He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." She answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go, the demon has left your daughter." (Mark 7:27-29)
This is one of those readings that can often confound us about Jesus. It is an example of Jesus clearly acting out of his humanity. Jesus is initially dismissive of this woman seeking help for her daughter, who has a demon . Now, what do we do with this?
I am of the opinion that this is a rather significant moment in the life of Jesus. You see, according to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' ministry, healing, and preaching have, up to this point in the Gospel, been primarily directed to those who are Jewish, those who he calls "children". The woman, and her daughter are Greek, of Syrophoenician origin. In other words, she is a Gentile, a non-Jew. And Jesus had, until now, not brought his message of salvation to those outside the Jewish faith.
In my estimation, I believe that Jesus, through His own faith and trust in the Father, experiences this woman's faith as an opening up of his ministry, one that takes his mission beyond simply the Jewish people to Gentiles as well. For from this point on in Mark, Jesus begins expanding his mission to Gentiles as well.
This can be very helpful for us as we consider our own journey of faith and discipleship. Jesus was a model of faithfulness. Jesus models an openness to God doing a new thing in his own life. As we grow in following Jesus we will find that just as the Father opened new paths of ministry for Jesus, then indeed the Father will do the same in our lives.
Father God, help us to be open to your ways in our lives, especially those that are new. Amen.
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