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Read the Bible study on this page or download the document and print it out: GCBS-Crumbs of Grace: The Woman from Syrophoenicia
THE GREAT CANADIAN BIBLE STUDY 2012
Crumbs of Grace: The Woman from Syrophoenicia
Mark 7: 25 - 30
This gospel story found in Mark and also Matthew 15: 21-28 has caused readers difficulty in the apparent harshness of Jesus toward this desperate woman. The words seem so out of character with the nature of Jesus and his usual patience and kindness toward the outsider. It is my prayer that in this study we might together glean a better understanding of abundant grace and mercy out of this unique context.
Opening Reflection:
Spend a few minutes reading out loud Ephesians 3: 17b – 19 three or four times to allow this message of generosity and abundance to soak into your soul. Do you receive and understand that Christ’s love for you is limitless! Is there anywhere you could go, any despair you could experience, any loneliness you could feel where Christ’s love for you is not greater?
What is your response to this news?
Of course! I know this and experience it often
So hard to believe but I hope it is true
Nice theory but hard to accept in the realities of life
Indifferent – just words.
Pray together and seek God’s desire for you as you enter into this story of the Gentile woman who takes a risk in order to find healing for her daughter.
Read Mark 7: 25 – 30 and Matthew 15: 21 – 28
Jesus feels the need to get away from the crowds pressing upon him for healing and so he goes to an area outside of Judea where he hopes he is not so recognizable. He goes to a private home for rest and to experience care. Do you ever weary in doing good works? What are ways that you step away from “doing” and try to restore your soul? What are the practices that refresh your spirit?
Jesus fails to keep his presence a secret and a woman comes to seek his help. She is desperate for the sake of her tormented daughter. The woman is not Jewish but comes from a Greek heritage. What are the risks that she is taking in seeking out Jesus and barriers she must cross? Has there ever been a time when you took a risk for the sake of another that you would share with this group? Why was it risky and what was the cost? Did it pay off?
How do/did you balance the responsibility of being a giving, caring parent with the desire to not overprotect your child or spoil them? When do we stick our neck out for our children and when do we allow them to bear life’s hardships?
Now the story gets difficult, as Jesus does not react in the way that we would expect or hope. His words sound very harsh and almost uncaring. How do you explain his response to this woman? (Feel free to use study notes in your Bibles or draw on former lessons/discussions/sermons that you have heard.)
Consider I Corinthians 13: 4, 5 “Love is patient, love is kind . . . it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered . . . “ If Jesus is our loving God, is it possible for Jesus to be impatient and unkind as these words appear?
Consider the setting of this scene a little differently. Imagine that Jesus has a slight smile on his face and a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he looks at the woman and says, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs (the literal Greek word is “puppies”). Do you get any different sense of how Jesus might be interacting with the woman?
NOTE: In Eastern cultures, most dogs are not pets and run the streets as mangy and dirty animals. When I saw the many dogs running the streets in India, I had no desire to pet one or even go near it. Gentiles were considered “unclean” to the Jewish people as the dogs were unclean. However, dogs that were owned by masters and allowed in a home to eat crumbs from a table were domesticated and treated well. The word used in Greek as well as the context of the text would indicate that Jesus used the word “puppy” and not the derogatory reference of dog used against Gentiles.
Jesus is basically communicating a long held belief that the Messiah would come from the Jews for the Jews. This is the question we must consider: Is Jesus affirming that value system or challenging it? What do you think?
However Jesus intended his words, the woman definitely challenges such a belief statement. She isn’t simply being cheeky – she is revealing a deep understanding of God – even though she does not come from the Jewish faith background. Think about her response: “Yes Lord, but even the puppies under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” What do you think she is saying to Jesus and what does it reveal about her?
This woman doesn’t come to Jesus because she deserves favor or blessing – she comes humbly and empty handed to a man of whom she had heard amazing reports of help and healing. She did not come from a position of privilege but of need. In one way, the woman accepts that the Jewish nation has a special relationship with God but that doesn’t really concern her. What she grasps is the incredible truth that there is always enough blessing to go around! When it comes to God, there is always enough – there is more than enough!
Dean Breidenthal from Princeton University offers an interesting perspective
(see: http://web.princeton.edu/sites/chapel/Sermon%20Files/2003_sermons/090703.htm)
He explains that there are many themes of God’s abundance throughout the book of Mark such as the account of the five loaves and two fishes feeding 5000, or a mustard seed growing into a huge tree. God continually surprises us by giving more than we can imagine, honoring the humble, the outcast and the weak with abundant mercy and grace. Out of this woman’s humility, she is wiling to accept the crumbs of grace from God’s hand, knowing that even crumbs are more than enough to satisfy.
He also points out that the theme of liberation from demons in Mark’s gospel refers to liberation from isolation and rejection to be reunited in fellowship with both God and others. This woman’s daughter is ostracized because of her condition and that alienation breaks her heart. She assumes that Jesus will give full liberation to her daughter, in spite of her status as a gentile because she seems to get how God’s kingdom works.
Breidenthal writes: “. . . in the currency of God’s economy there is no small change. Every crumb from God’s table is the whole kingdom; every encounter with God’s mercy is a completely new beginning, every taste of God’s goodness is total assurance that God will give us everything we need, and more.”
“Every crumb from God’s table is the whole kingdom”. Consider that statement. Are there ways that you have not trusted in the generosity of God? Have you ever feared that there would not be enough of something you needed? What are some tangible ways that you have trusted the abundance of your Heavenly Father?
Close your time together by reading Ephesians 3:17b - 19 one more time and offer some prayers of thanksgiving for God’s abundant grace and mercy and ask for help in areas where you need to trust in God’s generosity in a more tangible way.
Mission Project: Democratic Republic of Congo – Support for Rape Victims Thank you for your participation in this study. Your donation will help women in the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been traumatized by rape and sexual violence against them. Canadian Baptist Ministries is partnering with Communaute Baptiste au Centre de l’Afrique that is providing help and support for women who have been the victims of rape and have suffered greatly. Your offering will benefit and bless these women. Your offering may be sent, along with your regular offering, to your Provincial Treasurer designated for the Great Canadian Women’s Bible Study project. Through your support of this ministry, we again demonstrate that by women helping women, we can change our world.
(Written by Faye Reynolds for Canadian Baptist Women)