He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden

 

 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 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 is 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 

 

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to meet Him, 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 commandments 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 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 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 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.   Here, after another confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes (see above), Jesus has withdrawn to Gentile territory, the region of Tyre and Sidon.  Clearly at this point in His ministry, before the time of "His hour," He has sought to withdraw from the scrutiny of these religious leaders.  But, as the text says, He could not be hidden.  This woman is not Jewish, but nevertheless she recognizes Christ and His authority. (In St. Matthew's Gospel, she calls Him "Son of David," a Jewish title for the Messiah; here she refers to Him as Lord and fell at His feet as if in worship.)  Asking for an exorcism for her daughter, she places her faith in Christ.  My study Bible comments that in responding to Christ, she shows both her persistent faith (she kept asking Him) and her humility.  We must keep in mind that Christ's ministry and that of the apostles initial mission (before Christ's Ascension and the Great Commission) was to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:6, 15:24).  But this is Gentile territory, and this woman is not a Jew.  By responding for the puppies (suggesting persistent begging at the table), or little dogs, she accepts her place after the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  My study Bible comments 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 who witness (and in St. Matthew's account, grew tired of her requests), 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.  Again Christ is avoiding the scrutiny put upon Him in regions where He would be more well-known, He returns to the Sea of Galilee via the Decapolis, another nominally Gentile region but with mixed populations of Gentiles and Jews.

 

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 is 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. My study Bible comments on the detail given here that Christ sighed.  It notes that this is a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.

 

  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 says that here, the Lord shows us we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  However, interestingly, it notes, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ in this situation, seeing them as a good example, that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to.

 

In today's reading, we are given two instances in which Jesus seeks to avoid public attention, and yet is unable to do so.  In the first instance, He entered a house in the Gentile region called Tyre and Sidon.  The Gospel tells us that He wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  But somehow, His reputation has preceded Him.  Perhaps His disciples spoke about Him, perhaps there are people in this place who have heard about the signs and healings that follow this Teacher. Whatever way it happens, she believes there's hope for her daughter, who is demon-possessed.  In the account found in St. Matthew's Gospel, she displays her tremendous love for her daughter, because she pleads, "Have mercy on me," and "Lord, help me!" putting herself in her daughter's place (Matthew 15:21-28).  But, as in the healings among the Jews, it's her faith that makes all the difference, combined with her tenacious pleading, and her willing humility before Christ.  What we notice is not so much these attributes that are shared by those who receive Christ's power in other stories in the Gospels, but the unexpected.  Christ wanted to be hidden, but could not be so.  A similar thing happens in the second part of our reading for today, because He still wants to remain "under the radar," so to speak.  But the people who are astonished that He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak (signs of the coming of the Messiah) will not follow His command to speak to no one about what they have seen.  These instances mirror the explosive growth of the Kingdom, but the difference here is that this surprising growth via word of mouth happens even contrary to Jesus' desire and intention, and so perhaps to His surprise.  It is seemingly as if even He cannot predict this extraordinary effect, the ways in which His reputation grows, and the fierce desire people have for His help.  It's like a train racing along although the engineer cannot understand why it doesn't stop.  Of course, since we are speaking about Jesus and His ministry, we don't know exactly how the human Jesus perceives that it's not the time for open confrontation with the authorities and tries to retire a little for a while.  But this growth among even Gentiles is a hint about what is to come after His Ascension and the future of His ministry, and His Church to come.  The Spirit is working, the power of the gospel message is working, the Father is always working (John 5:7).  Christ has a need to understand where His ministry is headed, and how fast, but things unfold in ways that seem to say God the Father is leading Him along, preparing Him, and all things move all the time toward the fullness of the Church which even we, 2,000 years later, have not yet seen.  Sometimes life presents us with turns we don't expect, outcomes that tell us there's something new we need to live with, and to learn how God wants us to approach life as it is now, and this is seemingly also our Lord's messianic journey and ministry.  At each new turn He prays to the Father, and finds where He is to go, His human will always obedient to the Father, even as He remains yet fully the Son.  Notice that Christ's divine power is never used to stop the spread of the gospel, but there are times when it works in particular ways He didn't seem to expect -- such as when a woman touched Him in faith in the midst of a crowd in this reading, or even when He marveled at the unbelief of His neighbors in His hometown of Nazareth and so He could do no mighty work there as He had elsewhere (see this reading).  So, while we cannot fathom the mind of Christ, who was fully human and fully divine, He nonetheless sets an example for us when we encounter surprising turns in our own lives, completely contrary to our own expectations.  For He always turned to prayer, and to the will of God the Father.  In this way, He heals us by being present to us in prayer as well, when we are in our own encounters with the things that baffle us, make us marvel, and don't turn out the ways in which we expected -- or perhaps even counted upon.  Jesus, as one of us, has had His own surprising turns and outcomes, and so He can help us see the way forward through ours. 

