Great Faith & The Children’s Bread

GREAT FAITH & THE CHILDREN’S BREAD

Mark 7:24-30

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Thomas Hassmann tells how it always irked his single mother that her grocery store didn’t carry eggs in packages of six—just by the dozen.

2. He said, “Then one day, her wish came true. She walked into the grocery store and found fresh eggs in cartons of six.” His mom told him, “I was so excited to find eggs in packs of six that I bought two of them!”

3. Later she figured out that defeated the purpose! Sometimes we do things that contradict what we want to do!

B. TEXT

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.

C. THESIS

1. We’re going to look at the surprising places you can find great faith, how it will persevere, and how this woman turned a rebuff into a promise.

2. The title of this message is “Great Faith & the Children’s Bread.”

I. GREAT FAITH FOUND WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

A. WHERE IT WAS NOT FOUND:

1. Not found in the hall of the scribes;

2. Nor in the courts of Judaism;

3. Nor even among the manly apostles, raised in the Jewish faith, who doubted and had to be convinced otherwise in order to believe!

B. BUT IT WAS FOUND IN:

1. A tender woman who pleaded for her child;

2. A Canaanite woman, of a race it was said, “Cursed be Canaan!” (Mt. 15:22)

3. A woman with terrible circumstances and mournful home life.

C. THE LESSON

1. Who we are or what we are shouldn’t discourage us. Even if unfavorable circumstances surround us, that doesn’t mean we can’t have great faith.

2. We, like the Syrophoenician woman, shouldn’t doubt that God wants to assist us, and that He will assist us, if we go to Him in faith, believing!

II. GREAT FAITH PERSEVERES IN SEEKING GOD

A. SHE WAS REBUFFED 3X, YET HELD TO HER FAITH

1. FIRST REBUFF, Mt. 15:22-23 “Lord...have mercy on me; my daughter is suffering terribly with demon possession.” ANSWER? “Jesus did not answer her a word.”

2. SECOND REBUFF, Mt. 15:23-24, “The disciples said, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” ANSWER? “Jesus said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

3. THIRD REBUFF, MT. 15:25-26, “Then she came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me,” she said. ANSWER? “It’s not right to take the Children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”

4. HER FOURTH APPEAL, Mark 7:28-29, “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ANSWER? Mt. 15:28, Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” Mk. 7:30 says, “She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.”

B. LESSONS THIS WOMAN TEACHES US?

1. Never for a moment did she lose sight of her objective. We should, like her, see delays or silence from God, not as a refusal of our requests, but as leaving the door open for a miracle.

2. It was obvious that her daughter’s condition was not the will of God, so she:

a. Wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer;

b. Pressed her case with persistence until the end;

c. She asked, sought, and knocked (3 different levels of importunity) until the door was opened.

III. SHE SAW LIGHT IN THE DEEPEST DARKNESS

A. IMAGINE BEING DENIED SOMETHING BY JESUS!

1. What could be more difficult to overcome than being told 3 times by Jesus that you couldn’t have what you wanted!

2. Yet she so believed that she and her daughter had some claim on God for assistance, that she looked to Jesus for light or clues as to her right, in what He said.

3. She saw the answer in a word-picture which Jesus gave her using the word “dogs.” He made reference to a Jewish insult, but was using it as a vehicle of revelation. God always leaves a way of escape for us, if we search for it!