And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
When she returned home she found the promise fulfilled, her daughter freed from torment and resting quietly on the bed. By His word alone, spoken at a distance, He had driven the demon out and made her whole from that hour. It was the compassionate act of the Saviour toward a despised foreigner, showing His mercy and healing power are not bounded by nationality or Jewish custom. He had tested her with seeming delay and refusal, and she answered with humble, persevering trust that would take even a dog's crumb from the Master's table, until He commended her great faith and granted her request. Her deliverance stands as a lesson to break down exclusiveness and carry the gospel to the Gentiles and to all the afflicted and neglected at home.
Setting and Healing
Jesus had withdrawn from His field of labor around Jerusalem because the scribes and Pharisees murmured and complained, showed unbelief and bitterness, refused the salvation so freely offered them, and sought to take His life. He went to the coast, borders and region of Tyre and Sidon, to a hillside Phoenician town of clustered stone buildings with towers and a dome, where He met a veiled foreign woman. She was a Greek, Syrophoenician and Canaanite woman from that region, of an unfortunate, heathen and despised race not favored with the light of God's word. She knew that Jews shunned Canaanites, and having found no help from her gods she came because she had heard that Jesus heals all manner of diseases and performs miracles, trusting He had power to help her daughter. Her daughter was grievously vexed and beset by an unclean spirit or demon.
She came and fell at His feet and begged Him to cast the devil out of her daughter. He answered that the children must first be filled, for it was not fitting to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs. She affirmed Him as Lord yet replied that even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. He then told her to go her way, for because of that saying the devil had gone out of her daughter. By that spoken word at a distance He cast the demon out and made the daughter whole from that hour, so that it troubled her no more.
When she came to her house she found His word fulfilled, the devil gone out and her daughter freed, well and whole, laid upon the bed and no longer afflicted. Her return home revealed the girl lying on the bed free of the demon. This was the only miracle Jesus performed on that journey. He had gone to the borders and coast of Tyre and Sidon on purpose to relieve the afflicted woman.
Mercy Beyond Israel
The verse shows the compassionate, pitying Saviour acting in mercy toward one of a despised people, His great love for suffering humanity joined with mercy and power as the great Medical Missionary to heal by His word at a distance. The daughter was grievously vexed and the mother departed happy and rejoicing, acknowledging Him as Redeemer and Saviour when her prayer was granted. He only seemed indifferent while testing confidence, and His answer about being sent only to the lost sheep of Israel sounded like Jewish prejudice but was an implied rebuke to disciples who were annoyed, unsympathetic, and wanted her sent away, reminding them He came to save all who would accept Him. He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon on purpose to relieve this afflicted woman, and this was the only miracle performed on that journey.
In this closing deliverance the barrier between Jew and Gentile is broken down, as a veiled foreigner reaches toward a robed man in a hillside Phoenician town of clustered stone buildings, towers and a dome. His mercy and the gospel are shown not limited by Jewish custom or nationality, but pointing to a work unrestricted by custom or nationality. Jewish pride and religious exclusiveness had led His people to neglect needy people around them, though God's blessings were meant to make them a blessing to others, and the healing rebukes that neglect and seeks to lead out of exclusiveness. It taught the disciples to treat people in distress with mercy rather than the coldness they had seen from the Jews.
The healing is a direct work beyond acknowledged Israel, reaching one outside Israel and recognizing Gentiles as children of God. Gentiles who hunger for truth are included in God's saving purpose, so that people outside Israel could receive salvation. Whoever seeks the Saviour ready to believe when He is manifested are the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold, so the daughter's deliverance belongs to Gentiles as well as Israel. It stands as precedent for the gospel's later reception among the Gentiles.
The verse leaves the disciples an example of the work they should do when He would no longer be with them. It was meant to lead them away from Jewish exclusiveness to interest in working for others besides their own people, opening their minds more fully to labor among the Gentiles and preparing them for that later work. After His death broke down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and when the Jews turned more persistently away because the disciples declared Jesus to be Saviour of the world, this lesson pointed to unrestricted gospel work and exerted a powerful influence in directing their labors. By His spoken word at a distance the unclean spirit was cast out and His word was found fulfilled on her return home, the devil gone and the daughter laid upon the bed.
