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The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee, mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 19)
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The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
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Scripture citation(s): Mark 7:24-37
A Sermon by
Fr. Mead
on
Mark 7:24-37
✛
She Strove with God
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In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
In today’s Gospel according to Saint Mark Jesus has just finished a dispute with the Pharisees over ritual cleanliness (Mk 7:1-23), and now he takes his disciples out of Jewish country to Gentile country, north to the region of Tyre, an ancient Phoenician city. Although Jesus wished to be alone he could not be hid because his fame preceded him.
A woman who was Greek by culture and Syrophoenician by nationality sought him out. There are indications in the text that she would have been considered a Gentile lady of some status, a landowner.[1] But she fell at Jesus’ feet and begged his help to cast out a devil, an unclean spirit, from her young daughter. Jesus’ response is uncharacteristically harsh: “Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to the dogs.” By “children” Jesus means the chosen people of Israel; by “dogs” he means the non-Jewish Gentiles. His word here for dogs means little dogs or even puppies; but it is not flattering, to the Gentiles in general or the woman in particular.[2]
Surprise! The woman receives Jesus’ word and turns the tables. We might imagine her still in her position. “Yes, Lord: yet even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” Surprise again! Jesus immediately, apparently gladly, capitulates. “For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” And when she got home, she found her daughter healed, lying on the bed.
From there Jesus went elsewhere into Gentile country, as we heard, and healed a man who was a deaf mute, and the crowd exclaimed, “He has done all things well…” But today let us stay with the Syrophoenician woman. Interestingly, there is a later, post-New Testament, memory of the woman and her daughter in Church tradition, and they even have names; the woman, known as Justa, and her daughter, known as Berenice.[3] This may indicate that they became ongoing disciples of Jesus.
Among other things, what is of importance here is the engagement of the woman, out of her great need, with the Lord. In this engagement, at least two things are evident. The first is what Jesus regards as the real issue of cleanliness, which is not the external washing of rituals but rather the cleansing of the heart and soul. The second, which follows closely, is the crossing of ritual boundaries, through the grace of faith, all through this episode. Jesus has gone outside Jewish country into Gentile territory to find rest. A Gentile woman nevertheless finds him, falls down before him and presents her desperate situation. Jesus puts her off; it would seem in part to test her, since normally he knew full well what he would do. In any case, she more than passes the test, and Jesus readily gives her what she asks.[4]
By flipping Jesus’ saying about dogs, the Gentile woman shows that she is in fact a true Israelite, a child of the Kingdom, by striving with the Lord. The very name, Israel, was after all the new name given to the Patriarch Jacob after he had wrestled all night with an angel of the Lord. “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel,” said the angel, “for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Gen 32: 24-32) Israel means he who strives with God, or God strives. The woman in our Gospel was a spiritual member of the family, one of the children of Israel. She strove with God and man and prevailed.
The woman is also a part of our Communion service; namely the Prayer of Humble Access, where we reference her grappling with Christ: We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table. Yes, but thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. And we bank on that.
To return briefly to the issue of cleanliness: Jesus’ excursion into Gentile country, leaving behind a ritual dispute with the Pharisees, not only includes the Gentiles as children of God’s kingdom by faith and desire. It also reflects back a judgment against those members of Israel (read also those members of the visible Church) who regard their membership as a credentialed entitlement. Saint Augustine, commenting on this Gospel, said those who would exclude such as the Syrophoenician woman are themselves in danger of being cut off, for by cutting out one of the true children they thereby they exclude themselves.[5]
And here a word about rituals. Jesus did not debunk ritual. He actually instituted some, notably Baptism and the Eucharist. His point against the Pharisees was that they had the cart before the horse – external actions before internal humility and faith.
So for us it remains not only to see that the woman was fed at Jesus’ table, but also to see by what means she got there. She sought; she knocked; she asked; she strove; and for this she received. Christ told her that for this she could go her way in peace. And it is clear that the Evangelist means for her to be an example to the rest of us.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] John R. Donahue, SJ and Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, The Gospel of Mark, Sacra Pagina Series, p. 233.
[2] Ibid, pp. 233-234.
[3] Ibid.
[4] In Saint Matthew’s account of the same story, Jesus praises the woman for her great faith. (Mt 15:21-28)
[5] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT II, Mark, Thomas C. Oden, General Editor, p. 102.
