The Holt County sentinel., 1912-10-18

| HsSS~~CS NoeN VI
the 6yrophenician woman. though We
will look ct them In the order sus.
gested. The one incident occurs near
the border Of Tyre and Sidon. prob.
ably about May or June. A. d. 20. and
the other In Capernaum during the
summer Of A. d. IS. Both are inci.
dents In the life OF Jesus that have
to do with his ministry 40 the Hebrew
Messiah TO those who were outside Of
the pale Of Judaism.
Al the beginning OF Marks record
~ 2D we have Q wonderful sugges.
tion as to the strain Of Jesus, ministry
and the accompanying lesson tha,
true Righteousness cannot be hid. IL
speaks for itself
There are four uses OF the word
answered" in Matthews record Of
this incident Matt. I5:2i.2s) that are
suggestive. Let US nrst, however. get
the setting. This woman was Q Greek
"A Gentle; BY race she Was Q Sy.
rophenician. that Is. q Canaanite.
Thus she vas a descendant Of that
race whom God, BY the hand OF Josh
ua. bad driven out to make room for
the Hebrew nation. and as such IL
under the ban Of God See Eph. 2:i2.
Yet this woman reaches Jesus. her
trouble being that her daughter 10
possessed by an upclean spirit Al
her approach she takes . lowly place
at Jesus feet and requests that he
heal the child. She calls him the
son OF David" and HE answered
her not . word" Matt. 1923. She
had no claim upon him as the Mes.
siah. This Was the wrong footing, for
she was not q child OF the kingdom.
II was her need that drove her to
him. How she had heard Of him is
suggested In Mark 3:s and 7:2<. CT.
Rom. l0:I7. There are some Ques.
tion that silence will not answer. A
wrong conclusion will be reached. a.
In this case the disciples came to .
wrong conclusion and desired to
send her away" Contrast Jesus
patience with the disciples impa.
tience. "she crieth after Us" and EN-.
phasize the danger Of external judg.
ment There are many great moral
issues today that are demanding an.
other answer than that OF silence.
The Answer of Law.
Jesus then made a second answer.
the answer OF law. Matthew 1924, In
which he accepts her estimate OF him
az the Jewish Messiah. His work
Was primarily to the Jows John l:ii.
l?). 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, IL Jesus
ready TO grant her request. His third
answer ". 2j). 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 fourth answer. the answer
to faith. He answered.: 20. woman,
great Is thy faith" v. 2S. and grants
her carte blanc ". 2g. be II unto
thee even as thou wilt" As outcasts.
We must cast ourselves at his feet"
Let US now look at the account OF
the centurion's servant. Once more
Jesus 10 appealed to by one who 10
outside the Hebrew covenant and on
behalf Of . servant. In the other In.
cident there was the interruption OF
q 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 evangelists. Verse ten OF
this section 10 the key to this whole
story. What are some of the marks
Of . great faith!" First. II Is
tested. The servant was dear unto
the centurion" Luke Ia. Second. It
10 progressive when he heard Of
Jesus" Luke ia. Third, Il will be
recognised BY others. Luke "a.
The Great Faith.
The protest In v. 3. and the remark.
able commentator Of Jesus thereon,
10 q solemn warning to oil who are In
covenant relations with God and his
Son whom he has sent. Jesus had there
glimpse Of that great coming day
when all Gentiles would be gathered
unto him. v. II (cf. Rev. 7:s). The
centurion received for bis faith com.
mendation. and healing for his servant
as we'll. v. 13.
Why should there be such q differ.
ence In the treatment Of these two
when We read Of each that they had
great faith?--Mstthew 1898 and $40.
The difference can be explained only
BY the fact that the Master knew ell
the facts about both and he adopted
such tactics for each a. we're best
suited to the case. This impreeses