Mark 7:26
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
A heathen Greek mother of the old Canaanite race from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, shut out from the light and advantages the Jews enjoyed, begged Jesus as Lord to cast the devil that grievously vexed her daughter out of her. Jesus had withdrawn from Capernaum to that heathen hill country seeking retirement and to prepare His disciples, and this plea was the only miracle of that journey, made for the very purpose of answering it. He first appeared indifferent and answered that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, testing her sincerity, then, satisfied with her confidence, turned in pity, commended her great faith and by His word made her daughter whole from that hour. In contrast with the scribes and Pharisees who murmured in unbelief, she yielded at once with implicit, persistent faith, unoffended by cold reception and willing to be as a dog to receive the crumbs from the Master's table. Her healing was a deliberate example to lead the disciples from Jewish exclusiveness to compassionate work for all nations, showing Christ reaching Gentiles beyond Israel as with the centurion and foreshadowing their gathering into God's church.
Setting and Request
After withdrawing from Capernaum following the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus crossed Galilee to the hill country on the borders of Phenicia overlooking Tyre and Sidon with their heathen temples, palaces, marts, harbors, and beyond them the Mediterranean over which messengers of the gospel would later carry glad tidings to the centers of the world's great empire, though the time for that was not yet. He came to this region hoping to find the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida and to prepare His disciples for their mission, and retirement was not His only purpose in making the journey. The meeting took place just after He had left Jerusalem because the scribes and Pharisees were seeking His life.
This plea for the daughter was the only miracle He wrought on that journey to the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and He made the journey for the very purpose of answering it and relieving the afflicted woman. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation, a heathen mother of the old Canaanite race living in the borders of Tyre and Sidon, an idolater from a despised people hated by the Jews, shut out from advantages Jews enjoyed daily and not favored with the light of God's word. In this encounter as she reaches toward Him barriers are broken down.
Her daughter was grievously vexed with a devil, and after seeking help from heathen gods without relief, the mother heard reports that Jesus heals all manner of diseases for rich or poor alike. Though she knew Jews rejected contact with Canaanites, moved by a mother's love and hope in His power she formed the resolute purpose that Jesus must heal her child, believed He alone could help, and came crying for mercy as Lord, Son of David, begging Him to cast the devil out. Jesus cast the devil out by His word, and from that hour the daughter was made whole and the demon troubled her no more, showing His compassionate power and mercy toward those tormented.
The healing stands with His other healings of the demon-possessed as proof of His power and mercy and of the number, power, and malignity of evil spirits. For demons are intelligent entities whom He addressed as such, commanding them to come out of the victim and torment him no more, and they obeyed His authority.
Faith Beyond Israel
In contrast to the scribes and Pharisees who murmured and complained, manifested unbelief and bitterness, sought His life, and refused the salvation freely offered them, she yielded at once to His divine influence with implicit faith in His ability to grant what she asked. She had no national or religious prejudice or pride to shape or influence her course, but unconditionally acknowledged Jesus as Redeemer able to do all that she asked of Him. She begged for the crumbs that fall from the Master's table and was willing to be regarded as a dog if she might have a dog's privilege.
She followed Him and continued her supplications with persistent faith that He would relieve her distress, and did not become offended and leave even when He passed on as if not hearing and appeared indifferent to her cries. In this encounter, as this foreign Greek woman from Syrophoenicia came to Him and reached toward Him, barriers are broken down. The disciples, seeing His indifference, supposed that Jewish prejudice against Canaanites pleased Him, felt no sympathy and had their sympathies not aroused by her distress, were annoyed at her importunity, and asked Him to send her away.
His initially cold reception and apparent delay and rejection, and His answer that He is sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, tested her faith and sincerity and tested and taught His disciples. That teaching was not to treat people of a despised race as the Jews did, but to respond compassionately to distress. Though spoken in accord and accordance with Jewish prejudice, His answer was an implied rebuke to the disciples, afterward understood by them, reminding them that He came to save all in the world who will accept Him and that everyone who seeks Him ready to believe on Him when He is manifested to them is one of the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold.
He knew her sorrow and persistent faith, her grief and persistent prayer revealed her faith, He tested her confidence in Him and was satisfied with it, and He turned to her with pity and love, commended her great faith, and granted her request and desire that it should be as she willed. She did not leave discouraged but departed acknowledging her Saviour and happy in the granting of her prayer, and from that hour her daughter was made whole. Her case shows that persevering prayer is rewarded and that those who persistently ask Christ in faith can receive His help.
He made the journey to the region and borders of Tyre and Sidon for the very purpose of answering this afflicted Greek woman's plea, and this casting of the demon out of her daughter was the only miracle He wrought on that journey. In showing mercy to one of a despised people He both relieved her suffering and left a deliberate example for His disciples for after He should be no longer with them. He meant to lead them from Jewish exclusiveness to interest in working for others besides their own people, to teach them to work beyond their own nation and prepared them for gospel work and a gospel mission among the Gentiles, unrestricted by custom or nationality. That lesson gained force when His death broke down the barrier and partition wall between Jews and Gentiles, and it opened their minds more fully to the labor that lay before them and exerted a powerful influence in directing their labors when the Jews turned still more persistently from them because they declared Jesus to be the Saviour of the world.
Her appeal and healing are an instance of His work directly beyond and outside the acknowledged people of Israel, showing that His ministry reached Gentiles. Her case stands with the centurion's case and conversion as evidence that Gentiles too were welcomed as children of God. The healing of her daughter revealed that even Gentiles, including people regarded as unworthy of salvation, could receive the light of truth and share in God's saving promise. Her conversion foreshadowed and prepared for continued gospel work among them and for the later active and sustained gathering of Gentile communities into God's church, which Jewish unbelief did not thwart.
Her situation gives His disciples a lesson in the needs of people around them who lack knowledge of the truth, since Jewish people had been blessed so they could bless others, but pride and self-sufficiency had led them to shut out other nations and neglect those in need. His great love for suffering humanity in healing the daughter in answer to the earnest, humble supplication of her afflicted mother rebukes selfishness toward the unfortunate, the blind, the lame and afflicted, the widow and the fatherless. It calls for greater missionary effort right at home in families and neighborhoods in caring for the afflicted, the suffering, and the discouraged.