Syrophoenician

So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

 - From Mark 7

We get a couple glimpses of Christ's activities during this time of His life and ministry; a time when He was riding high. His reputation was going viral throughout the ancient world. His fame was so astounding, and His deeds so remarkable, and His attitude so super-human, that I would not be surprised if almost every human on the planet had not heard about Him. Even without the Internet, humanity is very good at getting the word out. 

He's going from one place to the other. In the course of an ordinary day, He is followed, and people are insisting that they get close to him. Their desperation is like people clinging to departing aircraft, in order to get to a better life. Crowds grew around Him, instantly; and they grew geometrically. 

His fame was even greater than the Beatles, in 1965.

He touched this person, and then that. He had short conversations with people, that were worth volumes. He had peculiar methods, involving spit, and fingers in ears. But almost always, it seems . . . He touched. 

A person came up to Him, not wearing a mask. As the person got nearer, the people around Jesus moved away from the maskless person, which meant they got further away from Jesus. This person was making no effort to stay clear of others. As they spread out, you could see, in their eyes (for they were masked and you could not see the most expressive part of their face, which is the bottom half) bitter sneers directed at and against the unmasked one. Among the murmuring, you could hear many people in the crowd insisting that the person be roped and dragged away from the people that obviously cared more about others. And certainly away from the Lord . . . for He was not safe while in the presence of this maskless infidel. A hush came over the crowd as they waited to see what the Lord would do. 

They could see that the two were carrying on a conversation. Jesus was unaffected by the mask-status of the person. It was as if it were unimportant to Him. They got closer as they chatted! They were less than a fathom apart! (Look it up). But soon, the unmasked person flashed a smile so bright, that it couldn't help but lift the spirits of the previously angry throng. The person turned, and began to walk. The walk turned into a fast clip. The clip turned into a full sprint. And the crowd, overtaken by an overwhelming spirit of goodwill, forgot that the person had no mask on, and began cheering, and following along, some distance, as the maskless one disappeared on the horizon.

Oh, did I say maskless person? 

The person was a woman. And the woman was a Syrophoenician.