It's Not Just The Way It Is

REFLECTIONS
September 6, 2009

Mark 7:24-37 contains two stories of healing. Jesus is in the region of Tyre. He enters a home seeking some quiet and rest, having just argued with the Pharisees over tradition and cultural practice. He tells them plainly in verse eight “You leave plainly the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” The text records that immediately (a word Mark used more than any other Gospel writer) a woman appears at the door begging that Jesus heal her young daughter who is demon possessed. The story tells us she is a Syrophoenician and a woman. For these reasons alone Jesus would normally have nothing to do with her. In fact he refers to the possibility of attending to her needs as an act of throwing the food for the children of Israel to the dogs. The woman persists arguing that even dogs deserve crumbs which have fallen from the table. In verse twenty-nine Jesus says, “For saying that, you may go- the demon has left your daughter.” When the woman went home she found her daughter healed. Vs30

The other story in this passage finds Jesus in the region of the Decapolis. (a federation of ten cities in eastern Palestine) Here people bring to Jesus a man who is deaf and has a speech impediment. They beg him to heal the man. Jesus takes the man aside and heals him in private. Jesus then commands those witnessing the healing to remain quiet about it. They of course do not.

These healing stories appear in a slightly different form in Matthew 14:21-28. In Mark they appear between very public feeding miracles found in chapter six and eight. The significance seems to be that in the face of cultural norms and practices, the love of God pushes us to move in mercy. In both the healing stories in Mark it appears at first glance that Jesus is reluctant to heal. However, when pressed his emphasis in always loving kindness. In a liturgy from the 1964 Methodist Hymnal there is a Communion prayer which parallels the woman’s response in Mark. “We do not presume to come to this thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to partake of this Sacrament of thy Son, Jesus Christ, that we may walk in newness of life, may grow into his likeness, and may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen” (p832)

What is so powerful in the words from Mark is the simple fact they show Jesus changing his mind. When given the option of judging the woman as unclean and unworthy because she is female and a foreigner, Jesus will not do so. When given the opportunity to make a spectacle of healing Jesus chooses to keep it quiet. Each of us with more than ten minutes service in the Church have some very concrete ideas as to the what and how of church organization in general and spiritual practice in specifics. What we see in the model of Jesus is a fluidity of faith and practice which confuses and frightens us if we are honest.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald
First United Methodist Church
4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601