This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting

 

 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"  

 

Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood."  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  

 

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  

 

- Mark 9:14–29 

 

Yesterday we read that following the confession of Peter and Christ's revelation of His Passion, after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.  His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.  And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.  And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.  Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead.  So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.  And they asked Him, saying, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"  Then He answered and told them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things.  And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt?  But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him."

 

  And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  And He asked the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"   Jesus' return to the disciples is a return to the nine left behind, as He went up to the high mountain of the Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John (see yesterday's reading above).  Notice how Christ's immediate response is to step in for His disciples, asking the scribes, "What are you discussing with them?"

 

 Then one of the crowd answered and said, "Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.  So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not."  He answered him and said, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?  How long shall I bear with you?  Bring him to Me."  Then they brought him to Him.  And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.  So He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?"  And he said, "From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.  But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  Jesus' remark here, "O faithless generation" is a repeated theme from recent readings (see, for example, Wednesday's reading and Christ's experience in Bethsaida).  The scribes and Pharisees have demanded from Christ a sign, a spectacular proof, so that they might believe.  But this is a crisis of faith and spiritual perception.  Therefore Jesus here emphasizes faith, both among the crowds and personally to this man who wants healing for his demon-possessed child.  We note that the text tells us that Jesus commanded, "Bring him to Me" indicating that He does not approach the disputing group, but has stood apart, effectively separating the man and his ailing child from unbelieving or scoffing crowds.  The man's prayer, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" is an effective one.

 

 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it:  "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him.  And he became as one dead, so that many said, "He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.  And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?"  So He said to them, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting."  My study Bible notes that while the nine disciples also evidently lacked faith to achieve this healing, Jesus had rebuked the man for placing the blame on the disciples when it was his greater lack of faith that prevented the boy's healing.  But we see here, in effect, that Jesus defended His disciples in front of the multitudes, but later rebuked them privately.  (In St. Matthew's Gospel, He tells them straightforwardly in private that they could not cast it out "because of your unbelief" (see Matthew 17:19-21).  This teaches us ourselves that we should first correct people in private (see Matthew 18:15-17).   We remember that this rebuke is directed at the nine disciples who could not cast out the demon, as the "pillars" of faith -- Peter, James, and John (Galatians 2:9) -- had been on the mountain with Christ at the Transfiguration (see above).  My study Bible further comments that this kind refers to all powers of darkness, not only those which cause a particular illness.  It says that the banishment of demons requires faith, prayer, and fasting, as there is no healing and no victory in spiritual warfare without all three.  Starting with the Didache (the earliest teaching document of the Church), our spiritual forbears and elders have taught that both the person in need of healing and the person performing the healing must believe, pray, and fast.  

 

 The taking of this child by demonic possession or affliction is an indication of a spiritual war which is always going on behind the scenes, in which our world, and human beings in particular,  form the battleground.  Notice the effects of this spirit upon the child:  he is mute, and the father tells Jesus, "it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid."  This sounds to modern ears like seizures of some sort, a medical problem that would commonly be approached today with medical treatments.  But this mute spirit is more than a medical problem.  The boy is repeatedly harmed; the man tells Jesus regarding this spirit's effects upon the boy that "often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him."  Moreover, Jesus names further effects of this spirit by calling it "deaf and dumb," meaning the boy can neither hear nor speak.  So beyond these vividly described seizures, there is more going on here.  The affliction of this boy can be characterized by a kind of evil that works as a severe punishment, a great suffering and, even in particular, the suppression of his freedom and autonomy.  He's thrown into fire and water repeatedly and often, he can neither express himself nor even hear others who might teach him something; neither can he hear music or stories, or learn songs, for example, nor, one presumes, play games with other children.  More than one Church Father comments on this passage of the envy of such spirits who've been deprived of their own lofty places before Christ due to their refusal to serve, and becoming more depraved through the effects of spiritual failure and the disintegration that results.  Thus the cruelty of affliction is driven by an ultimately corrupt desire to inflict one's misery upon others.  While we cannot know for certain what defines and drives the spiritual world (except through those saints who've understood such things), we can perhaps clearly verify that for human beings we can observe such mental and spiritual deterioration as the effects of going down a wrong road, moving further and further away from Christ and from spiritual redemption without the saving effects of repentance.  Such a process is well-known and observed in human experience; what may start with one incident or selfish impulse may grow into something hideous and often continued so long as it is hidden from common understanding.  So, when Jesus mentions the weapons of faith, prayer, and fasting, we should not look at these things as if they are simply instruments for the performance of formal exorcisms or for special occasions or extreme spiritual problems, for they are not.  They are the things named as common practices for each of us, and in particular during the season of Lent as we prepare for Easter and the celebration of Resurrection.  Whether we are aware of it or not, we are always caught in the middle of this battle, for we are the battleground.  If we choose to believe that this is not so, then we are rejecting the testimony of the Gospels, the saints, the whole of spiritual tradition and of Scripture, and even of Christ Himself (see, for example, Luke 22:31; 1 Peter 5:8).  We need not know nor prove in some spectacular way the influence of such spiritual problems; we can see them around us and in effect if we simply look closely.  Whatever way we choose to look at this problem in today's Gospel reading, let us consider what a long road of unbroken decisions to follow a bad impulse may lead to, and how the power of faith, prayer, and fasting can help us not only to turn that around for ourselves, but also to help us cope with such an influence in our environment and in our world.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him

