Demon Possession in Scripture
The Syrophoenician's Daughter
Deliverance for a Gentile Child
Description
A Gentile woman—a Greek, a Syrophoenician—came to Jesus on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter. Initially Jesus tested her faith with apparent rejection: 'It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.' Her humble yet bold response—'Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs'—demonstrated the faith Jesus commended. He cast out the demon at a distance; when she returned home, she found her daughter lying on the bed, the demon departed. This account demonstrates Christ's authority extends even beyond His physical presence.
Key Verses
For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.