 

 

 

Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table

 

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."    And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

- Matthew 15:21-28 

 

Yesterday we read that scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."  He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?  For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" -- 'then he need not honor his father or mother.'  Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.  Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the  mouth, this defiles a man."  Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"  But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."  So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

 

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  My study Bible begins with a commentary on today's reading, explaining that this story of Christ's ministry to this Gentile woman illustrates the Jewish orientation of Matthew's Gospel.  This story is also told in St. Mark's Gospel (Mark 7:24-30).  However, there are two significant differences.  First, St. Matthew here records Christ's words regarding the lost sheep of the house of Israel (while St. Mark does not), and St. Matthew reports this woman using the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah (while St. Mark does not).  Christ has gone to Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region, not in order to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees (see His conflict with them in yesterday's reading, above).  This is confirmed in the version which appears in St. Mark's Gospel, where it's noted that Jesus "wanted no one to know" He was there (Mark 7:24), and here where Christ says He was only sent to the house of Israel.  Here also it's noted by my study Bible that this woman shows immeasurable love; she identifies so strongly with her daughter's suffering that she tells Jesus, "Have mercy on me."  She sees her daughter's well-being as her own, and her daughter's sufferings as her own.

 

But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" My study Bible comments that Christ refuses to answer her, not simply because she is a Gentile and Christ's ministry before the Passion is first to the Jews, but in so doing He also reveals her profound faith and love.  Several Church Fathers see the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter, as if to say, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response, my study Bible says, confirms that this interpretation is correct, because He again refuses to heal her daughter, prolonging the encounter and His interaction with her.

 

 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."    And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.  Jesus has evoked this woman's love and her persistent faith through His responses; now He reveals her humility, my study Bible comments.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in the grace of God.  Christ's hesitancy is not a lack of compassion, my study Bible explains, but rather a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman -- both to the disciples and also for her own sake.  Her ultimate acceptance by Jesus points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as dogs, but rather as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  

 

At first we may be both stunned and offended at the way Christ responds to this Gentile woman.  We in the West in the modern world are used to a plurality of religious faiths living amongst us and entitled under our Constitutions and legal systems.  This often leads to a secular perspective, divorced from faith, that proclaims that all religions are the same.  But faith asks us for values, and it asks us for relatedness to God (or gods, as the case may be).  Faith asks us most especially for relatedness between persons, not just concepts or abstract ideas.  And this is particularly true of Christianity, for our faith is in the Lord who came to us as one of us, and had this encounter described in today's reading with the Gentile woman.  So, when Jesus says, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," He's speaking of the realities of spiritual history, and of the God of Israel who sent Him to reclaim the "lost sheep," and to offer salvation to those who already know and officially worship the God we know (and they know) from the Old Testament Scriptures.  Of course, the increasing hostility of the religious leadership (such as the scribes and Pharisees who've begun disputing with Him and whom He seeks to escape by going to Tyre and Sidon in today's reading), and the fearful notice of Herod Antipas, are factors that are leading somewhere; they lead toward the Cross, and the Cross will draw all toward Christ.  But today's reading teaches us the important things mentioned by my study Bible, despite the fact that this woman is not a Jew.  But she clearly knew the religion of the Jews, for she calls Jesus by a messianic title, "Son of David."  She also calls Him "Lord."  St. Hilary of Poitiers comments on this passage that she was likely a proselyte, of foreign origin, but seeking the religion of the Jews.  However, the demonic possession of her daughter indicates the working and presence of the demonic spirits associated with the pagan religions of Canaan, and it is her daughter for whom she seeks help.  The demonic possession is likely connected to pagan ritual practices of the time.  Thus it is the woman's faith in Christ, "Son of David," taking bold steps to try to save her daughter who has become severely demon-possessed through pagan idol worship.  This puts us in the framework of Christ's delay and drawing out of this woman's faith, compassion for her daughter, and humility before Christ.  Her boldness also paves the way for the eventual opening up of the Church to the Gentiles, those who will come from the pagan world to faith in Christ, such as Cornelius.  In this sense, all of us who come from formerly pagan historical peoples and embrace Christianity owe a great deal to this woman, who so perfectly answered Christ and had such faith in Him.  For the little crumbs which fell to her have become the stuff of life for all the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wisdom is justified by her children