 

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,

And seeing you will see and not perceive;

 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.

Their ears are hard of hearing,

And their eyes they have closed,

Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.' 

 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 

- Matthew 13:10–17 

 

 In yesterday's reading, we were given a new turn in Christ's ministry.  We read that on the same day following a dispute with the Pharisees and scribes (and their demand for a sign from Him), Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears, let him hear!" 

 

 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  My study Bible comments that the mysteries of the kingdom are not simply obscure concepts, or some religious truths meant only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of the parables a purely intellectual process.  Even the disciples find the message hard to understand.  While Jesus taught the same message to all, my study Bible comments, it is the simple and innocent who are open to its message.  

 

"Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,

So that I should heal them.' "  Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).  My study Bible comments that this prophesy of Isaiah, according to St. John Chrysostom, does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in people who would otherwise have been faithful.  It's a figure of speech common to Scripture which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).   It's understood from this passage that God permits their self-chosen blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).  Spiritual blindness is not the result of God speaking through Isaiah, but rather Isaiah spoke because he foresaw their blindness. 

 

  "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  Here He is speaking directly to His disciples, those who have chosen to follow Him, responding to the truths they perceive in His ministry, and His presence of holiness that is undeniable to them (John 6:68).

 

 Jesus has suddenly begun an unusual practice (for Him) which the disciples have never seen Him do before:  He begins to speak to the crowds ("great multitudes") in parables (see yesterday's reading, above).  His disciples are puzzled, and they come to ask Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  Jesus answered, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." This is an intriguing answer.  Somehow Jesus seems to be saying to them that somehow it has been given to them by God that they should have the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven revealed to them, but not to the crowds in front of whom Christ now speaks in parables.  Parables sound like simple stories, and indeed they are, but to understand and to have insights about the spiritual journey and the reality of the kingdom of heaven, one would have to have some sort of experience of this to relate to the parable.  One would have to know something about the journey of spiritual truth, of growing closer to God and growing in participation in those mysteries in one's life.  But what is the point of speaking to the great crowds in parables?  Jesus tells the disciples, "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."   We take this together with the words from Isaiah Jesus goes on to quote, and we discover a fact about the spiritual life, which Jesus states here unequivocally.  We're either going to grow in this life, or we won't.  This is a reflection of the common theme, sometimes called "the two ways" in Scripture.  It's also referred to as the "way of life and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8).  These "two ways" were also described in the earliest teaching document known to the Church, considered to be the teachings of the apostles, called the Didache ("The Teaching").  Jesus Himself described these two ways when He taught (in the Sermon on the Mount), "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).  But here in today's reading, He seems to teach us that there are some for whom these mysteries of the kingdom of God are accessible; perhaps they have a function in their inner life of being perceptive to them, and they will find them in Christ's parables, and be drawn to Him.  But, He also states, there are those who simply don't, and will not seek to have this abundance, as He puts it.  One presumes that this capacity is linked also to the capacity for repentance, for access to this Kingdom and its mysteries surely confers ways in which we change and adapt as we participate in this understanding, and grow more deeply into it.  Let us consider the reality of the presence of this Kingdom among us, and in our world, brought to us by Christ -- and how we will pursue it.  Our prayers are those that seek this participation and growth in the life of the Kingdom, for without it, what else is the point of His preaching to us in His parables of the kingdom of God?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." 

