from their hearts. Today’s passage tells us the story about the faith of a Gentile woman from Syrophoenicia. Jesus admired her faith and healed her daughter from demon possession. I pray that God may bless all daughters of America through the faith of their mothers.

PART I. A Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus by faith (24-26)

After defending his disciples Jesus withdrew into Gentile territory, to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon in Syrian Phoenicia, which lay between Galilee and the sea coast (24). As Jesus’ ministry grew and grew and gained  national attention, so the persecution from the religious authorities from Jerusalem intensified. Jesus wanted to get away from the crowds and the Pharisees in order to give new direction for his disciples. Therefore he went to the sea coast to get some rest and make a future plan. Jesus had a quiet time with his disciples walking along the sand on the seashore. The sound of the sea waves sounded like music to his ears. Now Jesus and his disciples were fully refreshed and enjoyed the sea air.  Then Jesus and his disciples entered a Gentile’s house for a retreat. What happened? Look at verse 24. “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.” Jesus wanted his presence to become private. But he failed to do so. Why? Here we see the gospel of Jesus had already spread widely to the Gentiles. At this moment, it seems Jesus declares that he is not only the God of the Jews, but the God of the Gentiles, too.
What did Jesus do for all the people? Jesus immediately began to take care of those who were sick because he had compassion on them. But one woman drew Jesus’ full attention. Who was she? Look at verse 25. “In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit and fell at his feet.” She was a woman whose daughter was possessed by an evil spirit (25). And her misery and suffering as a mother was endless. In chapter 5 we studied about a special love relationship between Jairus and his daughter. Now we have to examine a special relationship between a mother and a daughter. The mother was a source of joy to her daughter and the daughter was the source of happiness to her mother. A daughter is the beauty of the world to any parent. There is a special bond between a mother and a daughter. There is a saying, “Sons are sons until they marry. But daughters are daughters to their parents for a lifetime.”  My mother-in-law had a special relationship with M. Esther. She could have lived with her son but she feels comfortable to live with her daughter instead. I can tell you that there is a special bond or a common destiny between them. Thought I don’t know exactly what it is, there is a strong relationship between a mother and a daughter that men cannot understand or break into. To the mother, her daughter was everything to her. And even to others’ eyes, she was unusually beautiful. Usually, most mothers think that their daughters are the most beautiful in the world, even if they look like a wrestler. Many a mother expects her daughter to be a candidate for Miss America. M. Rebekah Lim thinks that little Rebekah  Lim can win Miss Korea contest. Yet these are mothers’ wishes; it is not reality to most mothers. In any case, the Syrophoenician woman loved her daughter like herself. Their lives were connected with each other with a special bond of destiny and love. Joan Oh got chicken pox last week and suffered a lot. M. Pauline Oh was holding her all night to relieve Joan’s pain while M. Paul Oh was praying beside her. She regarded Joan’s pain as her own. That is mother’s heart.
One day this woman’s daughter began to act differently and said, “Mom, I have a headache.” Next, she was talking excessively all day long. The next day she was not eating, and she was not talking.  Her eyes looked strange. Then on the third day, she was in a maniac situation. For a moment, the mother felt like the sky was falling down. Such a beautiful daughter was beginning to be disfigured in her beauty, and her magic attraction was disappearing. Her daughter seemed to be changing into a demon-possessed girl. She could not see her daughter’s happy smile. Instead, her daughter began to say, “You woman, leave me alone. Get out of my life.” The demons made this little daughter get up in the middle of the night and scream at the top of her voice. It was painful for her to watch her daughter suffer endlessly. She was suicidal and harmful. The demon was ruining her life. Her sickness broke this woman’s heart. The most difficult time was when her daughter was sitting in melancholia without talking at all for two or three days. The mother felt that they were someplace else and she was totally helpless.
Many sick people were going to Jesus. But for this woman to come to Jesus was not easy. There were many hindrances when she wanted to come to Jesus.  The Syrophoenician woman knew that she was a Gentile. She was not qualified to come to Jesus. Most of all, she felt she would rather die than reveal her demon-possessed daughter in public. At this moment, to the Syrophoenician woman, her heart was completely despaired and frozen. But suddenly at the moment she heard about Jesus, she made a decision of faith to bring her daughter’s problem to Jesus. She did not remain in her hopeless human condition because she loved her daughter like herself. She made a giant leap of faith by coming to Jesus. Nothing prevented her from coming to Jesus. Mark comments in verse 26 that the woman was Greek, a Gentile woman. At that time Greeks were proud of their cultural and intellectual heritage. Though Rome conquered the world, they respected the Greek language and their thought world. They copied many of Greek cultures. Jews demand miraculous signs, Greeks look for wisdom and Romans seek world conquest. Naturally Greeks were proud of their philosophy and wisdom. She was a proud Greek woman. But she curbed her human pride to save her suffering daughter. By faith she came to Jesus and begged him to drive the evil spirit out of her daughter. Her coming to Jesus was her great faith.

