After the Lord put this scripture on my heart, I became concerned that you might have heard a lesson on this Syrophoenician woman recently. I knew that Brother Fulton referred to her as part of a recent message dealing with the “Son of David.” But I was fearful that there had been an entire sermon from this text or from its partner in Mark 7. Then I was reminded that Brother Silvers preached from these verses a couple years ago. At my age, “two years ago” places a lot of stress on my memory capabilities. That is almost ancient history as I try to live day-to-day for the glory of the Lord. With these things in mind, I ask that you bear with me as I attempt to praise our Saviour, as we once again consider this woman and her daughter.
I can guarantee that this is not the outline Brother Silvers shared with you. In fact, probably no one, but me, would be caught dead with an outline like this. But I’d like you to consider six things from this scripture: the reality of her condition, the retirement of the Saviour, the request she made, Jesus’ rebuff followed by her rejoinder, concluding with the glorious result.
Let’s start with the REALITY – the PROBLEM.
Of course, I should not have to say it again, but this was a real event, involving real, historical people. The Bible is not a collection of fables as some unlearned people try to say. This healing, these people, the demon invading this girl, were all real. This is an historical event. Here is a foreign woman who had a daughter in whom resided one of Satan’s demonic angels. When she heard that Jesus was in the area; she sought Him out, and begged Him to help her daughter. And then eventually the young lady was delivered when the Lord applied His divine authority.
Using these facts, and my imagination to some degree, I would like to make a practical application. This mother may have had a husband and other children. But for the sake of our lesson, let’s say that she was a widow and this girl was her only child. If that was the case, then most likely that daughter was the most precious thing in her life. This woman brought this child into the world and had cherished her for years. She risked her life, nursing her through diseases which sometimes took the lives of other people. She might have skipped meals in order to make sure her daughter was well fed. Yes, they quarreled from time to time, and the daughter chose friends which brought her mother grief. But still, this mother’s love could not be broken, and she was now broken that her daughter was so plagued
In application, let’s say this girl is a picture of something which should be extremely valuable to you. It is more valuable than your investments, your house, your eyesight and your hearing. It is closer to you than your spouse, even if you deny it when she’s standing there listening. You may not even know how valuable it is. I am talking about your soul. The real “you.” Whether you want to recognize this or not, you are an eternal being. You – your soul – will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. And in this light, the spiritual part of you is far more important and valuable than your short-lived, physical existence in this world. “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” – Matthew 16:26.
While waiting for Judy on Wednesday, I read a biography of the Welsh Baptist preacher, Christmas Evans. What an outstanding and colorful preacher! He was taller than most men and had only one eye. One prominent modern writer has said that Evans was the greatest Baptist preacher Wales ever produced, and that is saying a lot. In one of his messages Christmas Evans said this in regard to my point: “The loss of the soul is the greatest loss that ever happened. If you were to gather together all the losses caused by the Deluge, by the fire upon Sodom, and by the bloody wars of many ages; if you were to measure, I say, the magnitude of these losses in wealth, in kingdoms, in the blood of men and dear relations – what grief, what woe, what pangs, what sighs, what deep and heavy groans, what dire wailing would they involve, from Abel to the present day!” (But) “if all the misery of past times was gathered together into one terrible groan, it would be a trifle compared with the woeful groan of a (single) soul that has been cast down into the unquenchable fire, not for a thousand or ten thousand years, nor for years innumerable as the sand on the sea shore, but for ever and ever. Blessed be God that we have not met with this irretrievable calamity.”
In the case of this woman, the soul of her daughter was owned and controlled by a devil – a Satanic demon. I am of the opinion that people do not become demon possessed without their permission in some way. Maybe this girl had “friends” who introduced her to drugs, through which she relinquished control of her heart and mind, and a demon stepped into the void. Maybe she was taught to practice Eastern meditation techniques which opened the door to demonism. Maybe she was simply foolish enough to deliberately invite Satanic powers into her heart. Then again, perhaps it was through her father. While ministering in Deming, New Mexico, years ago, Judy and I helped a teen whose parents were in a Satanic cult. They were practicing witches, and the soul of this teenager was in serious spiritual jeopardy.