 

 "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:

"We played the flute for you,

And you did not dance;

We mourned to you,

And you did not lament.'

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'   The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."

 

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done,  because they did not repent:  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."

 

- Matthew 11:16–24 

 

On Friday we read that the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus to ask if He was the One whom they awaited, as John is now imprisoned by King Herod.  On Saturday we read that, as the Baptist's disciples departed,  Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.' Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

 "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'   The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."  Jesus here references a popular children's game of the time.  The children would divide into two groups.  One group would pretend to be musicians or singers, and the other would respond -- but in a way opposite that which would be expected.  The first group would either play music for dancing, or sing mourning dirges for a funeral; the second group would pretend either to dance or to weep.  Christ draws a parallel between children playing this game, and the Jewish leaders who responded wickedly both to John the Baptist as being too ascetic, and to Christ for being too liberal in mercy and joy.  

 

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done,  because they did not repent:  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."  My study Bible comments that it is a far greater sin to have seen Christ's works and rejected Him than never to have known Him at all. 

 

Jesus' expression, "But wisdom is justified by all her children," in some ways gives us a wonderful sense of the myriad possibilities of the saints.  That is, saints come to us in perhaps all walks of life (such as former prostitutes, for example) and varied places and personas such as makes it impossible to definitively categorize an image or life of a saint into one kind of framework.  Christ Himself distinguishes His own life from that of John the Baptist, noting that they form quite different pictures in the world and in their respective ministries.  John was an extreme ascetic, cutting all out of his life save his mission of prophesy in preparation for the Messiah, and living a radical poverty.  Jesus associated with notorious sinners such as tax collectors and others, for as He said Himself, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Matthew 9:12-13).  But what Jesus here commemorates in His teaching is that both will receive criticism from those who look on from the outside, and do not understand their missions and ministries.  When we take a look at the 2,000 year old history of the Church, and its countless saints, we find people from all kinds of backgrounds and lives.  In the history of the Orthodox Church alone, we find lists of saints that are seemingly inexhaustible, from every century.  We can look at saints such as St. Philothei of Athens, a 16th century woman from a very wealthy landowning family who was widowed at a young age (that story, in and of itself, is not that unusual in the history of the saints).  She chose to dedicate her life to Christ, establishing monasteries under Ottoman rule.  Moreover, she distinguished herself by seeking to ransom and save many women from slavery in Ottoman harems, giving them refuge, training them to do other types of work, even establishing a central marketplace with stalls for women to sell the wares and crafts they learned to make.  She was martyred by being beaten for her activities in ransoming and saving women from slavery.  In the city of Athens, Greece the properties she established continue to shape much of the central city.  See her biography here.  We can contrast St. Philothei with a modern saint who established his ministries in Shanghai, China and San Francisco, California during a period of extremely turbulent world politics which centrally affected his flocks.  He is known as St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, St. John Maximovitch, and St. John the Wonderworker for the miracles associated with him.  He ministered in the Russian Empire, in Western Europe, in China, and finally in the Western United States, and is known for care of the faithful amidst seemingly unending strife even among parishioners and within his flock as a bishop.  He ministered even under Japanese occupation in China, and refused to bend to the Soviet authorities in Russia.  He himself was the victim of varied accusations, including slander from political enemies.  In the midst of building a cathedral in San Francisco, he was accused of financial wrongdoing and taken to court by a group which included some of his own church board, other priests, and even bishops, but was exonerated.  He was known for his extreme asceticism and unconventional behavior (such as appearing barefoot to visit the ill in hospital), and his relics lie now enshrined in the magnificent cathedral he built in San Francisco, Holy Virgin Cathedral the Joy of all Who Sorrow.  See a partial biography here.  From these very few examples, our Lord Jesus Christ, St. John the Baptist, St. Philothei of Athens, and St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, we see a wide diversity of saints who lived across the centuries and in varied places across the world.  St. Paul has said of his own holy life, that he was given an ailment we don't quite know, which he called a thorn in his side, and a messenger of Satan.  He prayed unsuccessfully to the Lord to remove it from him, but he was told by the Lord, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  St. Paul concluded, "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).   What all of this possibly teaches us about holiness is that while none of us are perfect, God works through us nevertheless.  Let us honor holiness wherever it is found!  For wisdom is justified by  her children.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this saying to 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 to 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 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, 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.   Tyre and Sidon were cities in a Gentile region on the coast, north of Galilee.  They were ancient Phoenician cities, and still exist today in modern Lebanon.  Jesus has withdrawn to this place, and wanted no one to know it, in order to get away from the scrutiny of the Pharisees and scribes who now seek Him out to find fault and oppose His ministry.  But, as the text says, He could not be hidden.  It's likely that His reputation follows Him even here. 

