Lent - 21st Day
The Faith of the Gentile Woman
"Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
“First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone." Mark 7:24-30
This is the 21st day of this 40 day journey reading through the Book of Mark. And we will continue from the passage from yesterday.
Fame
By this time Jesus has become quite famous and word about Him has spread even among the non-Jews (Gentiles -- who are most of us).
In the narrative above, Jesus tried to escape His faithful paparazzis, His bandwagoners and His fans but like a famous celebrity, some people were still able to recognize Him, even as He was trying to hide from sight.
Much like how God is able to find us, even when we are the one hiding from Him. Adam tried hiding from God after he disobeyed Him and that didn't work either.
Ask
Anyway, this particular Gentile woman noticed Jesus and she asked and begged Him to heal her daughter.
Jesus, speaking in a metaphor again essentially said He was sent to the Jews and not for the non-Jews. Meaning it was still not yet time to reveal Himself to the world, but for His own people first. He will be rejected by His own. And will soon enough be shared to the rest of the world at the appropriate time.
This Gentile woman responded back using the same tactic Jesus would do, speak in illustrations or metaphors and similes.
Jesus was struck by this woman's wisdom, her faith and her persistence. And He did what she asked of Him.
Our Turn
Today, it is our turn to do so -- to ask God for wisdom, to ask God to reveal Himself to us. Ask Him to give us the desire and the hunger to get to know Him (and not just to know of Him). Ask Him what is He telling us about this situation we are going through and what do we need to do.
Let us not just eat the crumbs that fall off from the table. But let us sit down and eat with Him on the table He had prepared for us. He is not forcing any of us to. But He is waiting for us to do so. And the time is right now.
40 Day Lenten Study
We are now half way in our 40 day Lenten journey, and I pray that you are joining us by reading the bible, praying, fasting and abstaining from some of our daily activities that we could do without.
It is not too late if you want to join us in this journey. If you wish, you can even start from Day 1. Most people all over the world are sheltering in place inside their homes. This is an amazing opportunity to join with us. As I've said, it's not too late. The Lord is patient, He does not want anyone to perish but is giving everyone a chance to come to repentance. And this could be our last chance to hop in and join up.
"Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre. Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice. Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet. Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
“First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone." Mark 7:24-30
This is the 21st day of this 40 day journey reading through the Book of Mark. And we will continue from the passage from yesterday.
Fame
By this time Jesus has become quite famous and word about Him has spread even among the non-Jews (Gentiles -- who are most of us).
In the narrative above, Jesus tried to escape His faithful paparazzis, His bandwagoners and His fans but like a famous celebrity, some people were still able to recognize Him, even as He was trying to hide from sight.
Much like how God is able to find us, even when we are the one hiding from Him. Adam tried hiding from God after he disobeyed Him and that didn't work either.
Ask
Anyway, this particular Gentile woman noticed Jesus and she asked and begged Him to heal her daughter.
Jesus, speaking in a metaphor again essentially said He was sent to the Jews and not for the non-Jews. Meaning it was still not yet time to reveal Himself to the world, but for His own people first. He will be rejected by His own. And will soon enough be shared to the rest of the world at the appropriate time.
This Gentile woman responded back using the same tactic Jesus would do, speak in illustrations or metaphors and similes.
Jesus was struck by this woman's wisdom, her faith and her persistence. And He did what she asked of Him.
Our Turn
Today, it is our turn to do so -- to ask God for wisdom, to ask God to reveal Himself to us. Ask Him to give us the desire and the hunger to get to know Him (and not just to know of Him). Ask Him what is He telling us about this situation we are going through and what do we need to do.
Let us not just eat the crumbs that fall off from the table. But let us sit down and eat with Him on the table He had prepared for us. He is not forcing any of us to. But He is waiting for us to do so. And the time is right now.
40 Day Lenten Study
We are now half way in our 40 day Lenten journey, and I pray that you are joining us by reading the bible, praying, fasting and abstaining from some of our daily activities that we could do without.
It is not too late if you want to join us in this journey. If you wish, you can even start from Day 1. Most people all over the world are sheltering in place inside their homes. This is an amazing opportunity to join with us. As I've said, it's not too late. The Lord is patient, He does not want anyone to perish but is giving everyone a chance to come to repentance. And this could be our last chance to hop in and join up.
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