An Awkward Exchange

Mark 7:24-30

Awkward exchanges - Ever experienced or witness?

-Chest bump at pool hall

Jesus and Syrophenician Woman had a seemingly awkward exchange

-Was Jesus too harsh?

-Was the woman too brazen to retort The Master?

3 Questions

1.) What precipitated this seemingly awkward exchange?

-Jesus had just had a tense exchange with the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

-The Jewish tradition was rich with symbolism that pointed to and reminded folks of the necessity of purity, like the washing of hands. However, through time they began to treat the symbol as reality and nurtured not the reality itself. The valued pageantry over genuine purity and, as we will see, they counted pedigree over true purity.

-Jesus sharply rebuked their hypocrisy of emphasizing traditional symbolage over Divine commands. He noted that defilement is not a lack of pageantry, but a dark disorder of the heart which spills-out in evil behavior.

2.) What was up with their responses?

Jesus - NT Wright frames this exchange as basic teasing banter. The response of Jesus is double-edged. It gives attention to the international contention between the people Tyre and the hinterland of Galilee. Yet, it also reflected the tense interpersonal perspectives that carried-over from their ethnic contention and from the Jews overzealous view of their election.

He was giving space for faith to be displayed. Like a basketball player sets a pick or a screen. Like a offensive lineman makes a lane through blocking. Jesus was making a lane for her faith to shine.

The woman - She persisted, I purpose, because she had a clear, big picture understanding of the Messianic objective. Daniel 7.

3.) What does this awkward exchange teach us?

a. Perhaps in some aspect, our trials are permitted by God to provide a platform for faith to be displayed. God is allowing us space to operate in faith.

b. In order to operate in true internal purity, in faithfulness to Jesus, we need to be big picture people. We are not entangled by our current struggles, allowing them to be all we see. We keep in mind God’s big picture project in that He is aiming to set all things and all people right. In that we can not allow our troubles to shatter us and lead us down the dark path of evil influences.