Mark 7:24  And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.
25  For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26  The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27  But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28  And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.
29  And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30  And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Jesus is the eternal Son of God/Son of man. As a man He needed to withdraw from people at times to spend time with His heavenly Father. If Jesus Christ needed that, we as people certainly need that. Pastors and evangelists need time with the Lord in order to be able to meet the true needs of the people. We do not need degrees in counselling to help people. We need quality time with the Lord in order to help people. Human counselling degrees negate the power of God. They gloss over certain sins. We need men who know the Word of God and can address the real needs of man.
We are not Jesus Christ. We do not know the heart of man as He did. However, by rightfully dividing the Word of Truth and by walking in the Spirit we can help people to know the peace of God.
Jesus chose to withdraw Himself from the busy areas of Israel. He went to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. This was to the north and west of Israel in Lebanon. We find that even though Jesus chose to withdraw from the people, they knew where He was. Jesus obviously could have hid Himself away if He wanted absolute separation from people. He allowed Himself to be found. He came to minister to people.
As we have noted before, there were people who desired to be with Him. The Pharisees were seeking Him in order to try to discredit Him. Many Jews chose to honour the Pharisees rather than Jesus. The disciples were slow learners. They were on Jesus’ side, but they had been heavily influenced by false teaching prior to His calling them, and at this point they were reluctant to embrace Him fully.
We must remember again, that this was prior to the sending of “another Comforter” Who would dwell in every true born again Christian. That “Comforter” is the Holy Spirit. We, those who are saved now, are often slow learners as well. We are reluctant to submit to God’s will. We have no excuse. Those who are saved have the Holy Spirit in us. We need to submit to the will of God in order to be able to know His peace and be a blessing to others. We will sin, but we can and must confess the sin to be forgiven.
We read in verse 25 that a certain woman had a daughter with an unclean spirit. This woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation. This was a Gentile woman. Her nation was a mixture of Syrian and Phoenician people. Unclean spirits were found in Israel and elsewhere. It was a constant problem then and still is today. Jesus addressed it then. Some people, like this woman, had concerns about this.
As we have mentioned before, too many people today cannot identify the spiritual problems they and their loved ones face and they run to the doctors for medication that destroys those in need. There is a time and a place for a medical doctor. There is also a time and a place for spiritual help. That time is actually always and should be the first choice for those who are truly saved.
Jesus tested this woman’s faith. He wanted her to identify her true nature. Jesus spoke of the Jews as being the children, and of the Gentiles as being the dogs. The Jews of that time assumed that they were superior to the Gentiles. That was not true of Jesus, but He approached this from the norms of that time. He exposed the unjust discrimination used by the Jews.
We must remind ourselves that this was not an exposure of “racism”. Racism is an evolutionary term and has no place in the vocabulary of saved people. You will notice in our text that God directed the writer to describe this woman as being from that particular “nation”. That is how the Bible divides people. We come from different nations, but we are all part of the human family.
In today’s world, dogs are sometimes treated better than humans. We have a corrupted view of value in our time. Dogs have their place but they are not children and they are not human.
Jesus did not suggest that He was playing favourites. John 3:16 tells us:

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus gave His own nation first opportunity to acknowledge Him as Messiah, Saviour, King. Many of them rejected Him. In verse 28 this woman did not give up. She was not put off by Jesus’ remarks. She was willing to accept His statement and she was also willing to answer Him with respect. She did not demand things of Him. She acknowledged her place, and she also knew that the dogs were entitled to the scraps that fall from the table. She knew there was more than enough of Jesus to go around. She knew that the Jews were not nearly as concerned about gathering the left-overs as Jesus was. She wanted to benefit from that which the Jews did not want.
Jesus saw her faith and He honoured her faith. Jesus knew this woman was genuine. She had a need and she knew that just the “crumbs” would be sufficient to meet her and her daughter’s needs. Jesus responded to her with justice. He told her that the devil was gone out of her daughter. Jesus did not need to physically touch that girl. The girl was not even there with her mother.
We read in verse 30 that when the mother arrived at home, the devil was gone out of her daughter. Her daughter was laid on the bed. This must have been such a relief to that mother. Her daughter was set free from the bondage she had been living under.
It is so important for parents to guard their children from the many evil influences that are all around us. The rock music and the drugs and the sodomite agenda and the yoga and other forms of meditation that are being pushed in our society are extremely dangerous to both young and old. Most people are willing to play around in the devil’s territory and then they wonder why the results are so evil.
Today is the Lord’s Day. It is the day that God has given us to go to a true, Bible-believing church. There are not that many of them around, but there are still some around. The wise person seeks out a true church that can help them. The preaching of the Gospel of Christ is just as needed today as it was when the apostle Paul was on earth. Defiance against God is never a wise thing. If you have been avoiding church, you will find a true church to be a strange place. That does not make it wrong. You cannot judge a true church by your feelings. You need to examine what is said and done by the Word of God. You will never be sorry if you submit to the will of God and find and attend a true church. It will be a blessing to your heart and soul.
Pastor Bartel