Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs." Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter." And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, He sighted, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

- Mark 7:24-37

On Saturday, our previous reading told of an encounter between Jesus and some of the leadership of the temple, the Pharisees and scribes. These men were complaining about Jesus' disciples, that they did not perform the ritual purification of washing. They ask Jesus why His disciples do not hold to the tradition of the elders; this is an oral tradition of interpretations of the Law. Jesus replies that they are hypocrites, for this oral tradition is upheld in instances where it in fact prevents the purposes of the Law of Moses from being carried out. He teaches the crowds that "there is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man." Later, he explains in private to His disciples that it is not food - what goes into a man - that defiles, but rather what comes out. That is, the things that come from the heart can pollute such as evil thoughts, envy, "adulteries, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." See This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. In Mark's gospel, Jesus repeatedly travels from Jewish to Gentile territory, and back again, and we are given His encounters in each. Now Jesus is in Gentile territory again. These are Gentile cities on the coast of Palestine.

And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. It's really so fascinating that Jesus tries a number of times to escape the crowds that follow Him everywhere. He has tried to get away with the apostles, to rest and speak with them, just before the feeding of the five thousand. After this event, He withdrew to the mountain to pray alone, but we learned that His disciples needed Him, prompting another astonishing miracle. Yet again, in today's reading, Jesus goes into a home and didn't want anyone to know of Him, but "He could not be hidden." The mysterious Messiah would be elusive, but try as He might, He cannot be hidden. Everyone seeks Him out, everywhere - even here in Gentile territory.

For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. This story appears elsewhere in the Gospels, and I quite love it. This Greek-speaking woman pursues Jesus for a purpose - she wants healing for her daughter. The sense in which she asks is kind of like a "special request" or a question posed from a student to a teacher. She needs an answer.

But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." This seems like an extraordinarily insulting and harsh answer. Perhaps it reflects His growing tiredness during this ministry where He is seemingly forever seeking rest, to elude the crowds that follow Him everywhere. But if we think more closely about it, there are several other things going on - in this particular answer. Women play such a great role in all the Gospels, and here is no exception. This is unusual, first of all, for a Gentile woman to be speaking to a Jewish man at all - especially in such a forward way! She's pushy! Secondly, she asks as if she is in personal relationship with Him, like a favored student, a pupil who's been chosen by a master to be a disciple. So when He says, "let the children be filled first," it's understood that He's speaking of the "children of Israel," to whom He has first been sent. But there is more here. Jesus' answer, while seemingly insulting, is also a little sly and subtle. He doesn't send her away. Rather, in some way, He goads her. She's already pestering Him; in this sense we might think that she is like a small dog, under the table, begging to be fed.

And she answers likewise, immediately catching on to the metaphor: And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs." She's not one of the ones sitting at the table with the other "students," but she is there, and she also wishes to be fed and to be heard. My study bible says, "That the mother kept asking Him for her daughter's deliverance teaches perseverance in prayer. Jesus resists her, not to make her persuade Him, but to test her faith. Such persistence the Lord seeks from all." She's not put off at all, rather she answers back!

Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter." And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed. He rewards her persistent behavior. In a commentary by Chrysostom, he notes that Jesus must have intended all along to help the woman, otherwise the healing of the daughter would not have happened. But her great persistence, her deep desire for something from Christ - a healing for her daughter - is something special and rewarded and desired. Chrysostom writes that Jesus goes out of His borders (as a Jew in Gentile territory) and so does she (as a non-Jewish woman who speaks up to Him), and so they come together in relationship. This is the image of prayer; it is relationship and communion. It is also a sort of "wrestling with God" as appears earlier in Scripture. In the best Jewish tradition, this woman does the same. Jacob was told, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome." But note, this struggle is for blessing and communion and a recognition of the mastery of God; likewise this woman asks for the Master of all to command the enemy, a demon, out of her daughter. She becomes a subject of this kingdom, and this she begs for her daughter.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. The Decapolis is again a Greek-speaking region, and this is home territory to Jesus, near the Sea of Galilee.

Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, He sighted, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. My study bible says here: "Jesus heals in various ways. Sometimes He speaks a word, sometimes He commands people to act (take up a bed; wash in a pool), sometimes He touches people. Here He takes a man aside for a private and unusual act of healing. The ways of God at times do not make sense to us, not because He is illogical, but because His nature transcends our capacity to understand." Again, in this reading, we can't help but notice that at issue here is the speaking ability of a man, the quality of his being able to communicate and to express himself. As it was with the woman above, her outspokenness was encouraged and even goaded, and rewarded by Christ. So it is here that He seeks to open the mouth of a man, with an "impediment" -- perhaps he stutters, at any rate he cannot express himself, and it is also connected to his hearing. The language of the Gospel says that this is a kind of chaining or bondage, and his tongue is "unloosed" as if it is set free from bondage. My study bible also adds, "Looking up to heaven is a sign of intimacy with the Father in prayer. He sighed out of deep compassion for the man's pitiful condition." Jesus turns to God the way the Syro-Phoenician woman has turned to Him. There are many levels of prayer and communion that are happening in today's reading, and layers of freedom, of unleashing, throughout.

Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak." Here is the irony: the man's tongue is "loosed" and his mouth and ears are "opened" but we are back in Jewish territory, and Jesus wants the man and His friends to tell no one. "But the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it." To make the deaf to hear and the mute to speak is quite literally an attribute of the Messiah, straight from prophecy. My study bible says, "Here Jesus' attempt to keep His messianic identity a secret is foiled by the people's enthusiasm. The gospel is so powerful that it simply cannot be contained."

So, in today's reading, we receive layers of communication and freedom. Borders are crossed, boundaries are dropped. The woman is free to speak to Jesus, even to answer Him back in a quite snappy way while she demands help for her daughter and pesters Him for what He has to offer to the house of Israel: the healing and release from the bondage of demons. The man's mouth and tongue are "loosed" and his ears are "opened" so that he, too, can speak and communicate. His friends are astonished, and contrary to Jesus' words to them, they spread this great Messianic secret about Jesus. All in all the reading is about freedom - freed from bondage we become in communion with our Lord, we speak, we plead, we wrestle. As individuals, we come to Him, and He gives us our freedom to be ourselves in His recognition of our need, and His bringing us closer to God. Christ, if we pay attention to these Gospels, frees us and empowers us. In Him, we are freed to become ourselves, in the image in which we are created. His mastery is our liberation; He gives us who we are, we are restored and out of bondage and slavery and impediment. This is the message of this Gospel. Can you hear it? Can you wrestle with Him for yourself, or are you a slave to your own impediment? Clearly, He desires us all to come to Him. He declares to us all "Ephphatha" - "be opened!"