 

 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."  In St. Matthew's version of this story, Jesus declares, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 12:54).  These are what is meant by the children.  Little dogs is the translation of the Greek, indicating puppies begging under the table, a reference to her persistence, as she kept asking.

 

 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 to 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.  Note that this woman first showed her faith by her persistence; here she shows it in her humility in response to Christ.  My study Bible comments that she accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy, it explains, was not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman, both to the disciples (see Matthew 15:23), 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 comments on the verse that tells us that Jesus sighed.  It calls this 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 that here, our Lord shows us we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  Interestingly, it says, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ in this situation, seeing them as a good example -- that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to. 

 

 As pointed out by my study Bible, persistence is an important quality in our faith.  In the case of Jesus and the woman who repeatedly asked for a healing for her daughter, we can consider Christ's identity as Lord in this story.  According to the story in St. Matthew's Gospel, at first Jesus did not respond to her.  This seems to correspond with what we read here in St. Mark's version also, as we're told that she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  We also have His response in St. Matthew's Gospel, that He wasn't sent except to the Jews; that is, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  But according to my study Bible, Christ's methods are not meant to be cruel nor rejecting of this woman, but actually to draw out both her persistence and her humility.  In His true divine identity, it seems important to understand that He does no healing without faith; that, in fact many of Christ's healings are openly attributed to the faith of the one being healed, or the faith of friends or a loved one.  In this case, His delay in this sense offers the woman a chance to establish a correct relationship with Christ by demonstrating her persistence, and her willingnss to accept Him as Lord in this sense.  He's already known for His healings, but we have increasingly come to know the role faith plays in them.  See, for example, His experience in His hometown of Nazareth, where, we're told, "He could do no mighty work there" because of their unbelief.  Elsewhere, Jesus reminds us of the precious quality of what He offers which is found in our faith, such as in the Sermon on the Mount, when He teaches, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces" (Matthew 7:6).  Through her persistence she demonstrates that she truly wants what He offers, but more than that, she understands who He is and relates to Him in a proper way befitting who He is.  This is no demand for honor, but rather an important distinction between those who wish to use Him for what He can do for them, and those who will recognize and come to faith in Him.  And we should never forget this important understanding.  Christ offers to the world salvation, but this is not possible without faith, without a kind of understanding of who He is, and the right relationship with Him that would ask of us.  While this woman persistently asks for His help, and with great wit, intelligence, and humility responds to Him so as to elicit His help, in the second part of the reading we encounter a person who is deaf, and whose speech is hindered.  If we think of it symbolically in the context of the reading, where the woman could appeal to and listen to Christ, this man has truly a great impediment:  he cannot hear Him, nor can he clearly speak and request what he wants.  But those who bring him to Christ beg Him to heal him.  Note that this is also in the Decapolis, a region of mixed Gentile and Jewish populations, the home that the man healed from a Legion of demons returned to.  The restoration of this man's hearing and speaking once again enables that "right-relatedness" to the Lord in a spiritual sense; he's given back the capacity to directly speak to and hear Him.  Within the Decapolis, we assume he is Jewish, and so Jesus continues to draw up those who will come to Him, gathering into salvation those who come in faith.  With today's reading, we might consider carefully what we ask for, and whom we ask.  When we approach Christ, is it with an understanding, acceptance, and truly valuing what He offers to us?  What are the conditions of faith for us, and how do they teach us the ways to live our lives, what relationship that we have with God?  Are we, ourselves, lost sheep?  And how do we consider ourselves to be found?  All of these questions have an answer to be found in that relationship of faith, one that asks of us -- as well as the Syro-Phoenician woman -- persistence and humility, and repeated prayer.  Let us find ourselves in our proper relation to Him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it