PART II. The Syrophoenician woman humbled herself (25b-28)

As soon as the Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus, she fell at his feet (25b). Falling at her knees at Jesus’ feet reflected her humility. Her approach to Jesus was very humble. She was very earnest in coming to Jesus. Humbleness itself is not equal to faith. But it is significant for us to step into the world of faith. 1 Peter 5:5 says, “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” God is gracious to the humble. God was able to use Moses when he became a man of humility. In the same way this woman humbled herself before Jesus. What was her request to Jesus? It was not related to her. It was related to her daughter. It was her intercessory prayer for her daughter. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter (26). Her prayer was humble and urgent. It was like a matter of life or death to her. Her intercessory prayer was like that of the Roman centurion who pleaded to Jesus for the sake of his dying servant. (Luke 7:7) Her prayer was not lukewarm but very serious. She did not feel that it was okay whether Jesus heard her prayer or not. Jesus must hear her prayer. Going to Jesus totally changes the condition of the person we are praying for. Going to Jesus for our sheep’s problem is so precious before God’s eyes. We might cry out to Jesus, “Oh! Jesus, solve my sheep’s sin problem. Please solve my sheep’s marriage problem. Help my sheep love God’s word more than video games. Help my sheep accept one word of God.” I wish all mothers might pray for their daughters like this woman. It is a beautiful thing for parents to pray for their children. I am happy to see the Chosen generation team grow as mothers of prayer for America. 
What did Jesus say to her? Look at verse 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 their dogs.’” Jesus’ answer seemed to be cold and harsh to the woman who came to him for her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus should have been gentler and kinder to her because she was a woman of desperation. Jesus seemed to ignore her situation completely. Jesus seemed to have no respect for the woman. Why did Jesus speak harshly to this woman? Did Jesus want to insult her in front of the people or to embarrass her so she would not to come to him any more? Absolutely not. Jesus did so in order to test a Gentile woman’s faith. It was a test which would make her cry. Jesus tested her in that way so that the seed of faith might be planted in the Gentile world. Jesus always had world mission vision in his heart, even through a woman in deep trouble. Look at verse 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 their dogs.’” It sounds like the Jews were children and she was a dog as a Gentile. Jesus was treating her like a dog. Humanly speaking, it was an unbearable insult to a woman. But from Jesus’ point of view, Jesus had a great hope of planting the seed of faith in Gentile soil. He did so in that way.
When we think about Jesus’ answer deeply, we find that Jesus is right. The Jews have a priority to receive Jesus’ salvation first as the chosen people of God and the Gentiles will receive their turn later. Matthew 15:24 says, “He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’” It is common for parents to feed their children first and then to feed their dogs. Jesus simply spoke about the Biblical truth. Jesus was looking for the substance of this woman’s real faith. Jesus was searching this woman’s real motive of coming to him. He wanted to see whether her faith was fake or real. Jesus’ answer made her think who she was. She was an undeserving Gentile woman. She had no right to demand anything from Jesus. She needed the mercy of Jesus. Jesus’ reply made her come back to her senses and discover her true identity as the object of Jesus’ mercy. She could come to Jesus only by faith. She had nothing to claim as her own. Jesus was training this woman to have faith in him alone through this test of faith.
When we study the Bible, we find that God’s labor of love to plant faith in a person’s heart is remarkable. There was a man called Abraham. You know him very well. His wife’s name was Sarah. God had a plan of making Abraham and Sarah a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. In other words, God wanted to fill the whole world with the knowledge of God and the love of God through this one couple. God began to train Abraham until he became a God-fearer. He had no child. But God gave him a son after twenty-five years of training. Then God asked him to offer his son as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah. It was a very painful faith test for Abraham.  But Abraham believed that God would give him back children like a nation, and he was ready to offer Isaac, his one and only son, as a burnt offering. Then God provided a lamb to sacrifice and spared Isaac’s life. God gave a grade of  “A” to Abraham when he offered Isaac by faith. In many ways we were blessed by God when we lived by faith. God granted us a beautiful center. God blessed us materially and academically and spiritually. But we are selfish naturally and we love to enjoy God’s blessings instead of living by faith. It is easy to dwell in God’s blessings after we receive God’s blessing. God is testing our faith whether we love him or the fruit of our faith. We must love God with all our heart and strength and soul once again. 
We can see Jesus training his twelve disciples. Jesus did not give any favor or any leisure time to his disciples. He let them grow in labor power by hanging around his healing ministry. Jesus also taught them about his death and resurrection. The story about Jesus’ death and resurrection was indeed an unhappy one to his disciples. But he repeated it again and again until Peter one time took Jesus aside and rebuked him, “Don’t say such a thing anymore.” But Jesus training his disciples in hunger and sleeplessness and being despised and rejected was to enlighten their spiritual eyes to see the spiritual world. After Jesus’ resurrection, they opened their spiritual eyes, and Jesus’ gospel, which had been circling around, was spread to the whole world by his disciples. When we look at Hebrews 11, there are so many heroes and heroines of faith. They wanted to have faith in God. These were all commended for their faith. Yet none of them received what had been promised. In other words, they did not get things of the world from God by having faith in God. Through much suffering and keeping up the life of faith, that is, through intensive divine discipline, they obtained faith in God Almighty. Faith is everything.
The Gentile woman had faith. She had nothing to brag about as a woman.  But surely she obtained faith and healing for her daughter by the grace of Jesus. By faith she learned how to become wise. By faith she learned how to humble herself.  As we know well, women are very emotional due to their sensitivity. Most women like admiration, even if it is nothing but lip service. They never expect any insult from men. There is a saying, “Hell has no fury if a woman is scorned. There will be a frost in the summer if a woman is angry.” Don’t try to answer like Jesus when a woman coworker asks you something to do. You invite many troubles if you do. If a woman is insulted, even by her husband, the husband who insulted his wife must expect an unhappy future; he will get no respect or love from his wife.  Moreover, he will have to cook and wash dishes, and on the weekends wash all the clothes, including his wife’s brassier and pajamas, in the laundry room. People think women are weak so men can sometimes be rough to them. But that’s a mistake. Women are mothers who can raise up great men of God. 
How did she reply? Look at verse 28. “‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’” Jesus’ answer put her on a hot spot. In this critical moment she did not react emotionally. She did not burst into anger. She did not storm out of the room. She did not talk back to Jesus emotionally. She did not say any bad words to Jesus. She did not say, “Okay, you insulted me. What kind of a man are you!? I will never see you again.” But she was calm and thought about who she was and who Jesus was. Then she accepted Jesus as her Lord and Master. She said, “Yes, Lord.” Wow! What a faith she had! She understood Jesus’ word exactly and was not upset about what he said. She was not bitter about what Jesus said. She thought about the true meaning of his word. Suddenly an infinite wisdom of faith came to her heart. She answered by faith saying, “Yes, Jesus! I am a dog and then I have a right to eat crumbs. Don’t you think so?” She had a “crumb eating faith.” Shep. David has a big German shepherd. This is a friendly dog. She loves to eat the crumbs little Samuel tossed to her. This Gentile woman regarded as a dog by the Jews applied Jesus’ word to herself right away. She claimed her right as a dog because even the dog belonged to the master. What she was saying to Jesus was that she belonged to Jesus as the dog belonged to the master. What an insightful understanding she had! She was truly a woman of faith and wisdom. When we think about a woman of wisdom, we can think about Abigail in 1 Samuel 25 who prevented David from killing all her household members due to her husband Nabal’s insulting word to David. Abigail pleaded forgiveness of her foolish husband’s mistake to David and prepared provisions for David and his men. 1 Sam. 25:35 says, “Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, ‘Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.” Nabal died ten days later and she became David’s wife. This Gentile woman loved her daughter and took her problem as her own problem and offered her intercessory prayer to Jesus by faith. She did not give up even though Jesus treated her like a dog. It did not matter to her because she came to Jesus for her daughter by faith. Jesus’ harsh word did not deter her faith in Jesus because she knew who Jesus was. Sometimes we feel like giving up when sheep has no faith at all. At that time we have to intercede for our sheep and bring our sheep’s problem to Jesus. We have to take their problem as our own problem and pray until Jesus hears our humble prayer. We have to take our children’s problem as our own problem and pray until Jesus grants our request.  A mother’s sacrificial faith moves Jesus’ heart and heals many sin-sick students.

