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!
B. “THE CHILDREN’S BREAD”
1. Children enjoy a special place in the family and are especially loved. What benefits they receive are not earned, but are their rightful due because of their birth; as extensions of their parents, they’re rightfully entitled to their goods.
2. Jesus considered the Jews “the children” of God. They are God’s chosen people through the line of Abraham, and by covenant are the rightful heirs of God’s promises to Abraham.
3. The Children’s “Bread.” Bread is the basic element of sustenance/ nourishment for people of the Middle East. It’s necessary for life. Jesus here identifies healings, cures, and deliverances as the children’s “bread;” in other words, miracles from God are their rightful and necessary resource from God, and will not be denied them.
C. THE TERM “DOGS”
1. In Jewish literature, dogs are scavengers that ate dead or dying things, filthy & nasty things; the term was used to describe wicked people (Ps. 22, 59:6).
2. The word for dog used everywhere else in the N.T. is “Kuon,” for outside dogs of middle to large size. They can range from guard dogs to roving packs of wild dogs.
3. But in Jesus’ description of gentiles who were not God’s children, He used the diminutive term “kunarion” – “little dogs” or puppies, the kind of dogs allowed to eat the scraps under the table.
4. The Lord’s mentioning this Jewish insult actually provided her the pretext for insistence on her need being met: “By calling us “the little dogs,” you show me how to claim what I desire. You may grant me the crumbs from UNDER the table, without infringing on the rights of the children on TOP of the table!”
5. So she claimed her need to be met, as if Jesus has given her a promise. And Jesus marveled at her persistence and faith in God.
D. WE AREN’T ALIENS, BUT ARE HEIRS TO GOD’S PROMISES
1. You see, this woman had (almost) no grounds for requiring Jesus to do something for her, but we, as the children of God through faith in Jesus, DO have the grounds.
2. Someone has said, “It is not always the possessors of privileges who know best how to take advantage of them.” The Jews who had ailments could have easily availed themselves of miracles through Christ, but many did not use their rights. Many do not use their rights TODAY.
3. Jesus himself illustrated this thought in Lk. 4:25-27 when He pointed out how Elijah wasn’t sent to any widow in Israel, but to one in Sidon (the same area this woman was from). Even those NOT IN COVENANT can look to God to help them! How much more US!
4. John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1. Paul said, “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise...But now in Christ Jesus you...have been brought near by the blood of Christ” Eph. 2:12-14.
5. WE ARE THE CHILDREN AND HEALING AND DELIVERANCE ARE OUR RIGHT AS CHILDREN, IF WE WILL ONLY FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THIS WOMAN, AND PRESS OUR CLAIM!
6. Determined faith can go places even the heirs can’t or don’t go!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. F. B. Meyer had a dog he used to feed at the table, even though his wife didn’t want him to. The dog sensed the tension between the husband and wife over the issue.
2. The table was covered with a table cloth that hung almost to the ground. So when the family were at table, the dog would crawl under it when the wife wasn’t looking.
3. Then he would crawl noiselessly to Dr. Meyer’s knee and rest his nose on it, expectantly. The silent, expectant faith of the dog was too much for Meyer’s resolve.
4. When his wife looked the other way, he would slip a few choice morsels of meat under the table into the waiting mouth of the dog. [Source Unknown]
5. Will our heavenly Father do less for you, who come claiming the promises and hold on expectantly until they are answered? He is pleased to give the kingdom to His children!
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you need something from God? Can you think of a promise in the Word that addresses your need? I want you to claim that promise; let’s ask, with faith believing, for God to work a miracle in answer to your need.
2. How many of you aren’t sure if you’re a child of God? The truth is, if you don’t KNOW YOU ARE, you probably are not. But God wants you to be. I’m going to pray the “sinner’s prayer” for those who want to become God’s children. How many of you want to be included in that prayer, raise your hands?
3. PRAYER
