Mark 7:27-30 "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." 28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but 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.”
Do faith and desperation compel you to God? Mark 7:27-30 is a dramatic confrontation of faith. As we continue to look at this miracle of deliverance brought about by the desperate appeal of a mother whose little daughter is bound by demonic spirits it is Jesus’ response that is a most agitating beginning to this exchange.
Here is a Gentile looking to Jesus in desperate pain, seeking mercy on behalf of her daughter. Normally it was not considered religiously correct for a Jewish man to minister to a Gentile woman but all of this seems to progressively fall to the side in the midst of this bold faith exchange between Jesus and a mother in anguish. Jesus’ initial response to her cries for help is a religious one. Imagine Jesus saying to you “it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.” For most of us this would be enough to turn us away. Our hearts would respond in offense and insecurity and withdraw into a dead acceptance of our fate or the fate or our loved ones. But what was Jesus after? Could he have been using this statement to search her heart? Both Ja. 4:6 and I Pe. 5:5 state that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” You mean that even in the midst of our most desperate times of need God may still be testing our hearts and our faith? Abosolutely!
Consider the fact that every miracle that Christ performed sent a message about God. Consider the foundation for future faith amongst all believers who would ever follow that was being laid during this season of Christ’s ministry. If this woman was coming in a proud and demanding spirit how could Christ have met her cries with the desired miracle and not have laid a wrong foundation for the church of the future? Jesus is a master builder and in every situation, through every act, He is planting seeds for the future of His purposes in the earth.
The good news is that this woman passes the test. No act of bravery was required. No feet of strength or demonstration of genius would have been enough to see this miracle performed. The only response that Jesus was looking for was a response of faith and humility! And this Jesus found on that day near Tyre. The telling of this story in Matt 15:28 enlarges upon Jesus’ response just enough to identify His joy over the condition of her heart. He says directly "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." She could have been offended. She could have walked away. But instead she persisted before God in Christ with faith and humility and moved Jesus to do all that she had desired. Will you pass the test when the Lord responds to you in an unexpected way? Do not faint. Do not be turned away? It is God’s pleasure to move whenever He finds faith and humility dwelling together in simplicity!
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