Into Jesus' Arms

It was good to welcome Amanda Thistleton from Christchurch, Cheltenham to Highbury on Sunday, 17th February - this is what she shared with us ...

Aim:  To help us understand that faith in Jesus does not depend on our abilities or our position.

Pray: 

Gracious God, may we hear you speaking to us through your word this morning, and may your Holy Spirit equip us to serve you better. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Mark 7:24-30

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.  He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.    ²⁷ “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 the dogs.”  ²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “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.

Have you ever felt excluded, or left out, as if you don’t belong?  Did the fact that you were different from the crowd make you shy or reluctant to join in? Do you wish you were more acceptable so that people would include you?  As the story we are looking at today develops we meet someone who may have felt like that, but it begins with Jesus trying to find some space.....

Jesus decided to go north from Galilee to the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. His popularity was growing as his ministry unfolded, and more and more people were hearing about him and wanting to hear his teaching and receive healing. Herod was interested in him.  Pharisees from Jerusalem were investigating his claims and questioning him. So Jesus and his disciples withdrew in order for Jesus to teach them in peace and to avoid the opposition in Galilee.

So they travelled up to the sea side, which is about 30 miles north of Galilee in modern day Lebanon, and attempted to lie low for a few days in a friend’s house. But it was not so easy, as Jesus seemed to attract attention wherever he went, so it was not long before people realised where he was and flocked to be near him. Verse 24 says: Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.

Have you ever made chocolate mousse?  You mix melted choc and egg yolks and they congeal into a thick lump which the recipe blithely says ‘fold into the whisked egg whites’. That is much easier said than done and at first the mixture is lumpy and bits of egg white fly out even though you try to do it very gently. You wonder how this peculiar hotch potch of chocolate and egg white will ever become nice smooth chocolate mousse. But in the end it all comes together and the final smooth brown mixture is just like it should be.

The Gospel of Mark is a bit like making chocolate mousse: in the first half the disciples don’t really understand, and in the second half things fall into place. The first half contains clues as to who Jesus is, and then in the second half we learn what he came to do.

Things start to come together in chapter 8 v29 when Peter answers Jesus’ question at Caesarea Philippi:   Jesus asks “Who do you say I am?” and Peter replies “You are the Christ”, and this is mirrored by the Roman centurion’s words at the crucifixion when he says “Surely this man was the Son of God.” In this passage we are reading today, we find ourselves in the first half of Mark’s gospel narrative, when the disciples still do not really understand who Jesus is. They and many other people have asked “Who is this man?” and it is only once the disciples eyes are opened and they realise who he is, that he can then prepare them for the next stage in his ministry leading towards his death and crucifixion at Calvary.

The disciples are rather slow at discovering who Jesus is, but the woman we are about to meet seems to be a step ahead....

Verse 25: In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.  The woman was a Greek (that is a Gentile), born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

Already the situation gets more complicated for Jesus, he is trying to have some time out, and this woman, who was also a Gentile, had managed to squirm her way into the house and find him. His first response to her impassioned begging for help seems really rather rude: “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 the dogs.” Why does Jesus respond like this? I have to confess I was shocked the first time I read this as it seems so out of character for Jesus to be so dismissive. Maybe he was testing her faith, or maybe he was making a point for the disciples to pick up. The children he is talking about are the Jews, God’s chosen people, and the dogs (in this case the word Jesus uses is a word for puppies or pet dogs rather than the wild street dogs common in that part of the world), the dogs are the Gentiles. 

If we look at Mark as a whole, one of the themes that run through the gospel is that of the Messianic secret. Several times Jesus, having worked a miracle in a person exhorts them to keep silent about what has happened. It all seems rather odd, until we look at the bigger picture.

The Jews’ expectation of the Messiah was that he would save them from Roman rule by conquering the oppressors and reigning as the victorious king. Jesus was a completely different type of Messiah and he wanted his followers to have a full understanding of his message, which includes the cross and resurrection, before they went out to tell others.

So could it be that this outsider, this Gentile woman, can help us see more clearly what kind of a Messiah Jesus is?

Let’s look at what happens next: v28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

This Gentile woman, who had broken multiple social conventions to get to this point, calls Jesus ‘Lord’, putting the disciples to shame with her faith in Jesus. Then she puts her faith into action and does something – she asks for help.  She understands her position as a gentile and knows that she can’t share the children’s food, that is that she is not a Jew, but she is not satisfied with that.  She could imagine a future when Jesus’ grace was available to all, not just Jews. In the words of one commentator: “The disciples, and perhaps Jesus himself, are not yet ready for Calvary. This foreign woman is already insisting upon Easter.”! She already had complete faith in Jesus as we have seen by what she did.   Is our faith like that?

And these words are so familiar to us aren’t they? In the Anglican communion service, we say the prayer of humble access which includes the line “we were not fit, even to eat the crumbs from under your table, but you are the same Lord, whose nature is always to have mercy.” Maybe that can be a reminder to us of the infinite grace of Jesus that is available to all who have faith in him.

V 29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. What a brilliant ending. But this short episode doesn’t just end with a happy woman and a healed daughter.

This event is not just a response to a woman’s need, but a new stage in Jesus’ ministry as the door of the kingdom of God is opened to non-Jews. The gentile mother’s persistent confidence shows that God’s love is not exclusive, but for the whole world, for you and me, for all who believe in Jesus. It was her faith in Jesus which motivated her. And her faith did not depend on her, her position or merit, race or ability, but on Jesus, and on his mercy and grace.  It was like the faith a small child has who throws herself off a high wall into her father’s arms, shouting “Daddy, catch me!”  She just knows she will be caught, and of course Daddy catches her.  We have faith in Jesus because of who he is and not who we are.

Membership of God’s family is by grace alone - it is the gift of God to all who have faith – and the gentile woman knew this, and jumped into Jesus’ arms.