Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Big



Now the woman was a uGentile, va Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her,“Let the children be wfed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and xthrow it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's ycrumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may zgo your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 3
Mark 7:26-29 ESV

This is an awesome story.  There is so much there, so many lessons in so few words. Its Jesus, what do you expect?  Preach talked about this passage for a while Sunday and we discussed it for an hour at group last night, I don't think we got it all covered, but I'm left with this question:  How big do you think God is?

The woman in the story had a problem, a big problem.  The kind of problem that overshadows every part of your life. The kind of situation that has to seem impossible - a problem with no good solution.  Well, as it turns out,one really good solution.  This woman's daughter was demon possessed.  Not had an ear infection, had a demon.  She was living with the kid from The Exorcist.  I can't imagine how hopeless and desperate she must have been.  She had to desperate, she was risking a lot - breaking a lot of rules to get to Jesus.  The social implications of this passage are incredible, the way Jesus confronts stereotypes and racism is always fun.  Anyway, she should not have been there.  Can you imagine.  She gets to the feet of Jesus, she has to know her daughter is as good as healed.  She has risked much, but she there.  I can understand the excitement of knowing that from that moment on everything will be different, better.  Then the unthinkable happens, Jesus tells her no - or worse, to wait.  Either way the response had to be devastating.  I love her response. She pushes a little more, she makes an argument.  Jesus says its not time to heal your daughter, my ministry has an order.  He told her that healing her daughter would have to wait, that there were things he needed to do first, other people to feed.  I love how well she understood the heart and power of Jesus. I'll wait on the meal, for now I just need some crumbs. 

She knew how big he was.  Her daughter being possessed was certainly the biggest thing in her life, a problem in size that few of us will ever experience.  She knew that a few crumbs from the table of grace was enough to change her life forever.  Just the crumbs and her daughter, her family would be restored.  Just crumbs - nothing would ever be the same.