 

- Matthew 9:27–34 

 

Yesterday we read that a ruler of the synagogue came and worshiped Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.

 

  When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  My study Bible comments that, according to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  These healings, it notes, are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith in this truth.  

 

And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons."   To cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, my study Bible says, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not to destroy it.  Moreover, Jesus cleansed  lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works which demons could not perform.

 

 We note that the Pharisees, by now no doubt somewhat challenged and alarmed by the fact that the multitudes marveled over Christ's works, call His works evil, saying that He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.  Already we can see Jesus is growing in fame and renown for the great works He is doing, so that the people marvel, and thus He is becoming something of a rival in the eyes of the Pharisees, the ones who seek to regulate the faith and wield power within the religious institutions of the Jews, especially in interpreting the Scriptures and hence, the Law.  Jesus is not a member of the establishment, not among their number, not a scribe.  Neither is He a part of the Levitical priesthood.  He is an outsider, and His ministry -- as we read when He took on Matthew the tax collector as a disciple (in this reading) -- is a also a ministry that includes outsiders.  In fact in many ways we see Christ's calling not only to those left out, in some sense, who could not be included according to the Law, but also to those excluded for violations of the Law, such as lepers and the woman with the years-long blood flow in yesterday's reading (see above).  In His preaching and teaching to His disciples, and the use of their power and authority in His Church to come, He will also emphasize the care of the outliers, the ones on the edge, the ones with little to no power or social stature.  These He will call "little ones" and His constant call will be to avoid misleading them, offenses in the use of power toward them, and the greatest of care to see in them not only Himself, but also the One who sent Him (see, for example, Matthew 18:1-14).  The parable of the lost sheep found in the last few verses of that passage emphasizes the same.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus open His sermon with the first Beatitude:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).  The "poor in spirit" are those with the attitude of the poor, those who in their humility are dependent upon God.  They are the outliers, the ones whose heart comes not from social position but the love of God, regardless of outward status.  But for the Pharisees, this "outside" status of Jesus reflects for them only opposition, and so they label all that He does the power of the devil, the evil one, regardless of the goodness of outcomes.  In today's reading, the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the time of the Messiah is fulfilled, and yet the Pharisees still see Him this way, and openly label His works those of the ruler of the demons.  As we know, evil seeks to destroy, but Christ's works fulfill the blessed potentials of human beings, enabling the blind to see, and the mute to speak, restoring humanity as Creator to creature.  It's easy to label our seeming opponents as evil, if we see them as rivals for something, and in so doing, these Pharisees are not only slandering Jesus, they're committing blasphemy.  This same accusation by the Pharisees will come again, even more explicitly, in chapter 12 (notably in the case of a demon-possessed man who is both blind and mute), and Jesus will make it very clear what kind of sin it is to label the works of God evil (see Matthew 12:22-32).  Perhaps there is a great lesson for us in the types of healing in today's reading, in how one sees and how one speaks, for while Christ heals, it is the Pharisees who do not see clearly, and who speak untruths, even blasphemies against the work of God.  It is Christ who heals us in every way, in how we see, and teaches us how to speak, and for this reason we seek Him for our own healing in all ways.  He Himself is the antidote to the blindness of the Pharisees, and their reckless ways of using their power.  We seek Him so that He can do His good work in us.  As St. John says, "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  

 

 

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. 

And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught the many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 

'Seeing they may see and not perceive,

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

- Mark 4:1–20 

 

Yesterday we read that the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread in the house.  But when Jesus' own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

  And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught the many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  As in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, here in St. Mark's Gospel the first parable told by Jesus is the parable of the Sower.  Let us note that by now a great multitude is gathered to Him by now, and this is the context in which He begins to speak in parables.

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that  'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand;  Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'"  My study Bible comments that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in those who otherwise would be faithful.  This is a figure of speech, it says, common to Scripture, which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).  Jesus is quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).  

