Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity Mark 7:24-end Isaiah 35:4-7a

When Jesus went away for a while after saying and doing some tricky things, he might not have had a somewhat strange encounter in mind. Or might he? Mark’s account says that he went to the region of Tyre, and that he didn’t want anyone to know he was there. But he couldn’t escape notice. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him soon enough and came and bowed down at his feet. Now the thing about this was that the woman was Syrophoenician, Greek, a Gentile, so not Jewish. The insulting name of the Jews for Gentiles was ‘dogs’, and what the Gentiles said about the Jews was equally unpleasant. And although Jesus challenges her in response to her plea on behalf of her daughter, by saying that ‘it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs’, she uses it to her advantage. She replies, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Jesus is pleased and commends her for her answer and grants her what she has asked for. Now we may think that this was just a bit of banter going on and some clever correcting and rebuking both ways. We may even think Jesus was being a bit harsh and out of character. But then we miss the point.

God’s plan of salvation was for the whole world but this was to happen through the Jewish people and then to reach the Gentiles after Jesus had completed his unique assignment. The ‘food or bread’ of salvation that Jesus was going to offer had to be given in the context of Israel’s history, and then the Gentiles would be able to profit. The woman seems to get it or in any case, she shows great faith.

In what follows is another moment of healing, when Jesus returned from there and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. A deaf man was brought to him who had impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He does so in private, away from the crowd. This healing of a deaf-mute is symbolic of a general restoration of hearing and speech that confirms the movement of renewal and that the Kingdom of God has extended to the peoples around Israel. It is resonant of the prophecy in Isaiah 35 that says: ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; etc.’ It is about the long-awaited rescue plan of God coming near.

These two incidents are a reminder that Jesus wasn’t just a good person, going around to be helpful. Everything he says and does has meaning. Some of his words were certainly controversial and upset the established religious authorities as well as some of his hearers. But then, we shouldn’t see Jesus as a cosy, meek and mild problem-solver; he had something much more important to do and only a certain amount of time. His calling to be the Messiah would take him to the cross and there was too much at stake to allow himself to be distracted from his ultimate task. And we should not be distracted either. We too have a role to play as bearers of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ. What Mark had written up for all of Jesus’ followers had been seen by the disciples and passed on as of the utmost importance. The healing message of the Gospel was to spread as widely as possible and that included the wiping away of old taboos. Worries about what was clean and what was unclean had to go. The dogs under the table would become children of God, just like the first – Jewish – disciples. At the top of the cross these words would be written: The King of the Jews. He is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour of the world. Amen.