The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-10-16

thew S:5-13.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Him nat cometh to
me I will In no wise cast ~out."-John
6:37.
Chronologieally the incident Of the
centurions servent precedes that OF
the Syrophenician woman, though we
will look at them in the order sug-
gested. The n incident occurs near
the border Of Tyre and Sidon, prob
ably about May or June, A. D. 20, and
the other in Capernauln during the
summer Of A. D. 20. Both are Incl
dents in the life of Jesus that have
to do with his ministry as the Hebrew
Messiah to those who were outside Of
the pale Of Judaism.
At the beginning Of Marks. record
". 24) we have a wonderful sugges-
ton as to the strain Of Jesus, ministry
and the accompanying lesson that
true righteousness cannot be hid, 1t
speaks for itself.
There are Jour uses Of the word
answered" in Matthews record OF
this incident (Matt. ~15:21-2S) that r
suggestive. Let US first, however, get
the setting. This woman was a Greek
"a Gentle; by race she was a Sy-
rophenician, that Is, a Canaanite.
Thus she was a descendant Of that
race whom God, by the hand Of Josh
ua, had driven out to make room for
the Hebrew nation, and as such is
under the ban Of God. See Eph- 2:12.
Yet this woman reaches Jesus, her
trouble being that her daughter Is
possessed by an unclean spirit. At
her approach she takes a lowly place
at Jesus feet and requests that he
heal the child. She calls him the
"Son of David" and He answered
her not a word" Matt 1928. She
had no claim upon him as the Mes
siah. This was the wrong footing, for
she was not a child Of the kingdom.
It was her need that drove her to
him. How she had heard Of him is
suggested in Mark 3:S and 1924, Ct.
Rom. 1917. There ars some ques-
ton that silence will not answer. A
wrong conclusion will be reached, as
in this case the disciples came to a
wrong conclusion and desired to
send her away" Contrast Jesus
patience with the disciples impa-
thence, "she crieth after us" and en-
phasize the danger Of external 5udg-
ment. There are many great moral
issues today that are demanding an
other answer than that Of silence.
Tho Answer Of Law.
Jesus then made q second answer,
the answer Of law, Matthew 1924, In
which he accepts her estimate Of him
as the Jewish Messiah. His work
was primarily to the Jews John I'LL,
12). But her need was great, and
Identifying herself with the need Of
the child she "worshipped' Jesus.
He Is more than the Messiah, he Is a
Saviour. Not yet, however, is Jesus
ready to grant her request. His third
answer ". 25), the answer Of mercy,
is literally that first the children
must be fed, and she replied, Yea,
Lord; even the dogs under the table
eat Of the children's crumbs" For
this saying, VIZ, that she did not pro-
test against the words he had spoken,
but accepted the proper estimate of
him as being the Jewish Messiah and
herself as outside Of that covenant,
he made a fourth answer, the answer
to faith. He answered: 20, woman,
great is thy faith" v. %, and grants
her carte blanc ". 28), "be 1t unto
thee even as thou wilt" AS o%utcasts,
we must cast ourselves "at his feet"
1t is his table, the Masters table,
from which we may expect food. He
It is that breaks the bread for us. We
are never beyond his reach and he
has made abundant provision.
Let US now look at the account OF
the centurion's servant. Once more
Jesus Is appealed to by one who Is
outside the Hebrew covenant and on
behalf of a servant. In the other In
cident there was the interruption Of
a seeming refusal and here the inter-
ruption of an instantaneous granting
Of the request. Again we need to
read the parallel accounts given by
the other e~vangelists. Verse ten Of
this section is the key to this whole
story. What are some Of the marks
Of a great faith" First, it Is
tested. The servant was dear unto
the centurion" Luke 7:2. Second, it
is progressive when he heard OF
Jesus" Luke 7:3. Third. 1t will be
recognized b~yiothers, Luke ia.
recognized by others, Luke ia. Here
we are told that the centurion came
not, at least not at first, unto Jesus,
bu, is %interceded for by the Jews. The
ground of their intercession was that
which constitutes a fourth evidence of
a great faith, viz, liberality, HE Is
worthy, for he loveth u nation and
hath built US a synagogue" Luke Z:
4, S. We have, however, a better
ground of intercession, Heb. 1913.
Great faith Is also humble, Lord, 1
am not worthy" Matthew 49, Sixth,
it is confident, Speak the word only"
Matthew S:S, and lastly, it recognized
authority, Matthew 8:9. Notice the
word also" in this verse as used In
the revised version. The secret OF
Jesus life was his implicit obedience
to the Father, John ABA and Matthew
26:42. The centurion being under
authority could command others, and
Jesus being under the authority Of
God Of course had power. We believe