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. 

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 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 other 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 al 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.   As this story appears in Matthew's Gospel  (Matthew 15:21-28), it includes a couple of details Mark's does not.  In Matthew's Gospel, the Jewish orientation of the Gospel is clear:  Jesus states there that He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the woman uses the title "Son of David" for Christ, a Jewish term for the Messiah.  My study Bible comments that Christ went to the Gentile cities not to preach, but to withdraw from the faithless Pharisees, with whom He's just had another dispute (see Saturday's reading, above).  Here in Mark's Gospel, this is made clear when we read that Christ wanted no one to know He was there.  But, as we read, He could not be hidden.

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."  In keeping with what was noted in the previous section (that Christ wanted a respite from His conflict with the Pharisees), Jesus makes His way back toward the Sea of Galilee in a kind of "roundabout" way.  He goes through the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  The Decapolis (a name meaning "Ten Cities") was a region of Greek and Roman cities, at His time mixed with Jewish populations.  My study Bible comments on fact that we are told, "He sighed," as Christ looked up to heaven and gave the command that His ears  be opened.  It says that Christ's sigh is a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  In His command to tell no one my study Bible sees a teaching that we mustn't seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  But Theophylact upholds those who disobey Jesus in this circumstance, and sees them as a good example -- that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to.  Both teachings are valuable and compatible with one another.  We might also look upon this command as yet another attempt by Christ not to unnecessarily draw the attention of the Pharisees before His hour.  

In certain senses, today's reading conveys to us a character of humility in Jesus.   It's important to note, also, that this trait of humility is mingled with Christ's striking hallmark of compassion.  Perhaps it is most significantly these two qualities that mark saintliness in those whom the Church has honored as holy people.  We can read humility into the idea that Jesus really wants to disappear from sight for a while, and avoid confrontation with the Pharisees -- and so He travels into Gentile territory.  Looking closely at this map, one can see the cities of Tyre and Sidon on the coastline north of Galilee (in the area marked as Phoenicia).  And in the second part of today's reading, we can see that He goes out of His way to travel eastward in a roundabout circle, via the Decapolis, to come back to the Sea of Galilee.  All of this is to avoid more confrontation with the religious leaders from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religious life.  All we have to do is recall Christ's divine identity, witnessed to by the miraculous healing that He does as well as His authority over the unclean spirit in the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman, to understand that His power and authority could obviously work to achieve all kinds of things for him -- including avoiding the Pharisees.  But He doesn't do that.  The time for confrontation is not up to Him alone or what His preferences are; in all things, Christ follows God the Father.  And that time for open confrontation will come when He enters Jerusalem on His way to the Cross.  In humility, He does what human beings need to do when the time for confrontation is not appropriate:  He avoids it, and travels far from the scrutiny of the religious leaders, and does not want Himself to be known, as the text tells us.  This is humility on a number of levels:  He won't use His extraordinary power to achieve what He means to achieve by some spectacular miracle or proof, He won't use that power in some miraculous way to avoid the Pharisees, He won't use any sort of manipulative power to overwhelm the human beings who seek Him.  He humbles Himself in accordance with His mission, and His fulfillment of the promise of the Incarnation that He live as one of us.  If we consider His reluctance to heal this woman's daughter, He also displays a kind of humility in accepting her request, as well as compassion.  Now, we might take a look at His words to her, comparing her to the little pups who beg under the table, and consider that what He says is uncharacteristically insulting and harsh!  But nonetheless, her bold and clever to reply to Him tells us another story -- that there is something conveyed in His manner so that she still has the confidence to approach Him and reply back.  Moreover, He yields and richly replies to her answer, even praising her for her persistence, and, we might suppose, her quick response using His own metaphor back to Him!  Reminding ourselves again of His majestic divinity as Son, we might find it surprising that He shows what appears to be a change of mind on His part, and yields to her persuasion.  Again, for the Son of God, this is a deep appearance of humility, to be persuaded by this particular woman to do something He at first refused.  But of course, this is also an expression of compassion, an exception that proves the rule, so to speak.  In the second healing, we find similarly a kind of humility in going far away from the crowd, and also admonishing the healed man's friends to tell no one.  In conventional human terms, we might think one would typically seek to be known for the good we do -- but not Jesus.  He has a mission to accomplish, and that is not how it will be accomplished.  That would not be in keeping with His obedience to God the Father.  Christ's sigh, as noted by my study Bible, is an expression of compassion for the suffering of human beings.  The command He gives, "Be opened!" as well as the expression that the healed man's tongue was "loosed" is an indication of liberation for human being kept captive by and hobbled by the things that ail us.  If we examine closely the actions of Christ throughout the Gospels, we will see consistent expressions of these qualities of humility and compassion, even as He heals and liberates.  His is a ministry that does not seek to "prove" things to those who won't believe, nor to "Lord it over" others by manipulation or force of any kind.  We must somehow meet Him with the faith that recognizes the goodness in His qualities, the desirability of such a Lord who is gentle and lowly of heart, and seeks to be "like Him."  If we think about it, the traditional qualities we learn from custom and culture which indicate what it is to be a gracious person all come from Christ.  Let us all endeavor to remain the people who can appreciate and cherish these qualities, seeking to emulate and value them in our lives.  

