Tag: Syrophoencian
Updated on September 28, 2023
Did Jesus Call The Syrophoenician Woman A Dog?
The Syrophoenician Woman
In Matthew 15 and Mark 7, the Gospel writers record the story of Jesus healing the possessed daughter of a Syrophoenician woman. This story has been taught and read so many times that some folks simply take it for granted. That should not be the case. Just the other day I found a blog that claimed in all seriousness that Jesus called a woman a dog. And then presented a case for the insensitivity of the remark. That is religious thinking. If you KNOW Jesus, you are far less likely to make bad assumptions like that. Scripture interprets Scripture, meaning that the entire Word helps you understand individual passages, events, and verses. And if you are a Believer, the Holy Spirit resides in you to lead you to the Truth. So when you read or hear something that seems out of character from Jesus for instance, you should sense there is a problem in your spirit. It is likely that someone has “missed” it. Jesus, our Savior and Lord, Love Himself, did not call the woman a dog. Strap in and prepare, as we take a closer look at this wonderful story.
Updated on May 31, 2011
Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table.
Lord, even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table.
I am presently working on a page about Jesus healing the daughter of a Syrophoenician (Matthew 15:21-28 Mark 7:24-30). Part of this requires research to find other sources that might be helpful to my readers. I was so saddened by some of the commentary out there about our Lord and savior Jesus.
One page said that Jesus was tired and annoyed, so as a human, insulted the woman. Really? God is love and Jesus is the Son of God who never sinned, therefore he acted out of love?
Another hinted that Jesus was a racist for seemingly not wanting to heal this Gentile woman. But that did not stop him with the Centurion.
A few others suggested it was the woman’s continual begging that did the trick. But begging does not move God, faith does. Begging comes from fear and that is the complete opposite of faith. How many times does the Bible say “fear not?”
And we wonder why people don’t trust such an uncertain and unpredictable God as portrayed by the above. Who wants to draw near God if they thought He would only insult and reject them?
Let’s do a quick review of the miracle.
There were several lessons to be learned in the exchange. The first lesson was the disciples needed to be taught a lesson on love. They were annoyed by this Gentile mother begging Jesus to heal her daughter. The 2nd was for the mother who needed to learn that begging was not going to connect her to God’s power.
Jesus said that he was sent to the children of Israel first and it was not right to give the bread for the children to the dogs. The disciples probably started nodding and high fiving each other at this response that seemed to comfirm their own biases. But think about the mother who only a few seconds ago was begging. Those words snapped that begging spirit right out. Her answer could only have come from her spirit, which is where faith dwells. She said the dogs get the crumbs. The mother had spoken in faith and received her miracle. We know she had faith because Jesus said, “Great is your faith.”
Faith comes from the heart/spirit hearing God’s Word and is released by speaking it. It is also interesting to note that God’s Word, Jesus, is also referred to as the Bread of Life (John 6:35), which makes their exchange all the more interesting.
I struggled with revelation on this until I more closely studied the water to the wine miracle. Jesus seemed to be rather harsh to his mother when she told him that they had run out wine. But in a similar fashion, she came to him complaining about the problem. Jesus needs faith! It was at this point that Mary said to the servants “Do whatever he says.” With her faith released, Jesus could provide the solution. (John 2:1-12)
Whenever in doubt about a difficult passage, remember some Bible basics:
God does not lie (Numbers 23:19).
God is love (1 John 4:8).
God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11).
Jesus does the work of the Father (John 10:37).
Jesus came to bring abundant life, not sickness and death (John 10:10).
Wherever Jesus found faith, miracles happened, but unbelief blocks miracles (Matthew 13:54-58 Matthew 17:19-20 Mark 6:4-6).
Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).
Anything that is not faith is a sin (Romans 14:23).
