Forest Lake Talks

Text: Mark 7:24-30

²⁴From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, ²⁵but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. ²⁶Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go — the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Devotional:

Do you find confrontation intimidating? I do.

The Syrophoenician woman is much bolder than me, as she has a pointed retort to Jesus' reference to "the dogs:" "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Even Jesus the miracle worker can be questioned!

We can look at this text multiple ways, but let's think about Jesus' humanity for a minute. Notice that he relented to the pleas of this desperate mother. Notice that it was a woman who advocated and pushed in a patriarchal society.

I find comfort in this text for multiple reasons, as we see once again the emotions of Jesus, God on earth, God in flesh. We see Jesus' compassion for young people. We see Jesus' heart for this mother. And we see Jesus' welcoming nature.

May we do the same this week. Whether our chance for ministry is with a young child, a struggling parent, or simply with someone who needs to feel an outstretched hand (a hand made in God's image), this week gives us another chance to advocate for those who are desperate for good news.

Text: Holy God, fill us with your Spirit this week. Empower us to be your voice, hands, and feet each day as we further your ministry on earth. Amen.