For this saying go your way

 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then he said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."  

- Mark 7:24-37

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 this 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 a 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 interesting story occurs after Christ has been "visited" by a delegation of Pharisees and scribes, who criticized the fact that His disciples were not following the tradition of the elders in practices of ceremonial washing (see yesterday's reading, above).  He has gone to Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region to the north of Galilee, where He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  He has gone north into Gentile territory to withdraw from the scrutiny and conflict with the religious authorities from Jerusalem.  Where the text tells us that the Gentile woman He counters is Greek, it's indicating she was a Greek-speaker, common in this region after the major cities of Syro-Phoenicia were conquered by Alexander the Great.  Jesus is there to escape unwanted attention, but she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus' mission has been to the Jews.  In Matthew's version, He tells her, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).  In this context He says 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," little dogs indicating house dogs or puppies persistently begging under the table where children are being fed, an image of this woman who "keeps asking."  But her answer is feisty, and she continues -- in good Near Eastern tradition -- to "bargain" with Jesus, in a quick intelligent reply to His statement:  "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Let us note she does not contradict Him with her reply but has paid close attention; nor is her remark disrespectful but made in recognition of His authority, as she addresses Him as Lord.   He clearly approves of her attitude, as well as her apparently faith in Him, as He tells her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And indeed, her daughter has been healed, in yet another story of Christ healing from a distance, interestingly parallel as well in that it is in response to the elegant, humble, and persistent request of a Gentile capable of great faith -- the healing of the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:5-13,Luke 7:1-10).

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."   Once again, Jesus returns to Galilee, but by way of the Decapolis, another mixed region of both Jews and Gentiles, and of Greek and Roman culture.  Here a deaf mute is brought to Christ, simply for His healing touch and seeming blessing.  In another sign of the need to shore up particular faith, Jesus took him aside from the multitude.  My study bible says that the noted detail that He sighed gives a sign of Christ's divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  Note how the language regarding this healing is that of liberation, freeing:  the man's ears are opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed.  Again, Jesus is still trying to avoid public attention -- most likely why He returned by way of the Decapolis and not directly to Capernaum.  But, again as found elsewhere, the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  He cannot be hidden.    And once again, the response to Christ is to be astonished.

