Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 2 Study # 4
July 12, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Mark's presentation of "humility" is a deliberate focus upon the true character of "repentance".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the parallelism between the first "woman" who prostrated herself before Jesus and this next "woman" who did likewise. In that study we drew the conclusion that it was the humility of the woman that "won the day". He said, "On account of
this word (logos; i.e., "message", as an integral aspect of the larger message of repentance), depart, the demon has gone out of your daughter."
Because it was "this word" that "won the day", we are going to consider "this word" a bit more carefully.
- I. Jesus' Initial Refusal.
- A. The verbs in this part of the record indicate a "persistence" on the parts of both the woman and Jesus.
- 1. She "kept asking".
- 2. He "kept refusing".
- B. This interaction was rooted in the desperation of the woman and Jesus' fixation upon "the children".
- 1. The woman's desperation.
- a. Was directed toward Jesus because of His reputation.
- b. Was severe.
- 1) A demon-possessed "little daughter" would have created a chaotic and destructive "home".
- 2) The roots of demon possession existed in pagan homes "for cause".
- a) This "home" was "Greek" in culture, fixated upon the "wisdom of men".
- b) This "home" was "Syrophoenician" in genetic background, fixated upon some sort of religion of "demonic doctrine".
- 3) The woman's desperation, by implication, would have motivated her to seek out answers that did not exist in her setting (very similar to the first "woman" who tried all of the doctors until her resources were exhausted).
- 2. Jesus' fixation upon "the children" was, in some senses, doomed to failure as evidenced by His clear-eyed recognition that "the children" were mostly "spoiled children" (Luke 13:34 and 19:41).
- a. That Jesus was in the regions of Tyre is evidence of His coming rejection of the favored nation.
- b. Jesus' movement into the regions of the Gentiles is a foreshadowing of the future turn to them because of the hardness of Israel.
- II. Jesus' "Explanation" Of His Refusal.
- A. He likened her request to a request to take "the bread" away from "the children".
- B. He said it was not "good" to do such a thing.
- III. The Woman's Response.
- A. Was rooted in a "different reality"; not taking the bread of the children from them, but taking advantage of their careless wastefulness.
- B. Was also rooted in a kind of humility that "repentance" demands, but was not often found in Israel.
- 1. The "bread of the children" was "the truth of God" (as Jesus taught it on every occasion) established by His healings and exorcisms.
- 2. The core element of that "bread" was "forgiveness to the repentant".
- a. There were two issues in this "core".
- 1) Pulling down the mountains (of arrogance).
- 2) Filling in the valleys (of despair).
- b. Israel was not in "despair" since Jesus was healing and casting out demons on almost every occasion.
- c. But, those towering mountains, were too entrenched to be forsaken.
- 3. This woman had "humility" in spades, having been beaten down by her circumstances, and her confidence in Jesus was not like that of the leper: she persisted in the face of Jesus' refusal.
- a. She did not "buy" the idea that her request would, somehow, rob the children of bread.
- 1) He was "Lord" to her and that meant she knew of His unbounded resources.
- 2) Jesus could easily "feed" the dogs without harming "the children" (and He did).
- b. She, however, did not see herself as, somehow, not really a "dog".
- IV. The Outcome.
- A. Jesus did what she persisted in asking on the basis of her abject "humility".
- B. She went home to a peaceful reality: the demon was gone.
- C. And Mark established "humility" as a fundamental aspect of biblical "repentance".
