Yesterday social media blew up with a viral video of someone calling Jesus a racist for referring to a Canaanite woman as a "dog," before casting a demon out of her daughter and healing the child. Jesus was not a racist. He created mankind with our beautiful and wondrous variety. He was descended from at least 2 Canaanite women himself (Tamar and Rahab). This encounter is an important pivot in Jesus' life as he begins a season of ministry to the Gentiles. Time seems to be of the essence in this matter, so rather than wait until I had time to type up a complete article, I thought I would share my teaching notes from when we studied this in our Bible fellowship group:
Scripture Passage:
Mark
7:24-29
He got up and departed from there to
the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but
could not escape notice. Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman
whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at his feet. The
woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth and she was asking him to cast
the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, Let the children be fed first,
because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
But she replied to him Lord even the dogs under the table eat the master’s
crumbs. The he told here, Because of this reply you may go. The demon has left
your daughter. When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the
bed and the demon was gone.
Cross
References:
Matthew
15:21-28
When Jesus left there, he withdrew to
the area of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came
and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is
severely tormented by a demon.” Jesus did not say a word to her His disciples
approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”
He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she
came, knelt before him and said “Lord help me.” He answered, “It isn’t right to
take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Yes, Lord, she said, yet
even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus
replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you
want. And from that moment her daughter was healed.
Central Idea of Text
Jesus
was amazed by the persistence and faith of a Gentile woman and cast a demon out
of her daughter
Learning Objectives:
The
students will be able to explain the important shift as Jesus begins a season
of ministry to the Gentiles
Lesson Outline
Background:
Jesus’ disciples had just finished a time of ministry to the Jews and John the
Baptist had been killed. The disciples had also endured persecution, though
they rejoiced in their ministry.
1. A Canaanite woman humbly
approached Jesus
Jesus
frequently sought quiet, a place to rest and pray. Rest is not a sin. It is
biblical and good. As he and the disciples were seeking a respite from their
hard work, a woman approached Jesus.
Mark
calls her the Syro-Phoenician woman—she was from the region of Tyre and Sidon,
or Phoenicia which was governed by the Roman empire as part of the province of
Syria. These people were descended from Ham’s son Canaan, which is why Matthew
calls her the Canaanite woman.
David
and Solomon had been friends with Hiram the King of Tyre.
After
King Ahab of Israel married Jezebel, daughter of the King of Sidon and
introduced Ba’al worship, Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it didn’t
for 3 ½ years. He stayed with a widow woman in Sidon. She used the last of her
flour and oil to bake Elijah a loaf of bread in FAITH and God performed a
miracle by keeping her oil and flour from running out and healing her son when
he stopped breathing. Jesus referenced the fact that she was helped because of
her faith when no Jewish widows were and they tried to kill Him.
Simon,
the Canaanite was one of Jesus’ disciples.
Jesus
himself was the lion of the tribe of Judah. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, a
physical descendant of Mary. Judah married a Canaanite woman and their
descendants became the fine linen makers of Israel about 800 years later in
David’s day. He also had twin boys with Tamar, another Canaanite woman. This
was the beginning of the tribe. When the people of Israel entered the promised
land, Rahab and her entire Canaanite family became part of the tribe. Jesus is
directly descended from both Tamar and Rahab
2. Jesus Begins His Ministry
to the Gentiles
Jesus
had not yet been sent to the Gentiles, only to the lost sheep of Israel
A
Gentile is anyone who is not of Jewish descent.
Apostello---Up
to this point, Jesus had only been sent to the Jews. He only does what he sees the
Father doing, and he had not yet been sent, given permission or liberty to go
to the Gentiles
Lost--apollumi---lost,
separated and perishing
3. Healing Is For God’s
Children
Jesus
referred to the Jews as sheep and the Gentile woman as a dog.
Throwing
the children’s bread to the dogs
Worshipped—proskuneo—prostrated
herself before him. She wasn’t sitting at the table, she was laying down on the
floor, like a dog
Tell
about Shiloh and dogs under the table
Beloved family pets
Children
= Sheep, Unbelievers = Dogs or wolves.
The
term dog: Kunarion—a little dog, also means one with an impure mind. The
essence of become a Christian is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds—a
change that only the Holy Spirit can bring about.
Dog
referred to Ba’al worshippers as the Phoenicians/Canaanites were. One of the
practices of the cult was to drink wine laced with drugs to get high which they
believed would allow their goddess to possess their bodies---they were inviting
demons, which are fallen angels--evil spirits, into their lives. It is easy to
understand how the child could have become afflicted I that culture.
Essentially,
she had already abased herself. The term “dog” meant UNCLEAN.
She
did not receive a blessing because of her works or her past. She received a
blessing because of her FAITH.
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your
pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and
tear you to pieces. –Matthew 7:6
4. She Sincerely Calls
Jesus Lord (3 times)
Kurios
means master. It was a term that one would use to show you belong to someone.
She did not claim to be worthy but was completely humble. She showed faith and
received the blessing because of faith alone.
The
Bible tells us that Everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD shall be saved. –Joel 2:32 quoted in Acts 2:21
and Romans 10:13
But Jesus also knows
what is in the heart.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
–Matthew 7:21
He knew that she was
being sincere.
5. Jesus healed her
daughter without even being present.
The
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God healed her daughter the moment Jesus decided to
cast the demon out. The evil spirit departed from the child, her mind was
healed and she was set free.
Follow up:
This
was the launching point for Jesus’ ministry to the Gentiles.
Mark
records that after casting the demon out of the woman’s daughter, Jesus
continued traveling through Tyre, then Sidon, then to the Decapolis, the 10
cities, Gentile territory and heals a deaf man without hesitation.
Matthew
records that great Gentile crowds came and Jesus healed many, the lame, blind,
crippled, mute and others. When they saw the mute speaking, the maimed
(injured, wallowing, crippled, hurt) healthy, the lame walking and the blind
seeing, they glorified the God of Israel (Gentiles)
This
narrative provides an object lesson about Gentiles being invited to eat from
the Lord’s table. It is a picture of communion. Jews and Gentiles did not eat
together, yet after that day, Jesus fed the 4000.
Feeding
of the 4000
-across the sea of
Galilee in Gentile territory—the Decapolis—the region of the 10 cities
-sitting down to eat a meal together
AFTER teaching for 3 days
-sign of a covenant, fellowship meal--COMMUNION
-Jews and Gentiles ate together
Salvation is offered to all people. The Canaanite mother sincerely and humbly sought the Lord’s help, crying out for it. Will you call out to God to save your from the consequences of your sins? Will you look to Jesus as Lord and Master of your life?
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