Jesus gets away to Gentile regions -- even among the Gentiles of Tyre and Sidon -- but He cannot be hidden, as the text tells us.  He's gone to avoid the scrutiny and further immediate clashes with the religious leadership from Jerusalem, and even though He wants no one to know He's there, He meets with a Gentile woman who persistently begs Him to heal her daughter.  He goes to the Decapolis, a region of mixed Jewish and Gentile populations, and still they come to Him with people who need healing, in this case a deaf mute.  Jesus' ministry is truly like the parables He has given us about the kingdom of God:  its seeds continue to spring up seemingly without "a man" understanding how, even while He sleeps (as in this parable found only in Mark), or the sower who sows His seeds, or the leaven that changes the whole lump, and the tiniest mustard seed that sprouts a great sturdy shrub so large that the birds of the air can take refuge in it (4:30-32).  Even despite Himself, and His realistic intentions to keep hidden, to stay away from the controversies with the leadership. to tell people not to spread the news about His healings for them, the explosive and astonishing news about Him and His ministry just cannot be hidden.  People seek Him everywhere.  But this is the work of the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God as described by His own parables, even if that growth in turn astonishes Jesus Himself.  As He said 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).  Jesus seems at once in the same encounter frustrated, annoyed, delighted, and surprised at the persistence of the Gentile woman who both accepts His lordship and His rebuke and yet still in faith finds a way to continue to request His help.  He sighs in response to the sight of a deaf mute and takes time to take him aside for yet another astonishing healing -- a true prophesied sign of the presence of the Messiah (see, for example, Isaiah 29:18), which occurs not in Judea but in the mixed Greek-speaking territory of the Decapolis.  Everything about this ministry is both astonishing and can't be hidden, even contrarily to the wishes of Jesus.   And so it would continue after His crucifixion and Resurrection, to spread across the traderoads of the great Empires to the known world within the first century after Christ, just as He walks the Roman and other roads that link these territories around Israel.  What we might see as parallel to this growth is the growth of our own faith, which through the countless testimonies we encounter seemingly happens despite ourselves.   How does our own faith grow?  How did we find it?  Did we "do" something to make it happen?  Faith works in the mysterious ways that Jesus describes in His parables, and in the surprising and astonishing revelations of Scripture.  We can't plan it, it's not our plan to create.  But it is something in which we participate, and for which we need the ears to hear and eyes to see.  We need a particular spiritual perception that also may grow in us as the work of grace and Father, Son, and Spirit participating in us.  Faith itself is mysterious.  How does it happen?  Where does it come from?  It certainly springs from need, and as we can read from today's stories, it is clearly linked to persistence, springing up after a supposed setback or rejection, and hoping in the face of impediment.  By the end of Christ's ministry, we find Him stressing the need for endurance among those who would be His disciples (Matthew 24:13).  In Revelation 21, we're told, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (Revelation 21:7).  Let us look to the woman whose persistence and pleasing response to Christ was rewarded in today's reading, and let us learn from her!   It is not ours to decide what the work of God in our lives will be.  But it is ours to continue to pursue through all things, even as we endure whatever seems to stand in the way.

Looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened"

 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.   And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an 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.  Christ travels north of Galilee, to a Gentile region.  He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, because as we read on Saturday, the Pharisees now begin to come to Him and to attack His ministry.  He is essentially withdrawing from them.  In Matthew's version of this story (Matthew 15:21-28), Jesus makes it clear that the "children" are the Jews, those whom He calls "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" to whom He's been sent.  Tradition sees in this story a deliberate evocation of this woman's faith by Christ's response to her; He reveals her humility.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews (the chosen people of God), but illustrates the New Covenant ministry to come -- she still desires a share in God's grace.  My study bible says that Christ's hesitancy wasn't a lack of compassion, but rather a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman.  (In Matthew's story, that also means to the disciples, who complain to Him that she is pestering them.)  A note says 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 life.  It should be noted that the English reads little dogs.  In the Greek, there is a distinction between the word indicating "dogs" and this one used in the  diminutive, which more truly means puppies, house dogs -- those which would be insistently begging under a table.

