Be opened

 

 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 impedimet in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on them.  And He took him aside form 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 

 

Yesterday 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, 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.   Let us keep in mind that Jesus, having just had a run-in and conflict with the Pharisees and scribes who'd come from Jerusalem to Him, is seeking a place where He can be hidden.  He has come to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region to the north of Galilee.  So Jesus' purpose in coming here is to escape public notice for the time, 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."   Jesus' reputation precedes Him.  Although this woman is not a Jew, she nevertheless came and kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  When He says, "Let the children be filled first," He's referring to those to whom He's come first to minister, the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), to whom He's been sent for His direct ministry during His human lifetime.  While it sounds very insulting in a Near or Middle Eastern setting to refer to people as dogs, here he speaks of little dogs; that is, puppies or house dogs, not outdoor dogs or commonly seen strays.  This seems to refer more to her insistent pestering and begging (she "kept asking" Him) than her Gentile status.

And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs." This woman's quick and smart response suggests she understands precisely what He means by referring to little dogs; that is, those puppies who beg under the table for the children's crumbs.  Anyone who's ever had a begging puppy under the table knows how persistent they can be!

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.  Her persistence is a model for prayer; she did not give up in her pursuit of Christ.  In Matthew's Gospel, this story is more drawn out; it is more clear that Jesus intentionally provokes her persistence.  Also in this saying she illustrates her humility:  she is willing to accept what Christ teaches about His ministry to the house of Israel ("the children") and does not argue with His statement.  But she finds a way to persist and to engage Him.  In doing so, she also shows her deep love for her daughter, whom she's trying to save.  Let us note that to cast out the demon is essentially a spiritual act; she accepting Jesus' authority in this respect, and putting her faith in Him.  My study Bible comments that her ultimate acceptance by Christ points to the gathering of the Gentiles in to the Church after Pentecost, no longer as little dogs, but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.

 

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 them.  And He took him aside form 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."  My study Bible comments that He sighed as a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  His command to tell no one shows that we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  My study Bible also cites Theophylact, who upholds those who disobey Christ in this circumstance; he 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.

 

Today's reading begins to give us hints of the opening up of Christ's ministry beyond only the Jews.  It teaches us about the faith and persistence in faith of a Gentile woman, and how she was rewarded by Christ for that persistence and her desire for what He offers.  Moreover, the healing of the deaf man who also had an impediment in his speech, takes place in the Decapolis, an area of Galilee with a strong Gentile influence as these are Greco-Roman cities.  It's interesting that Christ the Word "opens" this man's ears to hear and his tongue to speak.  We could understand a parallel here to Christ giving the ancient world, even Greco-Roman culture with its poetry, theater, literature, and philosophy a means to hear and to express concepts which did not exist for them, a new language to illumine and "open" everything.  But the story of the Greek woman with a demon-possessed daughter reflects the real key to the opening up of Christ's word to the world, and that is faith, and persistence in faith.  We need to really know that what He offers is an answer that is not going to be found anywhere else.  Our deepest struggles require something more than an intellectual brilliance or even the creativity the ancient world possessed in reaching for the good, the true, and the beautiful.  For it is Christ the Word who is in His Person the good, the true, and the beautiful, and He gives us keys that unlock the deeper doors of salvation to the root problems of the struggles of this world.  And this is what the ancient world would come to embrace in Jesus.  There are things that can only be healed by grace and by faith, by our communion with Christ.  We may know beautiful thoughts and concepts, important notions of the good, a rational sense of philosophical truth, but there are deeper struggles within human beings, and deeper structures of spiritual truth which need the discernment Christ offers and also His strength to rely upon.  He is the one who unlocks mysteries the ancients could not see before He came into the world, and gives us keys to the kingdom of God.  Finally, it is the Word of God whom we need to hear and whose praises we need to express in our lives, and this sets us back into a right orientation to creation itself.  It is this that the ancient world was awaiting, and which would transfigure philosophy, science, architecture, arts, theater, and all the brilliant understanding the ancients had into new orientation of what the question for truth, beauty, and goodness should serve -- and through which all of those things would be transfigured into greater expression.  Let us remember that this is what Christ does in our own lives, He opens us up to be transfigured, to understand what is better to serve, to give us an orientation which is at once more directly in communion with the Lord and also opens us up to the deeper mysteries of life and how we are to live it.  The ancient world with its splendid achievements needed to "be opened" to the realities of Christ which would transfigure life.  For even we who live with the achievements of today's world  may be willing to become like "little dogs" in order to receive such an enormous gift, to "be opened" to hear and express the good news of His gospel.