The case of the Syrophoenician woman is not just another account of deliverance from demons in the Gospels.
Studying this account once again, the Lord made me understand that the case of the Syrophoenician woman is not a simple case of deliverance from demons; although the reason for the request of the Syrophoenician woman was because of a demon that tormented her daughter, in reality, it is an exceptional case of how God manifests His Mercy to people for whom the Gospel is closed because of the curses they have inherited from their past generations.
The story to which I refer is found in the Gospel of Mark, chapter seven, which reads:
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 Syrophoenician 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.
Mark 7:24-30
The way this deliverance story is presented is intended, in principle, to emphasize that for a person to receive deliverance from demons, he or she does not necessarily have to be present before the minister who exercises deliverance; a deliverance can be carried out from a distance.
The story also establishes teaching about deliverance from demons, in the sense that deliverance does have a condition, and that is that the person must first be a ‘son, daughter’ in order to merit it. A person who does not want to be part of the Kingdom of God cannot be worthy of the benefit of deliverance, because his very condition does not allow him to be free from darkness.
But as for the subject we have proposed, the Syrophoenician woman is the typical case of people for whom the Gospel is forbidden, and not because this is the Will of God, but because their acts have placed them within the list of curses that prevent their understanding from recognizing the dispensation of the Grace of the Lord.
Let us review in more detail the case of the woman Syrophoenician; the words that Jesus addressed to her were: it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. With these words he was declaring to her that for her request to be fulfilled, it was first necessary for her to become a ‘daughter’.
The Syrophoenician woman was not a ‘daughter’, however she received deliverance from the demon that tormented her daughter, and it is here where the story becomes important for cases of people where the process of Grace is reversed; the case of the Syrophoenician woman cannot be seen only as a case of deliverance from demons, the case of the Syrophoenician woman is a case where God opened an opening of Mercy for this woman, in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and she took advantage of it.
The woman could not receive deliverance from the devil for her daughter because she was not a ‘daughter’, the very words of Jesus confirm it: Let the children first be filled, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Not that she could not receive deliverance, but not at that time, for Grace had not been poured out on the Gentiles not converted to Judaism; in the Words of Jesus the possibility of receiving the requested deliverance remained open, but until the children had been fed, which meant waiting until the time of the resurrection of Jesus, the time of Grace for everyone who believes, to the Jew first of all, and also to the Greek.[1]
The case of the Syrophoenician woman establishes for us a forceful teaching about the openings of God’s Mercy for our times; many cannot understand it because we are so accustomed to the religious proclamation that the Gospel, Eternal Life and Salvation is for everyone, and that all they have to do is to ‘accept’ Jesus and congregate in a church.
However, when we read texts in the Holy Scriptures like the ones I am going to quote below, we discover that there are people for whom the access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and therefore, to Eternal Life, is closed.
Matthew 13:14-15: 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mark 4:11-12: 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
John 12:39-40: 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
Romans 1:24-28: 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: … 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: … 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
2 Thessalonians 2:11: 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
In short, there are men and women for whom access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and to Eternal Life is closed; for these people there is no possibility of salvation. How can this be possible?
The writer of the Gospel of Mark highlights a very important detail that is the foundation of understanding how God operates in our times. The writer takes time to describe the multiracial ancestry of the woman; the writer details that the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation. What is the significance of the woman being a Syrophoenician by nation, raised in the Greek way? It is very important, because it explains the reason for the harshness of Jesus’ words.
The case of the Syrophoenician woman is also the case of a woman for whom the Gospel was closed. The Syrophoenician woman did not have access not only to liberation, which is what the account highlights; for the Syrophoenician woman access to the Gospel, to Eternal Life, to Salvation, was closed, for she was not a ‘daughter’; the account even highlights that Jesus identified her with a ‘little dog’, thus identifying that what God was available to her consisted only of the leftovers of the food left by those who were seated at the table, that is, of the children of Israel. In the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus established that Salvation comes from the Jews.[2]
The demonic possession in the body of the woman’s daughter was due to the religious practices in which the woman had developed since her childhood. Of Syrian father, of Phoenician mother, of Tyre or Sidon, but brought up in the Greek manner, it was all religious syncretism that she professed, to her normal for she had been brought up in them, and surely so she was bringing up her daughter also; but the Holy Scriptures specify that the gods to whom the heathen nations prostrate themselves, all of them are demons.[3]
There are men and women for whom the access to the Gospel, to Salvation, and to Eternal Life is closed. These are men and women who are walking under the curse that their ancestors earned for themselves and for their generations; curses that have closed their eyes, their ears, their hearts so that they do not repent, as Jesus taught in his teachings. Let us review just a few cases of men and women who walk under the curse:
Deuteronomy 27:15-26: 15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. 16 Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. 18 Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. 19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. 20 Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. 21 Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. 22 Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 23 Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. 24 Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. 25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. 26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deuteronomy 28:15-19: 15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. 17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
Contemporary religious proclamation does not explain this to us, but takes for granted that the Gospel is available to all, that if they only confess the name of Jesus it will suffice; in reality, many have not been able to enter to enjoy the benefits of Grace, in spite of their efforts to remain members of a church.
The case of the deliverance of the daughter of the woman Sirofenisa is not just another case of deliverance of demons, it is a singular case of the opening of the Mercy of God for her in her own region; the forcefulness of this story is to show how she took advantage of it, and how she entered to enjoy the Grace of Jesus.
God opens spaces of Mercy for all men and women who walk under the curse of the pagan practices of their ancestors, and He does it not in the religious frameworks that we have around us, He does it in the daily life of our environments, through the daily needs, through the sentimental, emotional, and even moral conflicts that we confront daily, He does it through the situations that confront us every day where we see apparent injustices, discriminations, insults, rejections, disdain, etc. The unfortunate thing is that in these situations we do not come to Jesus to solve them, but we try to solve them by our strengths, abilities and/or alternative resources, entangling ourselves more in the bonds of curse that our ancestors wove over us.
If the Syrophoenician woman had seen in the words of Jesus discrimination, contempt, offense and/or repudiation, she would surely have left the place without having received what she was looking for her daughter.
The Syrophoenician woman succeeded in accepting Jesus’ openness for her, and entered into Grace together with her daughter, and obtained deliverance from the demon, which means that on that day she and her daughter were free from the kingdom of darkness.
Thank God for the Syrophoenician woman, but what about those who, no matter how open God opens His Mercy, turn around and leave? How sad and regrettable.
The story of the Syrophoenician woman opens our eyes to understand the Work of God’s Mercy. May this story confront us and make us ready to accept the Grace of Jesus. Our decisions in the face of the things that confront us will determine it.
Pastor Pedro Montoya
[1] Romans 1:16
[2] John 4.22
[3] Leviticus 17:7
Treasure in Earthen Vessels 