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. 

 

 

 

Be opened

 

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

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

 

- Mark 7:24–37 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Jesus, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

 

  From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.   Let us keep in mind that Jesus, having just had a run-in and conflict with the Pharisees and scribes who'd come from Jerusalem to Him, is seeking a place where He can be hidden.  He has come to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region to the north of Galilee.  So Jesus' purpose in coming here is to escape public notice for the time, but He could not be hidden.  

For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."   Jesus' reputation precedes Him.  Although this woman is not a Jew, she nevertheless came and kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  When He says, "Let the children be filled first," He's referring to those to whom He's come first to minister, the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24), to whom He's been sent for His direct ministry during His human lifetime.  While it sounds very insulting in a Near or Middle Eastern setting to refer to people as dogs, here he speaks of little dogs; that is, puppies or house dogs, not outdoor dogs or commonly seen strays.  This seems to refer more to her insistent pestering and begging (she "kept asking" Him) than her Gentile status.

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

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

 

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on them.  And He took him aside form the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighted, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."  My study Bible comments that He sighed as a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  His command to tell no one shows that we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  My study Bible also cites Theophylact, who upholds those who disobey Christ in this circumstance; he sees them as a good example, that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to.

 

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

 

He could not be hidden

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

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

- Mark 7:24-37

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 to 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 the 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.  Tyre and Sidon are Gentile cities on the coast of Palestine, to the northwest of Jesus' home territory of Galilee.

And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  Repeatedly we read in Mark's Gospel that Jesus seeks solitude, but He can't escape the fame that follows Him.  Even here in this Gentile territory, He can't be hidden.   The interesting thing about the way this sentence is structured, is that it seems like Jesus wants to hide Himself, but He hasn't got the power to do so. 

 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 says, "That the mother kept asking Him for her daughter's deliverance teaches perseverance in prayer.  Jesus resists her, not to make her persuade Him, but to test her faith.  Such persistence the Lord seeks from all."  The word translated as "dogs" here in the Greek indicates a little puppy, a house dog, one that would be under the table (grown dogs in the Middle East were not historically indoor pets).  Therefore the emphasis here is on her persistence in pestering Him!  Like a puppy, she's begging at His feet.  The almost playful or sassy nature of her reply in kind to Him, of which Jesus heartily approves, emphasizes this "puppy-like" quality.  But let's not forget the serious nature of what she's asking for, how crucial it is that she get help for her daughter.  It's not the only memorable teaching of Jesus about persistence - nor the only example of a relatively powerless woman in whom persistence is proclaimed a virtue (see the parable of the Unjust Judge).

Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  The Decapolis is another Greek-speaking area, made up of Ten Cities (the meaning of the word "Decapolis") of Greek and Roman culture, in which populations were mixed.  This is to the southest of Galilee.

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.   A note in my study bible says, "Jesus heals in various ways.  Sometimes He speaks a word [as with the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter, above], sometimes He commands people to act [i.e. take up a bed], sometimes He touches people [see the healing of the leper here].  Here He takes a man aside for a private and unusual act of healing.  The ways of God at times do not make sense to us, not because He is illogical, but because His nature transcends our capacity to understand."

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 tells us:  "Looking up to heaven is a sign of intimacy with the Father in prayer.  He sighed out of deep compassion for the mans pitiful character."   The "impediment" of this man's tongue translates as a kind of bond, a binding.   Jesus' act is to liberate, to free, to unbind, just as He "opens" the man's ears.

 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, "Here Jesus' attempt to keep His messianic identity secret is foiled by the people's enthusiasm.  The gospel is so powerful that it simply cannot be contained." 

In today's reading we're twice reminded, with the two different healings, that almost despite Himself, Jesus cannot contain the fame of His ministry, the spread of the word about Him.  First He goes into a house and desires to be hidden.  The question that comes to mind is, "Can light be hidden?"  Well, John's Gospel answers that question when it tells us that the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehends it not (meaning both to "understand" and to "take in").   In the second healing in today's reading, He forbids people to speak of what has happened, but it is He who performed the liberating action of opening up the deaf man's ears, and loosing the bond of his tongue.  So we get a sense of the holiness of Christ, that it is something far beyond the human Jesus that is at work here, and that something simply cannot be contained, as my study bible puts it.  It puts us in mind of the woman who, unbeknownst to Him, touched the hem of His garment in the crowd as He was on His way to Jairus' house.  We were told there that Jesus felt the power go out of Himself, and asked His disciples, "Who touched My clothes?"  So there is holiness at work in Jesus that has to do with the Source of all things, with this mission that isn't just about the human being Jesus, but about the work of God in the world.  All of Jesus' miracles are signs of that holiness, that power that is beyond what we know and can't be contained, that isn't always consciously at work as a product of Jesus' human desire, but rather works with Him and through Him.  That Christ is both human and divine is still a great mystery; we can't define it perfectly or know exactly how this works.  But we can observe its reality in the Gospels.  We can start to think ourselves about what makes something holy, how we observe holiness, and what holiness is and means.  It's a great mystery, but one thing is clear:  it is something far beyond us, something that works in and through our world and all the things in it.  Holiness can touch us in ways that come out of the least expected time or place.  It's not something that "comes with observation."  Prayer is our way to connect to this place:  it's in the pestering of the Syro-Phoenician woman above, and it was in the faith of the woman with the blood flow who touched the hem of His clothing.  It's our faith and our petitions that make that connection with the holy, that releases its power to be at work in the world, that makes a connection somehow.  We can't control it, nobody owns it.  Nobody owns title, or rights to its name.  It doesn't work via human perception and understanding.  Jesus taught, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes."  This is a play on words, as the word pneuma in the Greek can mean either wind or Spirit.  This was in John's Gospel, when He taught Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit.    What we observe today in Mark's Gospel is the uncontainability of this holiness, of this Kingdom.  This wind blows where it wishes, but we can't tell where it comes from or where it goes.  Our connection to it is through faith and prayer, and it is this connection with us that releases its power in our world and into our lives.  Even to the human Jesus, at times, its working is mysterious, and He always takes time for solitude and prayer, for communion with the Father, at all times in His ministry.  So deep is the reverence for the Spirit that He has taught that all things will be forgiven, except blasphemy of the Spirit.  It is the reverence for this work of holiness in the world that we must remember and think about, that the Gospel here in today's reading calls us to ponder.  How do you see the wind?  How do you know where it's going or where it came from?  Holiness opens up unimagined possibilities, a world where the rest of our rules don't apply, where we are not in control.  We can't contain it.  We can't necessarily predict what it's going to look like.  And yet, it is so easily overlooked, and forgotten about in our pursuit of what makes for a faithful life.