The Canaanite Woman and Jesus (P1): the context

Good morning, precious one! Good day, builder! May your light shine! May GOD establish you! May He give you the seed of your land, the well of your land, and water your land. It is time to pull up the weeds. May the peace and joy of CHRIST be yours. May the knowledge of JESUS be your garment. May boldness be yours. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." (Romans 1:16, NKJV) Live in CHRIST and for CHRIST.

Our study texts are Matthew 15:21-29 and Mark 7:24-30. This is an encounter with JESUS recounted in both Gospels. As with previous studies, let's begin with the context of this story.

1. The context

Previously, JESUS was in the region of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53-56; Matthew 13:34-36). He had visited the towns, villages, and countryside of the region. He had healed the sick without laying hands on all who came to him. He allowed several people to touch the hem of his garment. All who touched it were healed.

Not only did he perform miracles, but he also taught. In particular, he said that it was more important to honor the word of GOD than traditions (Mark 7:1-13, Matthew 15:1-14).  He also said that it is what comes out of a person (thoughts and feelings) that makes them unclean and leads them to sin (Mark 7:14-23, Matthew 15:16-20).

JESUS left the region of Gennesaret. Gennesaret means harp (Strong's1082 Greek, comes from the word Kinnerowth Strong's 3672 Hebrew, meaning harps). He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Tyre means rock (Strong's 5184, Greek) and Sidon means abundance of fish or fishing or fishery (Strong's 4605, Greek). Tyre and Sidon were neighboring cities. Less than 30 km separated them. They were rich cities and two of the ancient capitals of Phoenicia, the former name of Lebanon. They were therefore not cities founded by Jews, but by Canaanites, specifically the Phoenicians. Phoenicia still corresponds approximately to present-day Lebanon.

Parenthetical note and reminder (Excerpt from the article 1001 Prayer Topics: #12 Lebanon)

• Canaan

Phoenicia was part of Canaan, the land that GOD promised to give to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:7). Canaan corresponds more or less to the territories comprising the states of Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, western Jordan, and western Syria today. In ancient times, Lebanon was called Phoenicia. Phoenicia corresponded to present-day Lebanon, plus the Syrian island of Arward.

• Phoenicia / Lebanon

Lebanon was successively named "Lebanon" (around 2900 BC), referring to the whiteness of its mountains, which are covered in snow all year round, then "Phoenicia " (around 1200 BC), because of the purple dye trade that made it so wealthy ("phoinix" means "red" in Greek), followed by "Syria" (around 330 BC), because of the great wealth of the city of Tyre (from the Arabic صور, Sour) and its influence over the entire region, and finally "Lebanon" again in 1920 when France established its mandate over the country and the Lebanese state was created.

❖ (Mark 7:24-30, NKJV): " 24  From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden, 25 for a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

❖ (Matthew 15:21-29, NKJV): " 21 Then JESUS went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying: 'Have mercy on me, O LORD, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.'" 

🙂 JESUS was passing through the region of Tyre and Sidon. He did not want to attract attention on the first day. He went from town to town and village to village teaching, delivering, healing, and performing miracles. After everything that had happened in the region of Gennesaret, one might think that he would enter the next region with great pomp and circumstance. But no, JESUS is discreet. Yesterday is gone, today is a new day. The implication is that we teach every day, we evangelize every day, but we don't organize seminars and evangelism campaigns every day. There is a time for everything.

Did he want to rest, pray, or have time to commune with GOD? Did he want to teach his disciples or talk to a few people first? Was it for security reasons? Did he want to meet someone in particular? The Bible does not give us an explicit answer. We just know that on that day, he did not want anyone to know where he was.

But he could not remain hidden. A Canaanite woman, a Syro-Phoenician, knew that he was in her city, or not far from it. A woman, a mother whose daughter was tormented by a demon. A woman who knew that Jesus was nearby went to meet him. A woman who went to seek a solution to her problem. A woman who understood that opportunities must be created, not waited for. She did not wait for JESUS to come to her house. He was in her town. That was enough. The distance between them was not great. She could walk to him.

When she came to meet JESUS, she went straight to the point. She knew that JESUS' time was precious. Rightly or wrongly, she decided to skip the pleasantries. She knew she was not meeting with a man, but with the GOD who worked through this man. She threw herself at his feet and cried out, "Have mercy on me, O LORD, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." 

🙂 So here is JESUS, who does not want to be noticed, but who is called out by a woman who wants or needs to be noticed. I wonder. How can one throw oneself at JESUS' feet and cry out at the same time? Normally, when one throws oneself at someone's feet, especially JESUS, it is to beg, sometimes in tears. Was she far from him? Couldn't she touch his clothes or his feet? Did she call him "LORD, Son of David" because she understood what it meant? Or did she say it because the Jews said it? What do you think?

** Buenos días = Good morning in Spanish

** Laba diena = Hello in Lithuanian