 

 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered into 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 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 into a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  Tyre and Sidon is a Gentile region which was to the north of Galilee.  As the text indicates, Jesus goes here to withdraw after yet another conflict and challenge to the Pharisees (see Saturday's reading, above).  It is for this reasons that He entered into a house and wanted no one to know it.  However, His identity and fame by this time mean that He could not be hidden.  In St. Matthew's version of this story, this withdrawal from the Pharisees into Gentile territory is emphasized through Jesus' remark, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:23).  Thus, He was not there to preach.

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.  My study Bible comments that Christ's refusal at first to heal her daughter comes not only because His ministry before the Passion is first to the Jews, but also serves to reveal her profound faith and love.  Her persistence, her alacrity in her response, and her humility before Him all speak of her faith.  My study Bible says that she accepts her place beneath the Jews ("the children"), who were the chosen people of God, but still desires a share in God's grace.  It notes that Christ's hesitancy is not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means to reveal her virtues.  This is confirmed in Christ's response, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  Little dogs are house dogs, puppies.  One can imagine her persistence in the way that a puppy may plead under a table for the good food thereon.  My study Bible further comments that her ultimate acceptance by Christ also points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as 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 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.   My study Bible indicates that Christ's sigh in looking up to heaven is a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature. 

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, according to my study Bible, Jesus shows us that we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  Interestingly, it notes, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ under these circumstances.  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. 

 

 Theophylact's praise of the people who proclaim Christ's work, although He commanded them that they should tell no one, is an intriguing understanding of grace and graciousness.  From a certain perspective, it is a way to enact the reciprocal practice of mercy, of the joyful receipt of a gift.  It speaks to all of gratitude for something very fine and good.  In this sense, we can understand Theophylact's approval and praise.  In a sense slightly similar to the voluntary expression of humility by the Syro-Phoenician woman, the people's exuberant praise for Christ is an acknowledgement of something or Someone who is much greater than they, or than others they have known.  It is a way to express that God is worthy of praise at all times.  In the understanding from the Gospels, and the Old Testament Scriptures, we call this giving glory to God, an appropriate thing to do in all times and circumstances.  This seems difficult to do -- or perhaps it doesn't seem to make sense -- when we go through difficult times.  One might turn to the first part of our reading today, and a modern sense of what's fair would be appalled and upset at Christ's reference to the Syro-Phoenician woman as a "little dog."  But then one would have to recall that it was in the very earliest days of the Church that the idea that all the faithful were one family as believers, Jews and Gentiles.  Instead, we need to see the responses Christ gives to this woman as something to be thankful for, even to glorify God, because -- as my study Bible remarks -- Jesus' response to this woman draws her out, and shows to all her faith, persistence, intelligence, and commitment of love for her daughter.  In our own lives, the same can be said of difficulties met with faith and the help of God.  This particular episode described here in today's reading also opens up the door to the fruitfulness of Christ's mission, and its eventual turn toward the Gentiles as well as the Jews.  Let us remember gratitude as a great key to our faith, one that unlocks all kinds of ways in which we may experience the love of God and the insights that will give us.  For faith is not purely a rational choice, it's not just expedient, neither is it merely something we practice because everyone else is doing it.  It's the work of God we're given to do. 

Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table

 

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

- Matthew 15:21-28 

 

Yesterday we read that the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?  For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."  He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?  For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God" -- 'then he need not honor his father or mother.'  Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.  Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, "Hypocrites!  Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:  'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand:  Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."  Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"  But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.  Let them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this parable to us."  So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding?  Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.  These are the things which defile a man, but to eat  with unwashed hands does not defile a man."  

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  In yesterday's reading (see above), we read that the scribes and Pharisees had come from Jerusalem, and began to criticize and question Christ regarding His disciples.  Here He has gone to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, a coastal area west and north of Galilee.  He has gone here not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees.  In Mark's Gospel, we read that Christ "wanted no one to know" He was there (Mark 7:24).

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  My study Bible comments here that this woman shows immeasurable love, in that she so identifies with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries to Jesus, "Have mercy on me."  This indicates that she sees her daughter's well-being as her own, and her daughter's sufferings as her own.

But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  My study Bible explains that Christ refuses to answer, not only because this woman is a Gentile, and, as He tells her, His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews.  But by refusing initially, He also reveals this woman's profound faith and love.  Several commentaries in patristic literature view the disciples' request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal her daughter, as if the disciples are saying, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response seems to tell us this interpretation is proper, because He again refuses to heal her daughter.  

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.   My study Bible notes that, as Christ has now evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, here He reveals her humility.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  It 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 and for her own sake.  My study Bible further notes that this woman's ultimate acceptance by Christ points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as dogs ("outside" creatures), but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  

I'm always struck by the word-play in this passage.  My study Bible notes for us on today's reading that it reveals the Jewish orientation of St. Matthew's Gospel.  As noted above, this story also appears in St. Mark's Gospel, but with two important differences.  First, Matthew writes of Christ's words regarding being sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel while Mark doesn't; and second, St. Matthew reports this woman using the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, while Mark does not.  In this context, Jesus tells the woman (after refusing her a couple of times, and noting He was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel), "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  Little dogs can be understood in various ways, one of which is potentially a deep insult.  But, we hesitate to note, "little dogs" means house dogs, puppies -- not the outside dogs so scorned in Middle Eastern cultures.  In that sense we can understand a kind of allusion to little puppies begging under the table while children eat their food, in the same way this woman is repeatedly and insistently begging for healing for her daughter!  (Anyone who knows what begging puppies under the table are like can understand this undeniable persistence!)  But this woman's persistence, alacrity, humility, and wit all play into the good graces of Jesus, and He praises her for her reply to Him.  She receives His rebukes not just with patience and persistence but even good humor, and gives Him a good response with an intelligence that shows she has grasped everything He told her, but is also figuring for herself how she can remain persistent for what she sees He offers as hope.  And this must be a model for us of what a good prayer is like, for all of this together is an attitude and response that is pleasing to our Lord.  When we have setbacks, and God seems to refuse us something we desire and feel we need, we could take a good page from this woman's book and consider where our humility, persistence, and intelligent reply might come into it.  It seems that the Gospels teach us that Jesus does not want merely obedient sheep, but also intelligent sheep capable of discerning for themselves and responding with faith.  For in this way our faith is made even stronger.  There is a similar example by St. Paul.  He writes, "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  We don't know what his "thorn in the flesh" was exactly, but we see, like the woman, he has pleaded with the Lord three times about it.  The response he finally received was not what he desired, but his own wit, discernment, persistence, and humility has brought him to an illumined perspective and a deeper faith.  So it is also with this woman.  Let us consider our own seeming setbacks, when God seems to give us refusal or silence.  Let us think about how these qualities are those Christ desires, and how our own response and perception may be all the better for adapting them ourselves.  

