Mark
7:24-37
24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered
a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape
notice, 25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately
heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was
a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of
her daughter. 27 He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is
not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she
answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's
crumbs." 29 Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go—the
demon has left your daughter." 30 So she went home, found the child lying
on the bed, and the demon gone. 31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre,
and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the
Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his
speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in
private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat
and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to
him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And immediately
his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then
Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more
zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying,
"He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute
to speak."
From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He
entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not
escape notice
·
It sounds like Jesus was tired, both
physically tired and tired of the notoriety his ministry brought him. Mark has
said elsewhere that so many people were coming and going around Jesus that
there was no time to eat.
·
We might say that this weariness was
the reason that Jesus was so short with the Syrophoenician woman who came
seeking a healing for her possessed daughter. It would also be unusual for a
woman to approach someone like Jesus with no invitation and without a man as
her protector.
·
We could say that Jesus was acting
out of the presumptions of his culture, a culture that down-played the worth
and value of Gentiles, even to the point of calling them “dogs.” In our
culture, dogs are valued to some extent, but in the Judean culture Jesus was
raised in, the animal was not valued and to be called a dog was a true insult.
·
There are those who have said that
Jesus was testing the woman, seeing how much she really wanted the release of
her daughter from the grip of the unclean spirit. The exchange that follows
Jesus’ insult to the woman might then take on a colour of a witty exchange
between two thinking people.
·
Truth to tell, we don’t know what
really was going through Jesus’ head in meeting this worried mother. Yes, she
approached Jesus while he was trying to keep a low profile. Yes, she was a
Gentile and not part of the people of Israel. And yes, she took the spoken slap
and turned it around with a really good example of verbal Judo.
·
What we do know is that Jesus
responded in a rather positive way, telling her "For saying that, you may
go—the demon has left your daughter."
·
As Jesus moves on, through an area
where he might still be less known, a deaf man is brought to him for healing.
Jesus does heal him, but he does it away out of sight and ear-shot of the
crowd. He also does it using the accepted healing procedures of the day –
spitting, touching the ears and tongue, groaning and sighing, and saying “Be
opened!” Others who claimed to be healing might do the same thing, but with
Jesus, it worked and the deaf man could hear and could speak plainly.
·
So do we chalk another healing up to
Jesus? Or is there more going on here?
·
Look at who Jesus works with. The
Syrophoenician woman is a woman, a Gentile, and a rather bold person in asking
for a release from evil for her daughter. Jesus originally said that his
ministry was to the people of Israel: "Let the children be fed first, for
it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
The woman continues to ask… and receives what she asks for.
·
The deaf man cannot speak for
himself. The story implies that he cannot speak at all. Jesus takes and heals
him. Of course, Jesus tells them to keep quiet about all this, but the crowd
tells it anyway, the usual response to Jesus’ admonition to quiet in Mark’s
Gospel.
·
The two cases are similar. Both
people are outcasts – the Gentile woman and the handicapped man. Both are
without hope and are in great need in a society that didn’t take well to those
in need. In fact, the religious people of the day would ask what sin had been
committed to bring on such need and suffering.
·
Did Jesus repent and get beyond some
sort of prejudice against Gentiles? Was he slyly testing the woman? We’ll never
know and that is not the point of the story. The point of the story involves
the beginning of a wider ministry to the world beyond the people of Israel for
Jesus. Once again, Jesus’ compassion and care is given to those outside the
expected circle of God.
·
Let’s face it; if Jesus did not
minister to Gentiles and reserved his preaching, teaching, and healing to the people
of Israel only, would any of us be here? Would any of us be disciple of Jesus?
·
Jesus’ care and love is not limited
to only certain groups. Nor is his care and love limited to those who have
“accepted” him, who have lived according to any number of rules, or who have
somehow “earned” his love. It seems that the Gentiles, the poor, the suffering,
all those who are left out are actually receiving special and particular care.
This is a specific sign that the Kingdom of God was working its way into the world
as people knew the world. That holds true for us today.
·
This was Jesus’ mission as it
developed during his ministry. He did come to bring the Good News to the people
of Israel. He did come to fulfill all the promised the Father had made to the
people of Israel through the patriarchs and prophets.
·
He did come to extend those promises
and the presence of the Kingdom of God to all people, even as the prophets had
said God would.
·
To all who have been left out, who
have been made less, who have suffered loss and pain, who have been oppressed
and laid low, the healing brought by Jesus is given. We have known this and it
is then our mission to proclaim this to one another and to the entire world.
Not my mission alone, but OUR mission.
·
I want to leave you with a quote from
Martin Luther who saw this as his mission as well: God is the God of the humble, the miserable, the afflicted, the
oppressed, the desperate, and those who have been brought to nothing.
·
Whether we wish to acknowledge this
or not, that is who we are… and for us and for all in need, God is there.
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