Faith

Mark 7:24-30

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.[g] And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Yesterday I promised the answer to our universal problem that we are “defiled” by our sin.

The answer is faith in Jesus.

I could end the devotion there, but in this passage we see a woman with remarkable faith that is more than worth our attention.

So Jesus is trying to keep a low profile, leaving Jewish lands, but even in Gentile territory He is a little too bright to be hidden. So this woman hears about Jesus, and immediately comes to Jesus.

Stop #1. She already has shown more faith than us. How often do we try to handle problems on our own? Whether it’s problems of life or sin problems, we wait until we’ve tried every other option before coming to Jesus. She comes to Jesus at her literal first opportunity (praise God we can always go straight to Jesus thanks to the Holy Spirit living in us).

She then falls at Jesus’ feet.

Stop #2. She again shows greater faith than us by coming to Jesus with complete and utter humility. No reluctance, no self-reliance, no pride, she falls at his feet.

Jesus then offers her a test, essentially asking why she, who is not part of God’s people, with an unclean daughter, should receive help from Him. Her answer reveals she knows she has nothing to bring but faith.

Stop #3. Oh how we need to learn this lesson, that we have nothing to bring before God except for faith and obedience. But instead we are tempted to approach God thinking of all we can do for Him and His Kingdom, missing that He has given us all we are and have anyways.

Finally, because of her faith Jesus heals her daughter. He tells her to be on her way, and immediately she returns home.

Stop #4. She trusts and obeys Jesus immediately. She does not require convincing, multiple commands to go, she doesn’t demand proof, or a trial run of Jesus’ power. Her faith is such that Jesus says He has worked and she acts as though He has.

Let us all learn from this woman’s example of faith, and live our lives trusting Jesus as quickly and as completely as she does.