For this saying go your way

 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 sighed, 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 we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Jesus, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  he answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- ' (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do. He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- ' (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  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.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

  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.  On Saturday we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus.  In some sense, they are the "regulators" of the faith.  They come and criticize His disciples and their practices, which Jesus defends vigorously, and Himself criticizes the Pharisees and their practices.  After this clash, in today's reading, He goes to the Gentile region north of Galilee, far away from Jerusalem and the authorities.  He wishes to withdraw from the public for awhile, 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.   In Matthew's Gospel, we find details in this story that are not in Mark (see Matthew 15:21-28).  When Jesus says, "Let the children be filled first," it's clear that He's speaking of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," in Matthew's version.  And in Matthew, the woman uses the title for Jesus, "Son of David," a Jewish term for the Messiah.  Here in Mark's version, we are told that Jesus wanted no one to know He was there, also affirming that He is sent to the house of Israel.  But the point of the story remains the same:  this woman is praised by Jesus for her persistence, and for how much she desires what she knows Christ has to offer.  She lets nothing deter her.  She displays her faith by her persistence, her effort, and the intelligence she uses in service of that faith, and as such she is a  model for everyone.  

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 sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  My study bible remarks upon the fact that Jesus sighed, as noted by Mark.  It calls this sigh a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  In the Greek, this word is much more expressive, denoting feelings such as grief.  In modern Greek, it is more often used to mean "moan."

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."   My study bible notes that Christ shows us we mustn't seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  Interestingly, a commentary by Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ -- seeing them as a good example in the sense that we should proclaim those who have done good to us, even if they don't want us to.

Persistence in prayer is a teaching often repeated in the Gospels and throughout the Bible.  Christ teaches us to be persistent; St. Paul writes teaches that we should "pray without ceasing" (see 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).   In Luke's Gospel, Jesus gives a parable specifically for the express purpose to teach "that men always ought to pray and not lose heart."  That is the parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8), in which a judge, who is without regard for God nor man, nevertheless gives a verdict for a widow who repeatedly makes complaints to him, "lest by her continual coming she weary me."  Jesus contrasts such a man with God, who loves those who continually pray.   The widow with her complaint and this Gentile woman who repeatedly returns to plead with Jesus mirror one another.  Both are seemingly pestering those who don't seem to want to hear from them, yet Jesus praises the Syro-Phoenician woman for her persistence, and specifically "for this saying" when she replies quite cleverly that even the dogs under the table may eat from the children's crumbs.  (Jesus has compared her to puppies, "little dogs."   Anyone who has ever had such a pet knows about the insistence of a begging puppy in the house.)    What is striking to me in this story is that Jesus praises her for not simply walking away and taking His initial reply for a final answer.  He admires her engaged and clever answer to His initial refusal.  That tells us about communion and communication.  It matters less in this story that she doesn't accept what He tells her than that she tries again to communicate what she wants from Him.  It's a story about love.  If you think about human relationships, we could compare it to a marriage.  What matters more to a person?  That a spouse or partner take "not now" for an answer, or that they know that what they bring to the table is so deeply important and necessary to the other?  If we are in a loving communion with God, then, all the evidence we have in the Bible tells us that even if it is to struggle with Him, God wants our communion and communication.  We take the example of Jacob who wrestled with the angel for a blessing to teach us this truth (Genesis 32:22-32).   As a result of his struggle with God, Jacob is renamed "Israel."  This woman struggles or contends with God as well, also asking for a blessing.  Let us consider how deeply our relationship goes, that we can struggle in love and communion.  What seems to matter more than anything else is if that communion is broken.   As long as we struggle in love, we are praised for our persistence and for how deeply we need what Creator offers in love.  Those who fail to recognize that engagement both ways -- in need and in what we have to offer -- fail to discern the true nature of love, which God teaches best of all.