From there he set out and went away to the
region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not
want anyone to know he
was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose
little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and
bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.
She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:24-26
She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:24-26
This week in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is designated as the 'Celebrate the Gifts of Women' Sunday. Our Presbyterian Women's group who meet monthly led worship using much of the materials prepared for the day. What I did NOT do is preach the story of Hagar, as suggested. Yet to continue our 'Journey with Jesus to Jerusalem' I did at least focus on a woman -- one who both exhibited great faith and insight, and also openly questioned Jesus (and her reward was more than a healed daughter!)
The visual/vivid part of this passage (vv.27-30), where Jesus uses the unkind rabbinic metaphor referring to Israel as 'children' but the Gentiles as 'dogs', stating it is unfair to take the food from the first to feed the second. The woman's calm, measured response: even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs the children drop, brings Jesus up short. He recalls God's gracious mercy and abundant love, all the same, given to all the varied people. Here is Jesus, questioned by a WOMAN -- and a GENTILE woman at that -- and he admits she is right and changes his mind. It is the ONLY time in all of scripture that he concedes the point when questioned. And it's a WOMAN who does it!
Having a wonderful, biddable, fairly trained black Labrador Retriever (Keira, 10 1/2), I thought creating new pictures for that theme would be easy. Crumbs under the table: yes! But Karen A. Keely in Witness Magazine: Lectionary Reflections (9/3/06) took it further: 'The "dog" becomes a dinner guest and gets to sit at the table with the "children," ...'. Little did I know how WELL trained Keira was to stay off of furniture!!!! She was in the chair less than 10 seconds; I barely got the shot before she jumped the arm!
Meanwhile, as I continued to dig deeper into the passage I found that I had to agree with John Shearman: that the main point is actually the miracle of healing (which Jesus had at first declined to perform) and Jesus' efforts to keep it a secret. This was more than a good deed by an exceptionally skilled. charismatic, caring healer. It (as were all the other miracles in Mark) was a transcendent event that brings us to a point of decision about this Jesus.
Having a wonderful, biddable, fairly trained black Labrador Retriever (Keira, 10 1/2), I thought creating new pictures for that theme would be easy. Crumbs under the table: yes! But Karen A. Keely in Witness Magazine: Lectionary Reflections (9/3/06) took it further: 'The "dog" becomes a dinner guest and gets to sit at the table with the "children," ...'. Little did I know how WELL trained Keira was to stay off of furniture!!!! She was in the chair less than 10 seconds; I barely got the shot before she jumped the arm!
Meanwhile, as I continued to dig deeper into the passage I found that I had to agree with John Shearman: that the main point is actually the miracle of healing (which Jesus had at first declined to perform) and Jesus' efforts to keep it a secret. This was more than a good deed by an exceptionally skilled. charismatic, caring healer. It (as were all the other miracles in Mark) was a transcendent event that brings us to a point of decision about this Jesus.
+is he, as Mark proclaimed in the first words of his gospel: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God"?
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| Mediterranean Coastline north of Haifa, Israel |
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| Patiently Waiting |
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| Eating the Crumbs |
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| Nervously Seated at the Table (but not for long!) |
How often do our grand plans to bring diverse peoples around one table together
end up going in some way completely 'other' than we had imagined or hoped?
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