And this takes us back to you. Your original father – your first father – Adam, chose to listen to Satan over Jehovah, and he spiritually died. When his spirit died, so did the spirit of every one of his descendants even to this day. Romans 5:12 and 19 – “Wherefore, as by one man (speaking of Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned… For as by one man’s disobedience many (speaking of everyone ) many were made sinners.” I am not saying that you are demon-possessed, but I will say with all the authority of the Word of God, you are spiritually dead, unless the Lord has graciously shared with you His eternal life. Without actually being demon-possessed, we are all dead in trespasses and sins. That is the reality; that is the problem; that is your problem.
Now taking a step back, consider, the RETIREMENT of the Saviour – consider the PROVIDENCE of God.
The context – the verses surrounding our scripture – tell us that Jesus had been carrying out His ministry without a moment’s respite. He was teaching and preaching the truth; answering questions; ministering miracles, and exposing the sins of the people. There were days when He could get only a few minutes of sleep. People were sometimes pounding on His host’s door during the night seeking miracles or help. As a result, He and His disciples periodically needed to get away for a few days of rest. And this was one of those occasions. They left Jerusalem and walked up and across the border into Phoenicia, or more correctly Syrophoenicia, where the cities of Tyre and Sidon were located.
The Book of Mark tells us they stayed with a man they knew – someone who apparently had offered his house as a retreat. What a treat that would have been to offer one’s house as an Airbnb to the Saviour. Do you through meditation and conversation with Christ, make your house a habitation of the Lord? Do you actually and specifically think about the presence of the Lord, picturing Him as a guest at your table? If you do, then as it was in this case, the Lord might “have no man know (that He was there), BUT he could not be hid.”
If I can put it this way, Christ must “needs have gone” to the frontier of Israel, because there was a woman there who needed Him. In the providence of the sovereign God – in something designed from before the foundation of the earth – Christ and this woman were ordained to meet. So while Christ was approaching – going to Syrophonecia – the Holy Spirit was drawing this woman to Him. Jesus said on another occasion: “No man can come to me except the Father draw him,” and here the Father was drawing this woman. Satan might have tried a dozen things to keep them apart, but God’s will was not going to be thwarted. And I might add just in passing: here you are.
In this case the retirement of Christ Jesus meant the redemption of a soul.
And what was her REQUEST?
The woman came crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” This mother’s soul was so entwined with that of her daughter, mercy on one was mercy on the other. It is almost as if she expressed responsibility for her daughter’s condition, and in a sense she was – generally so, if not specifically. Also, there is no doubt that she yearned for her daughter’s deliverance – but notice that she didn’t specifically request anything.
I’ve entitled this message, “How to plead with God.” But notice that this woman didn’t ask for any specifics. She begged only for mercy. She didn’t claim to deserve anything. She didn’t claim to know what was best. She simply threw herself at the feet of the Saviour.
This is exactly what we must learn to do. Every time we pray we need to remember that the Lord is not obligated to hear us. We have no right to demand things from God, or even to ask things of him. The man in John 9 was not yet a theologian, but he wasn’t wrong when he said, “we know that God heareth not sinners,” if he meant it in the sense that the omniscient God is under no obligation toward us. Everything with which the Lord blesses us comes either from His grace or His mercy.
I know that Brother Fulton addressed this point, but notice again how this woman addressed Jesus: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of DAVID…” When she said “Lord,” she was referring to the fact that this special man was her King; her Sovereign. It refers to the governmental authority of the Lord Jesus. He may have been born in Israel and she was a Gentile, but still she acknowledged His sovereignty over her. And she knew that the authority of Christ isn’t confined to the nations of men. It includes disease and demons. This woman believed that the “Lord” to whom she prayed had authority over Satan. She had faith to believe that He could cleanse the soul of her enslaved daughter.
And she also believed that Jesus was “the Son of David,” including, but not limited to, the fact that He was a descendent of Israel’s great king. Now, I don’t have a scripture to share with you about this, but I do have the word of an expert in Jewish customs and literature. John Gill says this about the title “Son of David:” “Not only to the Scribes and Pharisees, the more learned part of the nation, but to the common people, even to persons of the meanest (lowest) rank and figure among them… Nothing is more common in the Jewish writings, than for ‘the son of David’ to stand alone for the Messiah. It would be endless to cite or refer to all the testimonies of this kind.” In other words, if Gill is correct, this woman was declaring that Jesus was the promised “Christ” – the Messiah of Israel. And of course, this is the case. But she apparently knew the Jewish scriptures well enough to know that the Messiah’s ministry would reach toward non-Jews like her. She confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of David and the Son of God. She was convinced that the Lord Jesus could meet the needs of her daughter as the anointed of God.
