Asking for the Whole Meal

This morning I am reading where I left off yesterday in Mark's Gospel.  This story is a great example of Jesus signalling that salvation was available to all people, not just the Jews.  Here is the story - Mark 7:24-30 NIV:

[24] "Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. [25] In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. [26] The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

[27] “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.”
[28] “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”
[29] Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
[30] She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone."

I have always been intrigued by this interchange between Jesus and this woman.  She is clearly not a Jew, but is described as a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia.  The area of Tyre and Sidon was where a significant Mediterranean port existed, and this area, though now ruled by Rome had a long history of Hellenistic influence.  To be Greek meant you were raised with the standard Greek pantheon of gods.

So we have here a women, not of the Jewish faith, not believing in God as we know Him, who comes to Jesus because she heard He could heal.  Tyre is in the north of Israel, and a little more than 30 miles from the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum where Jesus set up His base of ministry.  Jesus was apparently visiting Tyre to take a break, as He did not want people to know where He was staying.  However, people in all of Israel were talking about Jesus, and someone must have seen Him, recognized that He was in town, and news got out traveling through the neighborhood lines of communication.  No marketing campaign was necessary for Jesus ministry, it was the people who witnessed His miracles that were His messengers.

This woman was willing to cross faith boundaries to find relief for her daughter, who was possessed by an unclean or foul spirit. She knew the basics of authority and power; when you wanted to cast out something that was unwanted, you had to find someone with the authority, power and knowledge to do so.  When we are sick, most of us go to a licensed and educated doctor to be treated, because we know they have the authority, power and knowledge to help us.  She had heard stories about Jesus and recognized that He had something others did not, and was willing to seek Him out to see if He could help.  Basically she was bearing witness to the Kingdom of God that Jesus had been proclaiming and demonstrating.  She heard the stories and recognized that this man Jesus was demonstrating the kind of authority and power she needed.

People in great need will do extraordinary things to seek for help.   She tracked Him down and threw herself at His feet, begging for His help.  His response seems a bit mean initially, but I believe that His heart was already moved by her desperation.  Anyway, I believe He was looking for faith, something the Father would have already planted in her to cause her to even seek Jesus out in the first place.  Jesus had been given a task and that was to preach the Kingdom to the remnants of the chosen people, the Jews, and he gave similar clear instructions to His disciples when He sent them out (Matt 10:5-6).  Yet here, He sees that the Father is already spreading a wider net of faith, and she clearly has it.  She was willing to settle for crumbs, as referenced in their conversation, but the Lord never just gives crumbs, His invitation is always to His full banquet.

I wonder how many of us think this way about the Lord, that we are just hoping for crumbs, knowing that anything is better than nothing?  We have this idea that we can't ask for the whole meal, the whole blessing, thinking we have disqualified ourselves in some way.  We think the best we can hope for is some small pittance of God.  Jesus demonstrates the truth of the matter here and heals her daughter.  He heals the daughter of someone who has never belonged to the "right" church, who didn't know the Law, who wasn't pursuing righteousness, who wasn't descended from Abraham, and who likely worshipped idols.  Salvation is available to all of us, no less the righteous or the sinner.  His love is for all people, and He holds nothing back from one or the other.  If God is willing to heal the daughter of someone who is clearly not one of His people, how could we ever think He wouldn't open wide the doors to those who know Him and love Him.  I never gave my son less than I gave some stranger who asked me for something.

Finally, Jesus has authority over all things, over every situation!  So let us be encouraged today that His love (all His love), authority (all His authority), and power (all His power) is available to us.  We don't need to beg for scraps, for He loves us all equally, whether we know Him or not, whether we have just heard about Him or whether we have walked with Him for years.  He desires for us to experience the reality of the His Kingdom, demonstrated in our lives.

Amen Lord!  I am asking for the whole meal, not just crumbs, because that is what You desire to give me!