Syrophoenician Woman
Oil on Wood
24”x36”
Where Might HUMILITY BE OPENING A DOORWAY OF GRACE FOR YOU?
Praised for her faith, this Gentile mother approached Jesus believing even crumbs of mercy would be enough to heal her daughter. I imagine her steady with fierce hope, refusing to let shame as an outsider keep her from love. Behind her stands a male disciple, witnessing a faith larger than he understands. Soon he himself will struggle to believe that seven loaves could satisfy a hungry crowd, yet here this woman sees abundance hidden in crumbs. The puppy in the painting offers a quiet nod to Scot McKnight’s translation in The Second Testament, while also reminding the viewer that humility is often the doorway through which grace enters our hearts. Special thanks to Kat for drawing my attention to this beautiful contrast during a seminary class discussion.
Reshaping the View
They rise restored,
from stereotypes
that long shrouded their names,
living mathētriai.
One deaconed.
She nourished with more than meals.
Her life a liturgy in motion,
gospel embodied in female devotion.
Her arms raised in unfettered joy,
as he turned pages still wet with resurrection ink
as her deaconing began.
One enlightened.
She drank deeply
of endless Water,
drawn straight from the Spring,
and invited others, then and now,
to come meet the Well.
One healed through Jesus,
a courageous self-advocate.
Disabled until his healing power
surged from his Father’s heart,
through the fringe of his Torah tattoo,
washing away her impurities,
and ours.
One unnamed outsider.
Persistent, out of love for another,
revealing what male disciples missed.
Men who counted loaves, while she believed,
in the holy abundance of crumbs.
With Jesus, they all reshape
the view of women in the kingdom,
revealing what has always been—
Women entitled to embody the gospel,
co-laborers with Christ.
For reflection:
Where in your life are you being invited to approach Jesus with the Syrophoenician woman’s “fierce hope” to keep asking, trusting, or believing even when you feel like an outsider?
What “crumbs” have you dismissed as too small to matter, yet might God be inviting you to recognize as enough, or even abundant, in your life right now?
Where might humility be opening a doorway to grace for you? What would it look like to lay down your need to understand, control, or belong before receiving what Jesus is offering?