Our gospel reading of today (Mark 7:24-37) expands on the central theme of the gospel of Mark: “...the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (1:15).
And particularly, what we see in our text today, is that this message, the good news of Jesus Christ, is not just good news to the Jew, but it’s also good news to the Gentile. God’s circle of grace is revealed as wider and bigger than Israel.
Our text encompasses two stories, but we’re going to focus exclusively on the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman (7:24-30). It draws out the extension of God’s kingdom very well; it shows how God’s kingdom encompasses all people.
It’s a fascinating story. Jesus is in Gentile territory for the first time since beginning his ministry (7:24, 31). He meets a Syrophoenician woman, whose daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. In a desperate cry for help - like the leper last week (1:35-45) - the Syrophoenician woman throws herself at the feet of Jesus (7:25).
Jesus says to her: “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (7:27).
Now, if you’re like me, you ask yourself what’s going on at this point. Did Jesus forget to invite along his chief of PR or his ministry manager? Why such a cold response? Why the harsh language?
It’s true that Jesus lived in a patriarchal culture, and as such, his response to the woman would have been justified. But if we consider that Jesus, a Jew in a foreign land, speaking with a Gentile, a Gentile woman no less, a Gentile woman who had a sick daughter - not a son, but a daughter - we see that Jesus’ response was not that normal.
This combination - Gentile, woman, and daughter - would have been deemed “beneath the dignity of any true rabbi.”1 By paying attention to her and speaking with her, Jesus crosses massive boundaries. He restores her dignity: inherent, God-given dignity, given her ‘in the beginning’ (Genesis 1:26-27).
Far from being intimidated, however, the woman does not give up. She persists. She responds to Jesus. Verse 28: “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
What a response. It’s actually the only time in the gospels where someone gets the better of Jesus in a debate. And Jesus rewards her persistence and her courage: “For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter”, he says (7:29). The woman goes on her way, and upon arrival at home, her daughter’s healed.
When we take this story and weigh it against the repeated resistance Jesus encountered at the hands of stubborn religious leaders2, we see that Jesus rewards not the one with the right background, qualifications, or even the one who makes rigorous efforts to live the religious life.
Instead, Jesus rewards the man who sees his need and realizes that Jesus is the only one who can help, the woman who sees Jesus as the one who brings salvation to her family.3
His opponents wanted strict religion, external observance of food laws, for example, to differentiate the Jew from the Gentile, the good from the bad. Jesus, however, exposes their hypocrisy: such laws were self-righteousness disguised as holiness.
His opponents wanted “boundary markers”, but those markers are precisely what Jesus came to abolish. This must have been extremely difficult for a Jew to understand. In chapter 8 we read that not even the disciples understood it (8:21). But the Syrophoenician woman did.
She understood that “the liberation from evil” that was promised to the children of Israel was now made available to all. “The benefits of God’s reign that went out first to the Jew (Rom 1:16) were now to be made available to the Gentile.”4
Two very quick points of application.
For the church: this story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman is a “grounding” story; Jesus’ ministry to the woman grounds our outreach to the world. If that’s the case, what “boundary markers” are we raising in the church?
For the Christian: the Syrophoenician woman provides us with a model of the “outsider”, the “sinner” who wants in, but whom we wont let in. What sort of limits are we setting on those who would be called sons and daughters of God?
May God give us wisdom, strength, and above all, simplicity of heart to see our sin, to repent, and to believe in the gospel.
Amen ✠
And particularly, what we see in our text today, is that this message, the good news of Jesus Christ, is not just good news to the Jew, but it’s also good news to the Gentile. God’s circle of grace is revealed as wider and bigger than Israel.
Our text encompasses two stories, but we’re going to focus exclusively on the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman (7:24-30). It draws out the extension of God’s kingdom very well; it shows how God’s kingdom encompasses all people.
It’s a fascinating story. Jesus is in Gentile territory for the first time since beginning his ministry (7:24, 31). He meets a Syrophoenician woman, whose daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. In a desperate cry for help - like the leper last week (1:35-45) - the Syrophoenician woman throws herself at the feet of Jesus (7:25).
Jesus says to her: “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (7:27).
Now, if you’re like me, you ask yourself what’s going on at this point. Did Jesus forget to invite along his chief of PR or his ministry manager? Why such a cold response? Why the harsh language?
It’s true that Jesus lived in a patriarchal culture, and as such, his response to the woman would have been justified. But if we consider that Jesus, a Jew in a foreign land, speaking with a Gentile, a Gentile woman no less, a Gentile woman who had a sick daughter - not a son, but a daughter - we see that Jesus’ response was not that normal.
This combination - Gentile, woman, and daughter - would have been deemed “beneath the dignity of any true rabbi.”1 By paying attention to her and speaking with her, Jesus crosses massive boundaries. He restores her dignity: inherent, God-given dignity, given her ‘in the beginning’ (Genesis 1:26-27).
Far from being intimidated, however, the woman does not give up. She persists. She responds to Jesus. Verse 28: “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
What a response. It’s actually the only time in the gospels where someone gets the better of Jesus in a debate. And Jesus rewards her persistence and her courage: “For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter”, he says (7:29). The woman goes on her way, and upon arrival at home, her daughter’s healed.
When we take this story and weigh it against the repeated resistance Jesus encountered at the hands of stubborn religious leaders2, we see that Jesus rewards not the one with the right background, qualifications, or even the one who makes rigorous efforts to live the religious life.
Instead, Jesus rewards the man who sees his need and realizes that Jesus is the only one who can help, the woman who sees Jesus as the one who brings salvation to her family.3
His opponents wanted strict religion, external observance of food laws, for example, to differentiate the Jew from the Gentile, the good from the bad. Jesus, however, exposes their hypocrisy: such laws were self-righteousness disguised as holiness.
His opponents wanted “boundary markers”, but those markers are precisely what Jesus came to abolish. This must have been extremely difficult for a Jew to understand. In chapter 8 we read that not even the disciples understood it (8:21). But the Syrophoenician woman did.
She understood that “the liberation from evil” that was promised to the children of Israel was now made available to all. “The benefits of God’s reign that went out first to the Jew (Rom 1:16) were now to be made available to the Gentile.”4
Two very quick points of application.
For the church: this story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman is a “grounding” story; Jesus’ ministry to the woman grounds our outreach to the world. If that’s the case, what “boundary markers” are we raising in the church?
For the Christian: the Syrophoenician woman provides us with a model of the “outsider”, the “sinner” who wants in, but whom we wont let in. What sort of limits are we setting on those who would be called sons and daughters of God?
May God give us wisdom, strength, and above all, simplicity of heart to see our sin, to repent, and to believe in the gospel.
Amen ✠
-----
1 Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark! Reprinted Ed. (Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002), 111.
2 Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark! Reprinted Ed. (Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002), 112.
3 Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let’s Study Mark! Reprinted Ed. (Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust, 2002), 112.
4 John R. Donahue (S. J), The Gospel of Mark. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 2. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2002), 237-238.
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