Mark 7:24-30 Puppies and Demons
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 7, 2018, Mark 7:24-30
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.” Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus and the disciples had been in Jerusalem with a crowd, and then they went home. Home could have meant Lazarus’ house near Jerusalem or it could have been Peter’s house in Capernaum. After that, they left home and went to the Tyre and Sidon area. The map shows that this is way north of Jerusalem, so maybe home meant Capernaum. It also shows that this journey took some time and a lot of detail has been left out. This is definitely Gentile territory although there were probably a lot of Jews living there. Why did they go there? I think it was to get away from the crowds because it says that he did not want anyone to know he was there, so he went into a house. I wonder whose house he was staying in. This seems to have been an attempt at having a retreat, a rest, from their everyday toils. When they tried to retreat to the wilderness near the Sea of Galilee, the crowds had followed them, so now they were trying to go to a new retreat where there were more Gentiles than Jews. Maybe this was also a time to lay low hiding out from the Jewish authorities who may have been looking to arrest Jesus.
It says that the woman immediately heard about them, so they had not been in the house very long before the woman came. It says that she was Greek and that she fell down at Jesus’ feet. From this I speculate that they were outside the house as the Jews would not have let a Gentile into the house itself. Maybe they were sitting outside talking and that is how the news got out.
This poor mother had been dealing with her daughter’s problem for a while. Whatever the problem was, the mother loved her daughter and was desperate. When she heard that the miracle-worker from Galilee was in town, her desperate heart filled with hope. She hurried to the home where Jesus was staying. This tells me that Jesus’ reputation as a healer had spread even to the Gentile areas surrounding Galilee.
(Revelation of God) Jesus’ ministry during His earthly time was for the Jews specifically. He did not go out of His way to reach any non-Jews, yet here He seems to have done so. Why did He go into a Gentile area? Yes, He was trying to get away from the crowds, but was there a deeper lesson that He wanted His disciples to learn? Did He want them to see Him interacting with Gentiles and giving them healing also? He did not touch the girl that He healed. He simply said that she was healed, and she was. Even as He tested the woman’s determination with puppy comments, He was healing her daughter. The woman had no pride or arrogance. She prostrated herself at Jesus’ feet and begged for crumbs from the table. I wonder if Jesus felt sorrow that crumbs were all the Jews had ever offered to the Gentiles. They had hidden their light so that just the slightest glimmer reached the rest of the world when they were meant to be the bright light that spread God’s message to the world. Jesus gave the crumbs to the woman, but did He long to give more? Was He going to the Gentile area partly to observe the people there?
(Application and Prayer) I pray that I will not hide Your light, but instead, I want to let you shine from me to others. I pray for the love that will allow for your radiance to shine through. I pray that I will not hoard your treasures but spread them to those who need You. Show me what you want of me and give me the power to accomplish the task you set before me. I pray that I will draw people to You. I pray that I will reflect You to all who see me. I pray to give them more than just crumbs, but instead I will give them the feast.