Not Like Superman
We've been going systematically through Mark from chapter 4 up to chapter 6, but I want to fast forward a little bit and move to the middle of chapter 7. When we last left Jesus he had just fed the five thousand, and walked on the water. At the end of chapter six we see him performing many more healings. At the beginning of chapter seven, he is arguing with the Pharisees about what it means to be clean. We have already looked at some of Jesus' healings, so I think we can skip over this for now; and we have also seen that Jesus has a different idea of holiness to the Pharisees. So at the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7 are a couple of things we have seen before. We could look at them in detail, but I think they work to set up what is coming next. Remeber these two things; first, Jesus is freely healing many people. Second, Jesus says that everyone can be considered clean before God not by rules and regulations but by their heart. And then what happens?
Jesus goes away again for another rest. He tries to go where nobody will know him. Everyone in the north of Israel has heard of him, so he has to go outside Israel. He goes about 40 miles outside of Israel into what is now Lebanon, to a city called Tyre. Tyre was a great place for Jesus and the disciples to go for a holiday. It was a tourist city. It was on the shore. It had little covered streets with nice pavements, and shops where they sold expensive coloured glassware. Does this remind you of anywhere?
Anyway, as usual, he is trying to have a nice quiet holiday, and as usual, someone finds out about him. We don't know how she found out about him. She was not waiting for the Messiah; in fact, she was not Jewish. She was a Syrian, but she was brought up in Greek culture. She probably worshipped the Greek gods. She did not know God at all. But this did not matter. She was a mother, and her daughter was suffering. She just wanted anyone who could help her. She falls at his feet and she begs him.
Jesus has been freely healing people. Jesus has been teaching that people are acceptable to God because of their hearts not because of whether or not they follow Jesus customs. Surely Jesus will have mercy on this woman and heal her daughter. Surely he will show compassion.
But Jesus seems strangely unimpressed. In Matthew's version of this story, it says ``Jesus did not answer a word.'' It was only after his disciples asked him to get rid of her that he deals with her. First, he has a little argument with her. Then because she wins the argument - verse 29 says only because she wins the argument! - he heals her daughter.
What is wrong with Jesus? This is not Jesus-like behaviour!
I was talking to a very good friend on Wednesday and he told me that every preacher has their own particular theme. They always have something that they keep coming back to in every sermon. For those who have been listening to me in the Japanese service as well, I think you will know what my theme is: it is that we cannot control God. We may think we know exactly what Jesus will do. But Jesus will always surprise us! In so much of the Old Testament, God speaks against idols. An idol is a god that we make and we control. We tell it what we want it to do. We say the magic words and wave our hands, and we believe it does what we ask. But the Christian prayer is ``God, your will be done.'' Jesus prayed ``not my will, but yours.''
So Jesus breaks down this idea of a God who we can control. And Jesus also breaks down another idea of God. We can think of God in the same way we think of Superman. Anytime there is a problem, we just call, and God immediately comes along and sorts everything out. This is not what Jesus was like here! There was a mother in pain and distress and, let us be honest, Jesus was not very nice to her. Superman would come straight away and deal with the problem, and smile and everyone would be happy.
Jesus is not Superman. He really does not behave like Superman. Jesus avoids her, and then makes her wait, and then has an argument with her. In fact, it looks very much like Jesus does not want to help her at all. What is going on here? Is Jesus playing some strange game? This woman does not want an argument. She is desperate. This is a desperate situation. According to Matthew, she says that her daughter is suffering terribly. Not someone else's daughter - her daughter. Not just suffering, but suffering terribly. This woman is in the wilderness. Her daughter is suffering, and she is suffering.
Is Jesus deliberately trying to draw out her suffering? Or is he just upset that someone has spoiled his holiday? Is Jesus having a bad day?
Actually I think that Jesus is trying to draw out her suffering. Her suffering is a wilderness experience. He is taking her deeper into the wilderness. It is only in the wilderness that we can meet with God in complete dependence. It is only in the wilderness that we realise there is nothing at all we can do. God led the Israelites of the Old Testament through the wilderness to teach them to trust him. To rely completely and utterly upon him for food and water and their very lives. It does not sound like a nice thing to do. It is not friendly to take someone into the wilderness. If God were Superman, he would have picked them up out of Egypt and placed them in Israel. But they would have learnt nothing at all along the way. God wanted to teach them so much through the journey. He wanted to teach them about faith. Faith can only grow when it is tested. Faith can only grow when things are getting worse, not better.
A few weeks ago we saw a similar situation. Another Gentile, Jairus, has a problem with another daughter. And again Jesus behaved in a strange way. Jairus' daughter was dying. It was another desperate situation. We need Jesus to heal his daughter right now! But Jesus has his own idea of what is important. He stops to talk to a woman. He takes his time. The daughter dies. For Jairus, Jesus was being very cruel. Jesus could have healed Jairus' daughter. But he got interested in something else. And the daughter dies. What is wrong with Jesus?
The truth is that Jesus does not have the priorities we have. There are some things we think are urgent. We need God's attention now! Someone is going to die! Someone has a demon! We need God to act now! But the disease and the demon is not a problem for God. He does not need to act now. He can act later. This woman's daughter and Jairus' daughter were both healed. But Jesus had something he wanted to do first. He wanted to tke this woman, and Jairus, to the edge of their faith. Jesus is more interested in their faith in God than in their problem. For Jesus, faith in God is the biggest problem.
The Japanese missionary Kosuke Koyama wrote about talks about three types of religion. There is the ``protection from danger'' religion. This expects God to keep us safe. Of course, if we are not safe, then maybe we give up on God. Then there is the ``happy ending'' religion. We might get into trouble, but God will work it out in the end. Of course, if God doesn't work it out in the end, then maybe we give up on God. Then there is the ``faith'' religion. In the faith religion, we might get into danger. God might not help us out. But we still trust him.
Job, in the middle of all the terrible things that were happening to him, said ``I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth, and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh will I see God.'' (Job 19:25-26) That is a faith religion. Job also says ``Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.'' This is trust. This does not depend on what we get out of it. This does not give up when things don't go the way we want them to. This is what Jesus is looking for.
I used to be very dismissive of people who would pray over and over again for the same thing. I thought, God is not deaf, God is not uncaring. If I pray once, he will hear me. Well, he will. But I was wrong. Here Jesus seems to want this woman to beg. He wants her to acknowledge her complete dependence on him. This is not so that he gets some kind of power trip. This is not for his benefit. If God wants us to keep persevering in prayer, it is not for his benefit. It is for ours. It is to teach us to rely completely on him. It is to teach us to trust Him even if he doesn't answer us.
God is not an idol. We can't control him. And God is not Superman. He does not always help us out every time we get into trouble. But he is not looking for a freedom-from-danger relationship with us; he is not looking for a happy-ending relationship. He is looking for a trust relationship. And sometimes he will take us into the wilderness of our suffering so that we can find him there. But if we do trust God, then we will know that that very wilderness is the best place for us to be.