By: The Rev. Dr. Mark McDermott
This is a gospel reading that frequently causes some discomfort, as Jesus is often interpreted as unfeeling and patronizing to the Syrophoenician woman by seemingly arguing with the plea to heal her daughter. In fact, Jesus gives her the privilege of being drawn into dialogue with Him, an argument in the best sense of the term. This is an honour given only to a privileged few, Abraham in Genesis 18 when he pleads for Sodom, the prophet Jeremiah, and Job with his many laments. This unnamed Gentile woman is allowed into this reserved circle by her persistent plea and her answers to Jesus’ questions. In the course of this exchange she calls Him Lord, and she is the only person in Mark’s gospel to call Him this. When Jesus makes the case that He is the Messiah of the Jews, it is she who has the insight, that according to the promise of the Scriptures, the Messiah is also the Saviour of the Gentile nations. Hence, as she argues, the household pets (the Gentiles) can be fed from the children’s (Jews) table. Here is an understanding of Jesus that virtually none of His followers or critics had. She stands as the model of faith in Jesus as the Saviour of the nations even before the proper mission to the Gentiles has begun. Not bad for an unnamed woman, to whom Jesus is hardly patronizing. She is taken extremely seriously and rightly so!
This gift of deep faith in Jesus arose out of her concern for her own daughter. Left to her own she might never have sought Jesus out or reached this deep insight into His mission. We are told, and rightly so, that children depend upon their parents and the adult community for their wellbeing, but this story reminds us that adults need children to spur us on in our relationship with God and to seek what is truly important. A childless society, or one in which children are at best tolerated, a necessary evil to continue the human race when, that is, they are allowed to be born, will be a selfish and shallow society. It will be a world in which Jesus is not urgently sought but at best benignly ignored. Only a love for children and for their wellbeing will be a world in which Jesus is taken seriously, prayed to, and spiritual maturity achieved. Only such a world will understand, as did the Gentile woman, that Jesus is the Messiah and Saviour of the entire world and a Messiah who will answer our prayers.