Faith in Action: The Case of a Syro-Phoenician Woman And Her Daughter
Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2011
by Joel Kontinen
http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/
Faith is one of the key words in the Bible. One could perhaps say that nothing in Scripture makes sense without faith: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” As defined in Hebrews 11:1, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
The Gospel of Mark (7: 24-30) includes a fascinating story about faith in action. A non-Jewish or Gentile woman approached Jesus. The Bible does not say how she learned about Jesus but the text shows clearly that she knew who Jesus was. The parallel account in Matthew 15: 21-28 reveals that she called Jesus “Lord” and the “Son of David”. She had an enormous need: her young daughter “had an unclean spirit”. She had“heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.”
While we might assume that being at the feet of the Lord was a save place, the story does not end there.
Something strange happened. Instead of welcoming the woman, it seemed that Jesus wanted to have nothing to do with her. “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs,” He said. It sounded like an insult. The Jews could be very ethnocentric, thinking they were the people God had especially chosen and blessed.
Little dogs indeed.
Nevertheless, the woman was not easily put off: “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
Jesus knew that the woman had faith. According to Hebrews 11:6, God rewards those who believe in Him and “ who diligently seek Him.” This woman truly sought the Lord diligently and she was rewarded: “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter”, Jesus told her. Matthew adds that Jesus lauded the woman for her great faith.
She went home and saw that her daughter had recovered completely.
There may be times in our lives when the Lord really challenges us to believe in Him despite the circumstances. He is not indifferent to our needs, as we might think, but wants us to put our trust entirely on Him.
He lets faith arise in us. And faith is something that can move mountains.
Scripture passages from the New King James Version.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Good story you tell here JoelThanks, David.
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