Christ Came To Save All

Mark 7:25  

"For a certain woman, whose young daughter had 

an unclean spirit, heard of him, and 

came and fell at his feet:" 

    This incident is one of the most moving and extraordinary in the life of Jesus. The first thing we see is that Jesus is in Gentile territory.  Early we read about Jesus wiping out the difference between clean and unclean food. Could it be here we have Jesus, symbolically, wiping out the difference between clean and unclean people? The Jew would never put his lips on forbidden food, so he would never soil his life by contact with the unclean Gentile. It may be that here Jesus is saying by implication that the Gentiles are not unclean but that they, too have their place within the Kingdom.

    The woman came asking Jesus' help for her daughter. His answer was that it was not right to take the children's bread  and give it to dogs. That must have been a shocking saying to the woman that came for help. To understand this story we first must understand that a dog was not a well loved guardian like it is today. A Dog then was commonly a symbol of dishonor. To them, the Greek it meant a shameless and audacious woman. to the Jew it was a term of contempt. "give not which is holly unto the dogs," (Matt. 7:6). 

    No matter how it looked or sounded, the term dog was an insult. The difference here is how Jesus used it and the tone of His voice. Jesus did not shut her out He was saying the children gets fed first  and then the dogs (Pets). This is symbolic that the gospel was offered to Israel going to the Jews first, but only the first, for there was more to come.

    So the woman said, "I know the children are fed first, but can't I even get the scraps the children throw away?" And Jesus loved it, (V-28). Here was a faith that would not take no for an answer, here was a woman with the tragedy of an ill daughter at home, and there was still "light" in her heart to reply with a smile. Her faith was tested and her faith was real, and her prayer was answered. Symbolically she stands for the Gentile world which so eagerly scooped up on the bread of heaven which the Jews rejected and threw away. 

Amen!

Reading: Mark 7:24-30

Ref: HG SB, BSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry