Mark 7:24-30,
24: And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.
25: For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27: But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28: And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29: And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30: And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
We must really commend the faith of this woman. Even though she was compared to little dogs by our Lord Jesus, she eventually got what she wanted from the Lord. What can we learn from this woman? One thing we can learn is persistence when we come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. She was persistent. Her faith in Jesus made her persistent. Faith cometh by hearing and by hearing the word of God the bible says. This woman had heard about Jesus. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight." You see, faith has nothing to do with what we "see." Faith has to do with hearing God's word. That's another thing we can learn from this Syro-Phoenician woman.
One other thing we can learn from this story is why Jesus compared her to dogs (little dogs), Kunariois in the Greek. Many people have wondered why Jesus should compare a human being to dogs throughout the ages, but if we have the mind of Christ, we would really know the reason. You see,it is not only the message we should worry about when it concerns the Bible, but the heart and mind of the person trying to pass on the message. The reason Jesus compared her to dogs is as follows. Muslims ask things from God, asking by faith, and they get these things. Hindus also ask things from God without asking through the name of Jesus, and they get them from God. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him(God); for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So it is possible for people to get things from God just by exercising faith in God.
But Jesus compares these kind of people to dogs. Jesus was not really calling the Syro-Phoenician woman to a dog, but was comparing the god she served to little dogs (her religion), as compared to children who believed in Jesus as their Lord and saviour. So what Jesus was saying by comparing her to dogs is to show us that faith in God through our Lord himself(that is, Jesus Christ) is the only true way.
Another reason why Jesus compared her to dogs by saying you do not give give what belongs to the children to little dogs is because we must as Christians know how to preach the Gospel to people of other faith with wisdom. We should not just preach the Gospel to them anyhow, but we should preach with wisdom.
The Syro-Phoenician woman told Jesus she understood all these. She told Jesus as it were, that even though her God was not the God of Israel, yet she could still receive from God by faith in Jesus. To this, she did not have to ask for healing for her daughter again. Her faith made her daughter to healed instantly without even asking Jesus again (Mark 7:29).
Faith is what makes our hearts to touch the heart of God. Faith is what makes us recieve from God. We can consider another woman in the Bible, the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:24-34, Luke 8:43-48). It is instructive to note in these passages above of this woman with the issue of blood that though many "thronged" Jesus, Jesus said only one person "touched" him, that is, the woman with the issue of blood. So it is by faith that we touch Jesus. Faith is one essence of a christian apart from love (Agape) and hope (Elpis) as is seen from 1 Corinthians 13:13.
With faith we touch God. Another person is the father of faith, Abraham, whose faith was reckoned for righteousness. It is even by faith that we obtain righteousness in the Bible. Faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and in his shed blood gives us justification with God.
With faith in God and by faith in God like the Syro-Phoenician woman, we obtain justification with God.