He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden

 

 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, 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.  This same story also occurs is St. Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 15:21-28), but with a couple of distinct differences, both of which reveal the Jewish orientation of that Gospel.  Matthew records Christ saying, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Additionally, in St. Matthew's account, the Gentile woman uses the Jewish messianic title "Son of David" to address Jesus.  But these differences, and Mark's account affirm something important to understand.  Jesus went to the Gentile cities not to preach, but rather to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees, my study Bible comments.  We first recall that just prior to this (see Saturday's reading, above) Jesus had been engaged in an open confrontation with the Pharisees and some of the scribes, as they had come from Jerusalem and questioned Him about His disciples' practices.  In today's reading, St. Mark's Gospel tells us that Jesus entered a house and wanted no one to know that He was there.  When Jesus says, "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 sounds extremely harsh to our ears.  First of all, we have to understand this is not a reference not to outside dogs, but to house dogs who are puppies who beg under the table.  We also must take it in context of the statement in Matthew's Gospel that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  But importantly it does, in fact, prompt the showing of her faith in both her persistence and her humility before Christ.  She doesn't respond with an angry argument or insult, but rather with a very smart way to express who she is:  "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  We can see how favorably Christ views her precisely for her response:  "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your 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.  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 comments here that Christ's sigh is a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  Let us note that the Decapolis is yet another [mostly] Gentile region, with widespread Greco-Roman cultural influence.  (The name means "ten cities" in Greek.)

 

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."  According to my study Bible, the Lord here show us that we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  But, as an interesting contrast, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ.  He sees them as a good example under the circumstances, that in fact we should proclaim those who have done good to us, even if they do not want us to.

Today's text tells us that Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and we can easily infer it is a response to the conflict with the religious leaders from Jerusalem (see Saturday's reading, above).  But most interestingly, the Gospel tells us that He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  This inability to stay hidden, even against Christ's reported intentions is a surprising and notable message.  We can only guess at what Christ knew in advance, or what becomes revealed through His ministry, either through the will of God the Father, or perhaps the workings of God the Holy Spirit.  We've seen -- perhaps most dramatically -- in the recent reading, how it is Christ's almost visceral compassion that led His ministry into a new, powerful, and essential turning point, in the feeding of the five thousand men (in this reading).  It's instructive to review the Greek language of the text for "moved with compassion."  This verb is a word based on what is today the modern Greek word for spleen.  But it means, essentially, to be moved in the inward parts.  To use an American idiom, we could say it means being moved "in the gut"; that is, in the heart, lungs, kidney, and liver.  According to Strong's definitions, these later came to be understood as the seat of the affections.   This term is also used in Mark 1:41, when Christ is said (in English) to have been moved with compassion to touch a leper and heal him.  In both cases, we can understand this term as leading to actions He might not have considered otherwise; each breaks a new kind of ground for His ministry.  The feeding in the wilderness does not simply evoke the feeding of Israel in the wilderness by the Lord, but clearly prefigures the Eucharist.  The touching of the leper is forbidden by the Law; but Christ as the author of the Law reminds us that "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath."  Here, the fact that he could not be hidden works in a similar way to Christ's suddenly being touched in the inward parts with compassion.  There is an action which seems unplanned, almost uncontrolled, but in fact cannot be stopped.  And it is yet another great turning point.  For this inability to be hidden leads to the woman's acceptance by Jesus, pointing to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost -- as my study Bible phrases it, no longer as dogs, but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.   This 'movement of the inner parts' as well as the fact that Christ "could not be hidden" remind us of the hidden movements and mysterious growth of the kingdom of heaven portrayed in Christ's parables, perhaps especially the parables of the growing seed (found only in Mark's Gospel) and of the mustard seed (see this reading).  The "growth" we witness in today's reading is of two different types.  First of all, because He could not be hidden, there is the growth in who constitutes the people of God.  And second, the miraculous healing whose proclamation also cannot be stopped, despite the efforts of Jesus to do so.  In both instances the Kingdom has now been extended to Gentiles -- to the Greek-speaking Syro-Phoenician woman of Tyre and Sidon, and among the Gentiles in the Decapolis who no doubt hear the good news.   What can see is that the Kingdom has a type of energy that grows of its own energies, in unexpected and unstoppable ways, reminding us of the nature of the Holy Spirit, as taught by Jesus to Nicodemus:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

 

 

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 

 