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  Here Jesus explains to His disciples that in the parable of the Sower, He reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  My study Bible asks us to note that contrary to the belief some hold that a person is permanently saved at the moment one professes faith (a view never held by the historic Church), Jesus' teaching is clear in the parable that it's possible to receive the word in gladness, but to endure only for a time in that faith.

Looking at Christ's explanation of the parable, we read among other things what my study Bible notes, that it's possible for people to believe for a while, and then fall away (Luke 8:13).  But perhaps at this time for modern audiences and the world we live in today, it's important to examine the next category in Jesus' explanation of the parable.  That is, the ones who are sown among thorns.  These thorns may easily represent the state of our world for so many today.  As Jesus puts it, the thorns form all kinds of temptations and distractions that take us away from the course of faith, and challenge us to put so many other things first in terms of what we devote ourselves to, and where we focus.  If we note the first two places on which the seeds fall, the first belongs to those fallen by the wayside, who are easily affected by Satan and have the word taken from their hearts.  The second (stony ground) belongs to those for whom Christ's word is not deep-rooted, and so in tribulation or persecution fall away.  We should note that this was a very real threat and presence for the early Christians, as they lived in places where Christianity was persecuted or outlawed, and where simply trying to be a faithful Christian was difficult as it easily conflicted with the practices of the community and the state power which was officially aligned with pagan practices and loyalties.  There are still many places in the world where Christians suffer persecution and tribulation for their faith.  But for today for most in the West, we are beset by the things which Jesus calls thorns.  Jesus says, "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."  Perhaps we could say that in a world where we are all interconnected through social media, and so advertisement and consumer culture permeates so much of what pervades our lives all the time, these thorns are ever-present to us.  They constantly present themselves as things in which everyone else is participating, and so we need to keep up and participate as well.  Social media magnifies our images of ourselves and of one another, inviting constant comparison and competition.  Whether that be for "Likes" on any media platform, or followers, or any set of those whom we might call friends by the frequency and type of their association, these thorns become the "cares of this world" that are seemingly always with us wherever we turn.  What house do we live in? What do we look like?  What clothes are we wearing?  What social engagement are we going to, where have we been seen and with whom -- these things become the stuff of constant consumption on social media.  It's likely that many of us never consider how far outside the norm of historical human society it is to live in such a constant bubble of comparison and evaluation on such social terms, but this is yet another sign of Christ's perception about human life and the things which distract us from the real place we need to be in His sight.  Social media invites us easily to be precisely what Jesus criticized the most:  hypocrites who pose as one thing which is virtuous on Christian terms, but while the contradictions we live never make it to that picture on social media, we easily delude ourselves and others about what we're doing, and lose the place where our focus should be.  We also easily lose our humility, and can get caught up in our image in the sight of others instead, even unwittingly, for the pull of such life is strong upon us.  We fall victim to the hypocrisy and cowardice of the religious rulers of Christ's time, described in John's Gospel as an error produced in those "who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).  Jesus describes the thorns as the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things, and we can concern ourselves forever with all the things we think we need, with false promises seemingly held by acquiring wealth and more "things," and with our envy of others who always seemingly have what's "more" and what's "better" than we do.  All of these things have clearly always been with us, for Jesus says them to His contemporary audience.  But with modern communications and social media, they become even more magnified for us.  Let us learn to focus on His word, and to label these things the thorny distractions that they are, for the word "deceitfulness" that Jesus uses here is important.  Such distractions turn our values upside down from where they need to be, and they take away our humility before God, making other things so much more important than our inner lives, our prayer before God, the place of the heart that knows God's love and grace and mercy.  Let us remember that we easily make anything commodified, an idol, turning even virtue into something we sell or declare to others, tempting us to repeat what pass for popular "truths" that are no such thing at all, tempting us to lie about who we are simply to avoid popular censure.  All of these things are deceitful as well, and they become one more aspect of a sense of progress that is all about what we can acquire, what wealth produces, how the cares of this world work within us and flood even our most important relationships.  Let us remain valiant in our prayer, hearing the word and accepting it, and bearing the fruit such a life can bear, if we endure in our faith and its practice, despite the thorns. 

 

 

 

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.