Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)
Today on Daily Read we come to a passage that people often get tripped up on. At face value it seems like Jesus calls a woman a dog as she comes begging him to deliver her daughter. Yikes, right? If we look closer it will make way more sense, but first we want you to hear it, and then we’ll give some context before you hear it again.
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So in order to grasp the dynamics at play here we have to first know that the Greeks and Jews have a lot of bad blood between them. War, the invasion of Greek Culture, desecrating the Temple, you name it. So this woman, who was a part of the ruling class in Syropheonicia, and the disciples, who were a part of the oppressed people in Galilee, are not people whom we should expect to get along.
Second, know that a woman from Phoenicia coming and begging for the well-being of their child is not new. A Phoenician woman came to Elijah in 1 Kings and begged for the life of her son. This woman is just living out that same story with Jesus. She is probably familiar at least with the story of that prophet, and she could be a "God-fearing Gentile."
Third, remember that the disciples have been described as hard-hearted since the "Feeding of the 5000." They were probably frustrated at all of the extra stuff Jesus was doing (for all sorts of people) instead of getting on with liberating Israel. So when this Greek woman comes up, you can almost imagine them standing there with their arms crossed, watching to see what Jesus would do. And running through their minds is probably a line that Jews might have replayed to remind themselves of their rightful place in the story as the people of God, while they have been occupied by the Greeks and now the Romans.… Could they have been thinking to themselves, "We’re the true children of Yahweh, and we’ll have our fill first… thank you very much.”
You've got that visual… Now as you listen again, imagine that when Jesus hears this woman’s plea, he turns to look at his disciples with a grin on his face, knowing what they were thinking as he did with the Pharisees, knowing that they still don’t get it, knowing that it was their prejudice that was blinding them, smiles and says what he says to her.
He’s trying to teach the disciples a lesson about how he is, and the woman's response only affirms that she is acquainted with the God of Israel and his covenant to bless the nations THROUGH Israel. Her faith is at work, Jesus is responding, and he's doing so in a way that is breaking all the categories for the disciples.
Listen again with this context and see how the passage comes to life.
----------REFLECT----------
1. What moment between the characters stands out to you?
2. What do you appreciate about the way Jesus addresses the disciples’ lack of understanding through his interaction with this woman?
3. What group of people might you be hesitant to see as worthy to eat from the table? How would it and indeed how does it affect you when you see and hear of Jesus acting with compassion towards them? How does this challenge your view of Jesus?
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