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.  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.  My study Bible comments on today's passage (and a similar account, found at Matthew 15:21-28) that Jesus has come to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon in order to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees.  Indeed, if we look at yesterday's reading, above, we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes had come from Jerusalem to observe Jesus' ministry, and found fault with His disciples.  As often happens, this ended with a dispute, and Christ's blistering criticism of the hypocrisy of their own practices.  His desire to withdraw from conflict and scrutiny for a time is made evident in today's passage when we're told that He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  It's a testimony to how famous He's become, and perhaps also to His annoyance at being both noticed and pestered by this woman to heal her daughter.  In Matthew's Gospel, the emphasis is on His mission first to the Jews, as He replies to her in Matthew 15:24, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  This puts the entire conversation in a particular context, and particular both the humility and alacrity of her response, which elicits Christ's praise of her persistent faith.  We should understand that the Greek word used here for little dogs implies a small house dog or puppy, not an outdoor dog (in the context of the culture and the dialogue, it's an important difference). 

 

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.  My study Bible comments on the fact that Jesus sighed, calling it a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  Note the healing by touch, and even with the use of Christ's saliva (similarly to the momentous healing of the blind man in John 9).  Again, we observe that Christ's very body is life-giving, healing.

 

 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 here, our Lord shows us we mustn't seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  But, on the other hand, it notes, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ in this situation.  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.  

So if we take all the stories together in today's reading, we see an interesting commonality to them.  They each seem to be about liberating the ability to speak in some sense.  There is first of all the story of the woman, whom Jesus compares to little dogs (or puppies).  She is persistent is asking for His help, despite the fact that He seems somewhat exasperated and puts her off with a reference to dogs.  But she takes this reference to heart, and -- if one may use a modern expression -- "dishes" it back to Him in a way that manages to be at once witty, humble, and faithful.  She says, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  We get the picture of a little puppy begging under the table, and we understand how this can be an image of pestering and at the same time endearing.  For Christ, her persistence -- and I would venture to even say her witty application of intelligence with faith  --  is something to applaud, and "for this saying" her daughter is healed from the demon.  It is precisely because she "opened her mouth," so to speak, to respond to Him yet again that He rewards her and answers her plea.  Then we come to the second story in today's text, which is quite literally about opening someone's mouth and helping them to speak.  Jesus' very words echo this theme quite literally, as His healing command translates, "Be opened."  The English in our text calls his ailment an impediment in his speech, indicating a kind of stumbling block, a hindrance.  In Greek the word is somewhat complex, it's μογιλάλον/mogilalon.  Lalon means to speak.  Mogi means something extremely difficult, a laborious toil.  "Laborious toil" is, interestingly, something associated with the word for evil.  So when Jesus calls for his mouth or tongue to "be opened" He unloosing the tongue from its restraint, He's almost liberating the man to speak.  The freedom to speak, to express oneself in particular to one's God is paramount in this illustrations of human beings striving to find healing from the Lord in today's reading.  Finally, the theme of liberation of speech is again illuminated in the final example of the people who praise Christ despite His admonition not to -- which we can presume yet again comes from His desire to avoid further scrutiny and conflict with the religious authorities.  In this final case, the people are freed in some sense to express their praise for the Lord, and opening of the world to God, as God has come close and "touched" the community.  Altogether, these form a sort of chorus of voices to praise God for God's goodness and mercy, human beings liberated from the bondage of being outsiders, of struggling with an impediment that is a product of a fallen nature and the evil that has tainted the world, and crying out in the face of the oppression from hypocritical authorities who keep God shut up for themselves rather than sharing God's love for the people.  In Jesus' grand critique of the scribes and Pharisees, we read (among many other things) in Matthew 23, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in" (Matthew 23:13).  Here in today's reading is the power of the Incarnation, Christ' among us.  Even to the outsiders (and a woman, at that), He is "a light to lighten the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), the ears of the deaf are unstopped (Isaiah 35:5), and there is liberty for the captives who can now speak and praise God, unbound from their respective prisons (Isaiah 61:1).  This is the action of Christ, in the chorus of praise for God enabled through His action and healing within this community of the kingdom of God found in Him and in His work and ministry.  Let us add our voices in freedom to that praise, for we also are illumined, liberated, and healed through Him.