Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canannite woman from that region came out and started shouting, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.'
Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon, where a Canaanite woman began shouting to Him. This woman broke several cultural strictures which limited the interaction of men and women and people of different cultures. She shouts as she approaches Jesus who is not only a male Jew, but a male Jew traveling with a group of men. She acknowledges Him as "Lord" and "Son of David". She has an expectation-the deliverance of her daughter.
Matthew 15:23-24:
But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'
Jesus seems to ignore the woman and her plight, but she seems to persist. The disciples tell Jesus to send her away since she is being so annoying. Jesus declares that He was only sent to the house of Israel. This woman was foreign; therefore, she would not be included. But Jesus did not send her away as the disciples ask.
Matthew 15:25:
But she came and knelt before him saying, 'Lord, help me.'
At this point it seems desperation has driven this woman to be bold. Many times when we face challenges we offer a pray, then give up in frustration when we seem not to get an immediate response from the Lord. This woman persisted when she was ignored, then persisted when Jesus gave her a spiritual "no". Finally, she tries a simple plea.
Matthew 15:26:
He answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.'
I love this part of the story. Jesus pretty much tells her no, again; this time being almost insulting. His food is for Israel, and she is merely a dog in comparison. Yet she persists. Not only does she persist but she even argues back to Jesus, telling Him that dogs eat scraps. How does Jesus respond to this challenge?
Matthew 15:25:
Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.' And her daughter was healed instantly.
Jesus commends this woman's faith. Image what the response would be to this woman today. Challenge a preacher? Be persistant for an answer? Quite a few Christians today would see this as rebellion---but Jesus called it faith and rewarded her by healing her daughter.
Mark 7:24-30:
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, and a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentitle, of Syrophonenician origin. She begged him to cast demon out of her daughter. 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.' But 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.' So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
This version explains to some extent why Jesus called this woman a "dog". The Syrophenicians were often called "dogs". It may also be a reference to her tenacity.
Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canannite woman from that region came out and started shouting, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.' But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' But she came and knelt before him saying, 'Lord, help me.' He answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.' Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.' And her daughter was healed instantly.
This girl had been tormented by a demon. The Bible does not say if this tormenting resulted in physical or emotional problems. However, her mother believed the girl could be healed. The mother approached Jesus, showing great faith, and the daughter was healed.
Mark 7:24-30:
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, and a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentitle, of Syrophoneician origin. She begged him to cast demon out of her daughter. 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.' But 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.' So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
Cephas' wife (Cephas is Peter) was married to a woman who accompanied him on his missions. She was a believer. This is the only specific reference to her, though Jesus often stayed at Peter's house and healed Peter's mother-in-law.
I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines.
Qoheleth lists concubines as part of his wealth. He does not appear to view them as people, but merely vessels for his pleasure.
Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, he went after the Israelite man into the tent, and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. So the plague was stopped among the people of Israel. Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
Numbers 25:14-16:
The name of the slain Israelite man, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, head of an ancestral house belonging to the Simeonites. The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter Zur, who was the head of a clan, an ancestral house in Midian. "The LORD said to Moses, 'Harass the Midianites, and defeat them; for they have harassed you by the trickery with which they deceived you in the affair of Peor, and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister; she was killed on the day of the plague that resulted from Peor.
This is one of the more disturbing stories of the Old Testament. From our stand point of knowing Jesus, we wonder where compassion and kindness appear in this story. Some understanding of why Cozbi was killed comes from verse 25:1 where we learn the Midianite women lured the Israelite men to idolatry. God doesn't just blame the Midianites, though, and sends a plague to correct Israel. The Midianites may have provided the temptation, but the Israelites chose not to resist that temptation. Right in the midst of the tribes repentance walks Zimri with his Midianite wife (this was not simply a one night stand, as she was being brought into the family.) Phinehas executes the couple. Then God rewards him. Later God says that Cozbi's error involved deception. This would seem to indicate Cozbi was aware of doing wrong, or even purposefully acted.
The overall point remains that we must be vigilant against idolatry in our lives and zealous in our service of the Lord. But our Savior showed us a better way to deal with those who would leave us astray. We must remain vigilant and zealous, but the spear that will pierce the hearts of others is love.
"The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A, and are used by permission. All rights reserved."
