Human Needs, Divine Deeds

15th Sunday after Pentecost B 2012

Mark 7:24-30 (31-37)

 Our Gospel readings for today are two examples of "miracle stories": the healing of the Syro-Phoenician woman's daughter and the healing of the deaf and mute man. The Roman Catholic reading for today is the latter portion of the reading, but here we will try to discern the basic structure of both stories and see what lessons they hold for us.

I. Our human need. (Mark 7:24-26)

Miracle stories often begin with a portrait of human need. The Greek Syro-Phoenician woman needs to have her young daughter needs to have her daughter healed because the daughter "has an unclean (ακάθαρτος, akatharos, 'unclean, impure') spirit". (In Matthew [15:21-28], her daughter is "demon-possessed" or 'demonized', from the Greek δαιμονίζομαι, daimonizomai, 'to have a demon'). In the section portion of the reading, it is the friends who bring the deaf and “mute” person (not actually mute: the Greek text has μογιλάλος, mogilalos, 'difficulty in speaking') to Jesus (Mark 7:32).

II. Our human plea (Mark 7:26)

Miracle stories often feature a human need which is presented before Jesus, whether it be physical healing, or casting out demons, etc. The woman fell before* Jesus and asked (ερωτάω, erōtaō, 'to ask') him to cast out the demon from her young daughter. Similarly, the friends of the deaf and "mute" man brought him to Jesus and begged (παρακαλέω, parakaleō, literally, 'to call [to one's side]', but here, in the sense of 'called out to Jesus') him to heal their friend. These are pictures of prayer: in the times of our human need, our first line of defense is to ask for God's help through prayer.

III. Our test of faith (Mark 7:27-28)

Unlike other miracle stories where the response is often instant**, in the account of the Syro-Phoenician woman, Jesus initially refused to help. In Matthew, Jesus first remains silent; then discourages that woman by explaining that he was sent only "to the lost sheep of Israel" (15:24 cf. 10:5-6); i.e., only to the Jewish people. Since the Syro-Phoenician woman was Greek, therefore Gentile, Jesus called her and her kind "dogs". (In the Bible, there are about 40 verses that have the word "dog", and nearly all of these use the word with a negative connotation.) As "dogs", "it is not right to take the children's bread and thrown it down to the dogs", that is, it is not right to take the blessings to the Jewish people and give it to the Gentiles!

Sometimes, when we come to God with our human needs through prayer, he tests our faith: sometimes through silence, sometimes through discouragement! But we must be persistent with our prayer, like the Syro-Phoenician woman. "True, Lord; but the dogs under table eat from the children's crumbs." In Matthew (15:27), "True, Lord; but even the dogs eat the crumbs that falls from the master's table."

In the Service of Word and Table IV, which is from the "old" ritual of The Methodist Church, we have the Prayer for Humble Access just before the Giving of the Bread and Cup: "We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table." Then who is worthy to approach the Table of the Lord? "But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy." We are not worthy; but God is gracious, and it is he who extends is grace to us!

IV. Our answered prayer (Mark 7:29-30)

Miracle stories often end with Jesus' response to the request: the sick are healed and the demonized are set free. Impressed with the faith and persistence of the woman, he answered her prayer: "For this word, go unto your way; the demon has left your daughter." In the account of the deaf and mute man, his "ears were opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak plainly" (Mark 7:35). God answers prayer!

(Interestingly, two of Jesus' miracles involving Gentiles are "long distance" miracles: Jesus did not need to be where the sick person was to heal them. The other story is when he healed the servant of a Roman centurion [Luke 7:1-10].)

V. Our response to answered prayer (Mark 7:30)

Miracle stories often end with accounts of people's awe; and/or Jesus telling the person healed not to tell anyone. But those who are healed could not but help telling!

In the case of the Syro-Phoenician woman, we are not told that she became astonished or that she told other people what Jesus did for her daughter. Nevertheless, it may not be unreasonable to assume that when she saw her dsughter healed from the unclean spirit, she was astonished and told other people what happened!

But in the second story where Jesus healed the man (who we can presume to be Jewish) with the hearing and speech impediment, we have the "usual" end of a miracle story: 1) Jesus told the friends of the man (whose tongue has just been loosed!) not to tell anyone what happened. 2) Nevertheless, they could not help but tell: “And they were astonished beyond measure, saying ‘He has done all things well! He makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak!’”.

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*The word used in Mark is προσπίπτω, prospiptō, 'to prostrate oneself in front of someone' while one word that Matthew uses (altough in another part in the narrative, after the 'second rejection', 15:25) is προσκυνέω, proskuneō, 'to kneel in worship'. This word has the root κυνέω, kuneō; which may be derived from the word κυνάριον, kunarion, which means 'dog' or 'puppy', with the imagery of a dog licking his master's hand. Perhaps the mention of the word proskuneō in verse 25 evoked the word kunarion in verse 26!

**In the later portion of the Gospel, Jesus, presumably immediately, took the man with a hearing and speech impediment and healed him. The way that Jesus healed the man is usual: his ways are not our ways.