It is one of several like cases proving demons are intelligent entities whom Christ addresses with authority and power, commanding them to come out of the victim and torment them no more, and they obey.
Faith and Persevering Prayer
The testing of the mother’s confidence came first, for the delay was only apparent and the indifference only seeming. He passed on as if not hearing her cries, allowing her faith and persistence to be made manifest. His answer that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel sounded in accord with Jewish prejudice against Canaanites, yet it was an implied rebuke to the disciples. It reminded them that He came to save all who would accept Him, and that whoever seeks the Saviour ready to believe when He is manifested are the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold.
She met that test with implicit faith in His ability to do all she asked, yielding at once to His divine influence. She had no national or religious prejudice or pride to influence her course, though she was of a despised race not favored with the light of God’s word. She was willing to be regarded as a dog if she might have a dog’s privilege, begging for the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table. She was not offended and did not leave, but kept faith that He would relieve her distress and followed with continued supplication. The disciples were annoyed by her importunity, felt no sympathy aroused by her distress, asked Him to send her away, and supposed His indifference meant Jewish prejudice pleased Him, but she immediately acknowledged Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour able to do all she asked.
Satisfied by that implicit faith, He yielded at once with pity and love and finished His lesson to the disciples. He commended her great faith, granted her prayer and answered her request, making the daughter whole from that hour so the demon troubled her no more. The woman departed happy and rejoicing that her prayer was granted, acknowledging Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour. Her persistence that He Himself inspired was rewarded, and her experience stands as an example of persevering prayer. It shows that those who ask Him in faith need not be left without help or hope, for the healing confirmed her faith and she returned home to find her daughter freed, well and lying on the bed.
The same deliverance in answer to earnest, humble supplication reveals His great love for suffering humanity and rebukes selfishness and neglect of the unfortunate. It rebukes neglect of the blind, the lame and afflicted, the widow and the fatherless. It calls for greater missionary effort right at home in families and neighborhoods. That home work is caring for the afflicted, the suffering, and the discouraged.
When she returned home she found the promise fulfilled, her daughter freed from torment and resting quietly on the bed. By His word alone, spoken at a distance, He had driven the demon out and made her whole from that hour. It was the compassionate act of the Saviour toward a despised foreigner, showing His mercy and healing power are not bounded by nationality or Jewish custom. He had tested her with seeming delay and refusal, and she answered with humble, persevering trust that would take even a dog's crumb from the Master's table, until He commended her great faith and granted her request. Her deliverance stands as a lesson to break down exclusiveness and carry the gospel to the Gentiles and to all the afflicted and neglected at home.
Setting and Healing
Jesus had withdrawn from His field of labor around Jerusalem because the scribes and Pharisees murmured and complained, showed unbelief and bitterness, refused the salvation so freely offered them, and sought to take His life. He went to the coast, borders and region of Tyre and Sidon, to a hillside Phoenician town of clustered stone buildings with towers and a dome, where He met a veiled foreign woman. She was a Greek, Syrophoenician and Canaanite woman from that region, of an unfortunate, heathen and despised race not favored with the light of God's word. She knew that Jews shunned Canaanites, and having found no help from her gods she came because she had heard that Jesus heals all manner of diseases and performs miracles, trusting He had power to help her daughter. Her daughter was grievously vexed and beset by an unclean spirit or demon.
She came and fell at His feet and begged Him to cast the devil out of her daughter. He answered that the children must first be filled, for it was not fitting to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs. She affirmed Him as Lord yet replied that even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. He then told her to go her way, for because of that saying the devil had gone out of her daughter. By that spoken word at a distance He cast the demon out and made the daughter whole from that hour, so that it troubled her no more.
When she came to her house she found His word fulfilled, the devil gone out and her daughter freed, well and whole, laid upon the bed and no longer afflicted. Her return home revealed the girl lying on the bed free of the demon. This was the only miracle Jesus performed on that journey. He had gone to the borders and coast of Tyre and Sidon on purpose to relieve the afflicted woman.
