Mennonite Weekly Review

In exploring God’s redeeming work and its connection to his covenant community, we’ve been looking at Jesus and his invitations to the kingdom. This week, we discover more about who’s invited and what it takes to be part of the new community he’s forming.

Andres

A desperate faith

Since we’ve last seen Jesus, he’s brought a dead girl to life, fed 5,000 from five loaves of bread and two fish, walked on water, healed many sick and harshly confronted some Jewish religious leaders as well as his own disciples. Understandably, he seeks a bit of seclusion in Tyre (Mark 7:24).

But news about Jesus travels fast. A Syrophoenician woman searches him out, falls at his feet, and begs him to cast out a demon from her daughter. Interestingly, she’s different from most folks seeking Jesus. In the NIV Application Commentary, David Garland observes that she hails from a people the Jews distain and from a wealthy, pagan city with a history of oppressing Israel.

Yet, this Gentile knows a few things. She calls Jesus “Lord,” and Matthew reports she also calls him “Son of David” (15:22). And while, as Scot McKnight observes in The Jesus Creed, she probably doesn’t know what the disciples know about Jesus, “she knows Jesus can heal and that God is doing great things through him.”

Jesus’ riddle-like response to this desperate mother, however, seems harsh and disconcerting. Scholars assign a variety of motives to Jesus, from testing or probing her faith to the use of irony in exposing Jewish prejudices. Whatever the reason, however, we can trust that Jesus’ intentions are good. On this side of the resurrection, we know who Jesus is and why he’s come, even if we can’t always understand why he does things the way he does.

At some level, this woman seems to grasp that, too. Instead of turning away offended or in despair, she is humble and persistent. And in stark contrast to the disciples (who displayed ignorance shortly before), she actually understands what Jesus is getting at. As Garland puts it, “The woman’s response reveals that she comprehends more about the bread that Jesus offers than even his disciples do.” She persists with humility born out of a belief that Jesus is who he says and can do what he says. She has not only listened, but heard (Mark 4:23).

Jesus responds to her faith, and she gets her crumbs. What morsels of breathtaking power! A few words, and her daughter is free.

Responding to Jesus’ invitation

This encounter reveals some important things about answering Jesus’ invitation to, as Dallas Willard puts it, “review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.”