III.  Jesus admires the Gentile woman’s faith (29-30)

Look at verse 29. “Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.’”  Jesus rarely admired anyone’s faith. But this Gentile woman was admired by Jesus. She was recognized as a woman of faith by Jesus. To be recognized as a woman of faith by Jesus is not a small matter.  Matthew 15:28 says, “Then Jesus answered, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’” Her reply demonstrated her faith in Jesus. Nothing impressed Jesus but faith. When we have faith in Jesus, everything is possible. When we have faith in Jesus, we can experience the power of God. M. Daniel Hong was very sick with a liver problem and was in the verge of death. But he had faith in Jesus. He believed that it is the Lord that heals. Many UBF members prayed for his healing. When Jesus saw the faith of M. Daniel and our coworkers, he granted our request. He was healed miraculously. We were happy to attend the dedication of his new center and renewed our faith to dedicate our life once again for USA campus mission and world mission. When S. Bruce Hollinger has faith that moves Jesus’ heart and offer his intercessory prayer for GMU students, God will raise up one Abraham and Sarah of faith before Christmas. What happened when Jesus recognized her faith? Look at verse 29 again. “Then he told her, ‘For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.’” Her daughter was healed. Exceptional beauty came back to her daughter’s face. She was lying on the bed singing and the demon was gone (30).
Let’s examine our motive in coming to Jesus. We have to make it very clear that we want to be like the Gentile woman and come to Jesus by faith, asking his salvation. May God bless each of us to pray for one soul to attend the ISU conference. Let’s come to Jesus and live by faith. Let’s read the key verse 7:29.