The Complexities of Jesus' Manner
He does things differently than you and I might.
Mark 7:24-37
Happy Fourth Sunday of Easter!
Sometimes when we read the stories of Jesus in the gospels so often, we too easily miss some of the sharpness of their details.
Our passage for today is book-ended by his attempts to lay low.
He couldn’t hide.
Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone.
He was unsuccessful in both regards.
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His encounter with the Syrophoenician woman is perplexing. Some biblical scholars have written off Jesus’ first response to her as nothing more than a test. It seems to racist, prejudiced, or demeaning to be Jesus. But what if he meant what he said?
First, racism as it’s understood today simply wasn’t then. Of course, differences between people groups was often stark 2000 years ago. If you can believe it, even more stark than they are today. But the separation between people groups was about region, class, gender, and religion much more than it was about race. Regardless, Jesus’ response seems utterly divisive. Let’s suppose for a moment that it is just that.
…then Jesus’ change of heart is pretty powerful. His conclusive actions did not follow his initial words. What an example for all of us.
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This is an interesting way of going about to heal someone. We just saw that Jesus could heal with a word. The person need not even be present (the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter wasn’t. So what’s with sticking fingers in someone else’s ears, spitting, and touching his tongue?
Mark 7:24-37
Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
“Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.” When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.
After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities. Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing. Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.” At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly.
Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone. But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news. People were overcome with wonder, saying, “He does everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can’t speak.”
Prayer
God,
Thank you for Sundays. Prepare me to receive you all the more today as I gather with your Church.
I pray for your Church everywhere. Surprise us. Move in us. Rebuke us. Make us clean. Move us to Christ-like action. We are quite unwilling to get our hands dirty, so do what you need to. Make us his Church.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.