For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter

 

 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 with Jesus, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of the disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with 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."   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.  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.   The first verse here tells us that Jesus has come to this Gentile region not to preach, but to withdraw after His encounter with the Pharisees and scribes in yesterday's reading (above).  They had come to Galilee from Jerusalem to question Him.  The text tells us that He went into a house, and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  When Jesus refers to the children's bread He speaks in terms of the Jewish people.  In Matthew's reporting of this story, Jesus says to the woman, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).  Note this woman's accepting response:  she shows both humility toward Christ and also persistence in her faith and pursuing a healing for her daughter whom she clearly loves dearly.  Christ's response signals His clear approval.  My study bible says that Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman -- both to the disciples (as is more clear in Matthew's version) and for her own sake.  

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 notes that Christ sighed as a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  

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 comments here that our Lord shows us that we mustn't seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  However, Theophylact, in his commentary, upholds those who disobey Jesus in this circumstance, and sees them as a good example -- that we should proclaim those who have done good to us, even if they do not want us to.

 

The two stories in today's reading strike me as pertinent to issues in our modern lives that have to do with how we treat one another.  It is practically inconceivable that people would not take offense at Christ's comments to the Syro-Phoenician woman, comparing the "children" with the "little dogs."  I think, first of all, we have to consider that the little dogs of which He speaks would be the little puppies in the house under the table -- as opposed to the highly negative image held by Middle Easterners about grown dogs which would strictly belong outdoors.  But simply put, He is distinguishing -- in accordance with Matthew's Gospel -- between the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" and the Gentiles in the region in which she lives.  Nobody would countenance any sort of racial or other prejudice in this or any other circumstance, and clearly Jesus had important women followers and supporters of His ministry.  But the reason He gives:  that He comes from among the Jews, as a Jew, and in ministry to the Jews, is an important one.  It is not fiction, nor prejudice, and His movement will immediately go forward as one that belongs to all people and in which there is no distinction between people, as St. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28:  "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  In the Letter to the Colossians, St. Paul goes even further in proclaiming the innate respect we must all have for one another:  "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:9-11).  Anyone familiar with the fullness of Christ's teachings, as well as this immediate perspective of the early Church on our total lack of difference between human beings in Christ, must therefore understand Christ's remarks in the way that the Church does:  as prodding this woman toward persistence and an expression of faith, as well as a teaching to His apostles.  After all, in the context of Mark's Gospel, she is the first Gentile whose faith He has honored with such a healing.  Let us remember that Mark's was the first Gospel to be written, and it was meant for the membership of the Church which was both Gentile and Jew, including those from Syro-Phoenicia.  It would seem that we moderns have a lot to learn about discerning intent and understanding of the heart when it comes to evaluating a person's words and what they do.  In the second story in today's reading, we have another important teaching along these same lines in the teaching of Theophylact, in which he praises those who spread the praises of Christ, even if He told them not to.  That is because Theophylact declares that there is great honor in proclaiming the good things that another has done for oneself.  In a modern age, and seemingly in accordance with behavior in social networks and media of all kinds, the immediate proclamation of bad intent and evil character, the malicious maligning of those who've possibly said a word we don't like, one we can take out of context and to which we can impute all manner of meaning which was unintended, is the absolute opposite of what the Gospels teach us to do in terms of how we treat one another.  Does the Syro-Phoenician woman respond to Christ with hatred for His first refusal to immediately accept her demand?  Or does she respond with wit, truth, tact, deference, and respect -- all while disagreeing with Him and pursuing her aim for her daughter?  Now that is an elegant and bold response, requiring real intelligence if we have ever beheld one.  It is especially important that we take note that Christ praises her specifically for her insistent response to Him!  He tells her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  It seems doubtful that such a polished and winning response by this woman is possible under today's set of rules for public decorum.  Today's popular call would be for sheer indignation or outrage.  In addition, we might assume that she went on to proclaim the good things that Christ did for her, rather than condemn Him for His figure of speech or allegory.  One is left to simply imagine a world in which the true works of a person -- and the good intentions they held for others -- were the actual ways we judged, rather than by appearances.  What kindness and understanding might result?  Would we be so quick to judge and to pillory over social media?  And just imagine if we all had the kindness and justice to praise those who have done good for us to others.  One must stop to consider that it would be quite a different world, with quite different things to teach to our children, than the one we see around us.  It speaks to me of a lack of the values taught in the Gospels, and the social need for them.  We are quick to judge, and slow to praise, instead of the other way around.  Let us consider once again just judgment, and of what attitude that consists.  Let us look to these texts to define gracious behavior, and the true picture of the world we'd like to be living in.