But the Messiah turn on turn her. He REBUFFED her request.
First, He answered her not a word. In the parlance of modern society: “He ghosted her.” So she turned to His disciples until they were agitated enough to go to the Saviour: “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” I have always understood that to mean that those disciples want Him to rebuke her and kick her to the curb. But Matthew Henry was a nicer man than me, and he interpreted the disciples to say, “Lord, give her what she wants and send her away, or she’ll continue to be a pest..”
Then Jesus said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Isreal.” I am not a proponant of today’s modern “Replacement Theology.” I will tell you this over and over again. God has a plan for the nation of Isreal which is quite different from what He intends for the rest of His elect. The “church” and today’s saints have not, and will not, inherit the promises made to Israel. That is: we are not Isreal’s replacements. And despite the blessings which all the saved Syrophoenicians, Europeans and American Gentiles will receive, the Messiah’s primary ministry has always been to Isreal. And Isreal has often called the rest of us non-Jews “dogs.” I know that some of you really love your dogs, and that is fine. But dog’s are not sit on the dinner table to eat when you do. I don’t think they should even be given chairs to sit up to the table. But they rejoice to eat the crumbs which fall from the table. And the children should eat before the dogs.
Here again, is an example of how you and I, as Christians, are to approach the Lord with our prayers: We are unworthy of the least of God’s blessings. All of us – we are dogs, swine, skunks. Everything with which we are blessed come to us through God’s mercy and grace. But… praise the Lord, “He IS gracious and merciful, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.”
And yet, why did Jesus sound so particularly cruel to this woman? To our ears His words sound mean. But I believe there was a special and important purpose in His rebuff. It was to prove and improve her faith. “How badly do you want my divine blessing? How much pride is there in you? Is there something now keeping you from My grace? Are you a humble person? Are you fully repentant, or are you trying to hide your wretched heart?” I am convinced that Christ Jesus spoke this way to bring out the heart of this lady.
But listen to her REJOINDER – her reply.
“Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” And what was her posture as she replied to those harsh words? Matthew tells us, “Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.” She was on her knees, either figuratively, but most likely literally. Knowing exactly what she was doing, she lifted up her eyes toward her sovereign – her God. Mark tells us that she acknowledged what Jesus said, “Yes, Lord,” I am an unworthy critter. Nevertheless, she didn’t give up.
What should we do in pleading with God? Express in prayer what exactly it is that you’d like Him to do. Tell Him what you think your need might be. But do so in humble worship, acknowledging that you understand tthe relationship that exists between you and the Lord. And when it appears that He isn’t going to grant your request, keep praying. In Luke 18, Jesus “spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
Do you remember, from the Book of Esther, when that woman was burdened with a soul-crushing request, that the laws, customs and counsellors of the king forbade her from seeking his blessing? Do you remember what she said? “If I perish, I perish.” You and I deserve eternal wrath and judgment, but the Holy Spirit has put in our hearts to beseech the Lord for salvation. Beseech, plead, beg, pray with all your heart. What is the worst thing that could happen? “If we perish, we perish,” and we were all perishing to begin with. “Lord, my daughter, my soul, is possessed with sin and death. Have mercy on me.”
And with that we come to the grand RESULT.
“O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.” Mark puts it this way: “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.” I wonder if there was special significance in finding this girl laying on her bed. Perhaps the demon had been so active within her that like some addicts, she had been unable to sleep; she had been a bundle of jittery nerves incessantly “bouncing off the walls.” I know that it isn’t politically correct to say, but it is quite likely that many hyperactive drug addicts are also under the control of demonic spirits.
Now we come to the point of my message: We are all in great need of the Saviour, the Son of David. We are possessed by sin – if not actually possessed by devils. There is only one solution to this problem, and it isn’t to be found in therapy or any mixture of pharmacology. The problem is spiritual not physical. But there is a cure to be found in the gracious gift of the Saviour.
Again, I’m not saying that you are demon possessed as this girl was. But we are all sinners, condemned, unclean, and outside the kingdom of the Messiah. If the Holy Spirit as put a yearning in your heart for Christ, then like this woman come, letting nothing, including professed disciples, stand in your way. If the Lord gives you faith to trust Christ, as He did for this woman, then I guarantee there is deliverance in Him. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, as though shalt be saved.” I plead with you, don’t delay another day. Make today, the day of your salvation.