Mercy Beyond Israel
The verse shows the compassionate, pitying Saviour acting in mercy toward one of a despised people, His great love for suffering humanity joined with mercy and power as the great Medical Missionary to heal by His word at a distance. The daughter was grievously vexed and the mother departed happy and rejoicing, acknowledging Him as Redeemer and Saviour when her prayer was granted. He only seemed indifferent while testing confidence, and His answer about being sent only to the lost sheep of Israel sounded like Jewish prejudice but was an implied rebuke to disciples who were annoyed, unsympathetic, and wanted her sent away, reminding them He came to save all who would accept Him. He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon on purpose to relieve this afflicted woman, and this was the only miracle performed on that journey.
In this closing deliverance the barrier between Jew and Gentile is broken down, as a veiled foreigner reaches toward a robed man in a hillside Phoenician town of clustered stone buildings, towers and a dome. His mercy and the gospel are shown not limited by Jewish custom or nationality, but pointing to a work unrestricted by custom or nationality. Jewish pride and religious exclusiveness had led His people to neglect needy people around them, though God's blessings were meant to make them a blessing to others, and the healing rebukes that neglect and seeks to lead out of exclusiveness. It taught the disciples to treat people in distress with mercy rather than the coldness they had seen from the Jews.
The healing is a direct work beyond acknowledged Israel, reaching one outside Israel and recognizing Gentiles as children of God. Gentiles who hunger for truth are included in God's saving purpose, so that people outside Israel could receive salvation. Whoever seeks the Saviour ready to believe when He is manifested are the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold, so the daughter's deliverance belongs to Gentiles as well as Israel. It stands as precedent for the gospel's later reception among the Gentiles.
The verse leaves the disciples an example of the work they should do when He would no longer be with them. It was meant to lead them away from Jewish exclusiveness to interest in working for others besides their own people, opening their minds more fully to labor among the Gentiles and preparing them for that later work. After His death broke down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and when the Jews turned more persistently away because the disciples declared Jesus to be Saviour of the world, this lesson pointed to unrestricted gospel work and exerted a powerful influence in directing their labors. By His spoken word at a distance the unclean spirit was cast out and His word was found fulfilled on her return home, the devil gone and the daughter laid upon the bed.
It is one of several like cases proving demons are intelligent entities whom Christ addresses with authority and power, commanding them to come out of the victim and torment them no more, and they obey.
Faith and Persevering Prayer
The testing of the mother’s confidence came first, for the delay was only apparent and the indifference only seeming. He passed on as if not hearing her cries, allowing her faith and persistence to be made manifest. His answer that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel sounded in accord with Jewish prejudice against Canaanites, yet it was an implied rebuke to the disciples. It reminded them that He came to save all who would accept Him, and that whoever seeks the Saviour ready to believe when He is manifested are the lost sheep He came to gather into His fold.
She met that test with implicit faith in His ability to do all she asked, yielding at once to His divine influence. She had no national or religious prejudice or pride to influence her course, though she was of a despised race not favored with the light of God’s word. She was willing to be regarded as a dog if she might have a dog’s privilege, begging for the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table. She was not offended and did not leave, but kept faith that He would relieve her distress and followed with continued supplication. The disciples were annoyed by her importunity, felt no sympathy aroused by her distress, asked Him to send her away, and supposed His indifference meant Jewish prejudice pleased Him, but she immediately acknowledged Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour able to do all she asked.
Satisfied by that implicit faith, He yielded at once with pity and love and finished His lesson to the disciples. He commended her great faith, granted her prayer and answered her request, making the daughter whole from that hour so the demon troubled her no more. The woman departed happy and rejoicing that her prayer was granted, acknowledging Jesus as Redeemer and Saviour. Her persistence that He Himself inspired was rewarded, and her experience stands as an example of persevering prayer. It shows that those who ask Him in faith need not be left without help or hope, for the healing confirmed her faith and she returned home to find her daughter freed, well and lying on the bed.
The same deliverance in answer to earnest, humble supplication reveals His great love for suffering humanity and rebukes selfishness and neglect of the unfortunate. It rebukes neglect of the blind, the lame and afflicted, the widow and the fatherless. It calls for greater missionary effort right at home in families and neighborhoods. That home work is caring for the afflicted, the suffering, and the discouraged.