I'M just ASKING FOR THE CRUMBS

Mark 7:24–30

Some people are looking at devastating family problems. Some are looking at financial difficulty. Some are looking at a problem with a child. Some see their own souls and realize that they are lost. Some are looking at a disease and wondering what lies ahead. Some are looking at their parents and realizing they won’t be here forever. I could stand here all day and not exhaust the list of problems that many of you are facing today.

In the midst of your problems, you need someone to help you. You need someone you can turn to for your solution. You need God to work in your life. You don’t need Him to lift every burden, just the heaviest. You don’t need Him to move every mountain, just the highest. You don’t need God to give you the whole loaf, just a crumb.

THE MOTHER AND HER REQUEST

A. The Reason She Came—This woman came to Jesus because she was concerned about her daughter. The child was demon possessed and was probably acting out in violence and anger. She needed help in a desperate way. It may be that the demon in causing bodily harm to the child. This was the situation in the case of another demon possessed child, Matt. 9:22

B. The Reason She Cried

This woman was shouting to Jesus for the help she needed. Why was she so frantic? She was heartbroken over the condition of her child and she was determined to get her child the help she needed.

This woman came to Jesus because faith and hope had been aroused in her heart. She needed something that society had not been able to provide. She was looking for something that her dead religion had been powerless to give her. She needed a solution that she had not been able to provide by her own self-efforts. She was desperate and she saw Jesus as her only hope!

THE MOTHER AND HER RESOLVE

This woman comes to Jesus for help and when she doesn’t get the response she imagines, she stays after Jesus until she gets what she wants.

She persisted in spite of everything that was thrown into her pathway. Why? She persisted because too much was at stake! Her little daughter needed to be delivered from her bondage. Her family needed to be saved. She needed help and she was determined to get it! A crumb might have been all she could get; but she knew that a crumb from His hand was more than enough! She wouldn’t give up until she got what she needed!

She had to overcome many obstacles in order to secure her daughter’s healing.

THE MOTHER AND HER REWARD

A. Jesus Responded To Her Faith—He was amazed by the depth of her faith! In fact, this woman is only one of two people Jesus referred to as having “great faith”, Matt. 15:28. The other person was a Roman Centurion who came to Jesus to have Jesus heal a sick servant. Amazingly, both of these people were Gentiles!

Jesus had tested her faith with hard words and her faith had risen to the challenge! Her faith exceeded that of the people he had come to save! Here was a Gentile dog that had more faith than the Jewish scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and priests. This kind of faith excites the Lord!

B. Jesus Rewarded Her Faith—He rewarded her faith by giving her exactly what she asked for; He healed her daughter! Her faith was so strong that she didn’t ask for proof, but she took Jesus at His word and turned around and went home to her family. When she arrived home, she found her daughter healed and her family restored! What a blessing! What a challenge!

Conclusion MOTHER’S A little crumb from the Lord’s Table might be all you need today. Others may need Him to drop the whole platter down for you. I don’t know what you need or where you are today; but I know a God Who can meet you where you are and help you get what you need today.