Bible Study with Danelle

The story of the Syrophoenician woman is one that I needed more context to understand because, at first reading, it does not seem to be any different than Jesus’ previous healings, but the verbal exchange between the woman and Jesus is confusing without context.

We first need to understand who all lived in the Tyre and Sidon regions. This was the region of the Gentiles. It was considered unclean and one would assume unfriendly to Jesus and his teachings.

As we previously read, Jesus and the disciples just left Gennesaret which is located northwest of the sea of Galilee near Capernaum. This was a Jewish town, but He was not welcomed by the Pharisees. They questioned Jesus’ teachings and Jesus called out their sin of legalism.

Here we find a gentile woman (a Canaanite more specifically), who upon seeing Jesus, rushed and fell at His feet. She begs for him to remove the demon from her daughter. Her faith, even though she was a Gentile, was strong. She knew Jesus could heal her young daughter.

The next exchange is what is interesting to me and I did some more digging for what others’ thoughts were on this exchange. I found this article and this article to be helpful in understanding the exchange. Please take time to read them, as I think they are very helpful in better understanding this story.

I beleive story is significant due to three things:

• The woman was a gentile, a foreigner, and a woman. Three “strikes” against her in that time period. For her to speak as forcefully to Jesus as she did would have been uncommon. It showed the woman’s persistence and faith.
• Becuase Jesus has gone into non-Jewish teritorry and healed the young girl, this signifies the beginning of Jesus’ non-Jewish ministry.
• The woman’s comment back to Jesus signifies that she understands that Jesus is not just for the Jewish people, but for the whole world. This is more than even His disciples understood at this time. (And He had been frustrated with them about that.)

I pray that we will all display the faith of the Syrophoenician woman and relish the fact that Jesus is for all of us.