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."   Jesus' sigh, in this reading, is understood as a sigh of divine compassion for the sufferings of our "fallen human nature," says my study bible.  This passage also teaches us that we do good to others for the sake of obedience and love of God, and not to seek praise or acclaim.  One commentator, however, 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.

It's interesting to consider the actions of "impediment" that we see in today's reading.  Jesus Himself acts as an impediment to the Syro-Phoenician woman seeking a healing for her daughter.  He tells her in Matthew's Gospel that He was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Here in Mark, as in Matthew, He says that the children should be filled first.  He says that the children's bread should not be thrown to the little dogs.  Historically, this impediment thrown by Christ to this woman has been seen as a way of pushing her faith and her persistence in faith.  When she replies to Him, assertively and cleverly, that even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs, He rewards her specifically for doing so, and tells her as much when He says, "For this saying..."  It is a sign, first of all, that like the historical figures of Israel, specifically Jacob, who struggled with God, and who was renamed Israel, meaning "struggles with God" (see Genesis 12:22-32), this woman also struggles with God.  It reminds us of the struggle with faith on the Sea of Galilee undergone by the disciples on two different occasions (see this reading, and also Friday's), when Jesus had set them out on a path with a fearfully stormy sea as "impediment."   In the earlier reading, my study bible stated that God allows challenges to our faith in order to build and perfect it.  We can see Christ's words to this woman in the same light.  She is forced to redouble her faith and persistence, using her heart, mind, and soul in replying to Christ.  Involved also is the love she has for her daughter.  When our faith is challenged, we are similarly engaged in a full-fledged struggle of heart, mind, and soul -- our energies, intelligence, persistence, and heart will be fully needed to meet such challenges.  In the second story in today's reading, the whole story is couched in language of impediment.  The man's mute condition is called an impediment to his tongue, and Jesus' command for hearing is a way of "unstopping" his ears:  "Be opened," Jesus says.  It's almost as if the things that impede are here in today's reading specifically in order to challenge and test our faith -- and so that Jesus can remove the impediments.  There is a sense that the energies that Jesus'
 brings into the world are those things that "flow" -- that get things moving, that bring healing and movement and opening.  The deaf and mute cry for impediments to wholeness be removed, the woman cries for impediments to the healing of her daughter (possessed by a demon that must be "removed" by one with the power to do so) be removed.  In the language of Greek theology, mercy itself is seen as the "energies" of God.  Grace is this energy.  This concept is understood as that which allows God's action in the world, and even in us, although we cannot know God in God's essence.  Christ's entire ministry is one of bringing God's energies into the world, merging them into our worldly lives, allowing us to participate in God's energy as volunteers who wish to follow His way and be a part of this Kingdom.  The energy of God is compared to a fire in a famous traditional explanation.  A metal object may be put into a fire and rendered hot and purified in it, taking on properties of heat and light, but it does not become the fire itself.  So are we in these energies of God.  This Greek word "energy" appears many times in the New Testament, but was not translated using the word in English.  In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, St. Paul writes that "the word of God . . . works in you who believe" (that is, by faith).  The word translated as works is the Greek word for energizes, indicating the action of the energies of God which are activated in us through faith.   In Galatians 3:5, St. Paul asks, "Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"  The phrase works miracles can be understood as "energizing power" in the Greek and in the original uses again this root word, energy.  Once again, we note that this energy works through faith.  In the Greek original text, as we can see, there is a strong sense that God's activities, or energies in the world, manifest through interaction with our faith.  If we begin to understand impediments in life as those things we encounter in our struggle for faith which allow the energies of God to be at work in us, purifying and rendering us closer to God, then we will take on a very different attitude toward struggle itself.  We have to understand this struggle for faith as a positive opportunity for growth, stretching us, and helping us to grow in the energies that make us whole, healed, more fully what we are meant to become as beings created with the potential to be "God-like."  Let us remember the refining fire of God's energies of love.  They are at work in us, engaged through the struggle of faith.