Lent Day 24: Gentile Woman

Pause

Before you even open your Bible, pray that God would make His Word clear and fresh to you today. Ask that He would open your eyes and give you new or deeper understanding.

Read & Journal

Read Mark 7:24-30. Reflect on these questions:

• What do you learn about Jesus’ character from His interactions with the Gentile woman? What does this passage reveal about Jesus’ mission or purpose?

• How do you see Jesus entering into human brokenness in today’s passage?

• How do you see the woman exercising faith in these verses?

• When was a time in your life when you exercised radical faith? What did God teach you about Himself during that time?

Ponder

She was a Gentile rather than a Jew. Strike one. She was a woman, and Jesus was a man. In that day and time, it would not have been socially acceptable for a woman, much less a Gentile woman, to speak directly to a man. Strike two. He was a Jewish teacher (a rabbi) and so, by custom, not supposed to have any direct contact with a woman, especially one like her. Strike three.

Yet in her desperation, the Syrophoenician woman (as some translations say), threw herself at Jesus’ feet and begged him to help her daughter. That in itself was an act of faith, the belief that Jesus could do something and that he would even listen to her despite all the barriers that should separate them.

And it’s why on first read Jesus’ answer seems a little shocking. “First, I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews” (NLT), he said. Jesus knew that first His mission was to the Jews, but the woman responded in faith yet again, acknowledging the priority of the Jews but refusing to be excluded. Jesus’ mission may have been first to the Jews, but it would soon extend to the Gentiles. The woman humbly accepted that fact, but boldly declared in faith that there was enough grace for everyone, even her and her daughter.

The woman had displayed faith, and maybe Jesus wanted to examine that faith a little deeper. Whatever the reason, He found a persistent woman with a bold faith. She seemingly believed He was who He said He was and that He had the power to change her situation—despite the barriers, despite their differences, despite what her life had taught her about society and her own worth.

To come before God with a need or a problem to which you see no solution and trust Him with it is radical faith. To humbly profess that there is nothing you can do and that you need God to enter in—that’s radical faith. To be in a situation where you are utterly dependent on Jesus to act and profess your trust that He can do something is radical faith.

What situations or circumstances are you trying to face on your own? What problems that seem to have no earthly solution are you trying to handle? Exercise radical faith today and bring it before the Father believing that He has the power and authority to do something.