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Gospel: Mark 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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This is one of only two stories in the Gospels where a child is healed by Jesus without being physically present.
One is Jarius’ daughter. The other is the girl tormented by a demon in today’s Gospel, which was driving her mother to the brink of despair. Interestingly, both girls are Gentiles, not Jews.
In the ancient world, a “demon” could’ve implied a variety of things – something as mild as a temper, or more serious like mental illness, to actual demonic possession. Whatever it was, the situation was dire.
Why does Jesus heal Gentile children from a distance?
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First, to emphasize that he came to save people of all nations, not just the Jews.
And second, to emphasize the power of intercessory prayer. It was the mother – not the daughter – who approached him. Her only assurance that her daughter had been healed was Christ’s words, “You may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
That was enough. She does not push for another sign. Nor does she plead for the Lord to visit her home just in case.
His word is enough, which is why Jesus later proclaims, “Not in all of Israel have I found such faith.”
And that, in the end, is all Jesus wants from us.
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This story is rich in both inspiration and responsibility. If a Gentile mother could illicit healing from Jesus for her daughter, even from a distance, then how much more might the Lord do for our own families who already love and serve him?
Sometimes all we need is faith.
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Image credits: (1) Taking Up My Cross, WordPress (2) Psephizo (3) Reddit