Mark 7:24-37
“Crossing Boundaries”
“Crossing Boundaries”
This Sabbath may we visualize walls, fences, oceans, rivers, streams, and mountains, or any other of many objects, which create boundaries or borders?
Robert Frost in one of his poems observes, “Good fences make good neighbors.” I think that walls, borders, and boundaries are all necessary, and that all sometimes outlive their usefulness. It is important to give children firm boundaries: Don’t cross the street by yourself; be home at five; and so on. But the strongest walls or boundaries that we encounter are probably not physical but cultural and psychological: black and white, male and female, rich and poor. So it was in Jesus’ day. In this Sabbath’s reading Jesus crosses both geographical and cultural boundaries.
Mark begins by telling us that Jesus “went away to the region of Tyre” (verse 24). In other words, Jesus left the historical borders of Israel and entered a non-Jewish area. Did he do it deliberately after the confrontation about hand washing? I do not really know, but it is interesting to speculate about the leaders’ misplaced priority, Jesus’ strong reaction, and Jesus’ deliberate withdrawal from the Jewish community and entry into the Gentile territory. No sooner had he entered Tyre than he encountered the first character in this Sabbath’s reading – the Syrophoenician woman. Jesus’ encounter with this nameless woman involved crossing three boundaries – race, religion, and gender.
Mark refers to the woman as a Syrophoenician; the Gospel of Matthew identifies her as a Canaanite in Matthew 15:21-28. In other words, she was one of the indigenous peoples of Palestine. She was one of the original inhabitants who had not been driven out in the Israelite conquest. History tells us little about the Canaanites, but what is does tell us is not very appealing. When Israel marched into Canaan in the 13th or 12th Century BCE, the Canaanites were agrarian town dwellers with some industry. They were able to forge weapons out of bronze. They worshiped gods and goddesses associated with the seasons of the year and principally sought the help from the gods with agricultural and human fertility. A prominent feature of their religion was the use of temple prostitutes, but perhaps the most disgusting feature of Canaanite religion was child sacrifice.
Not only did the barriers of race and religion separate Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman; the more fundamental barrier of gender separated them. A Jewish man would not touch a woman outside his immediate family; he would not even talk with one. Do you recall the amazement of the disciples in John 4 when they see Jesus conversing with the Samaritan by the well? “They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman . . .“ (John 4:27).
I believe the most interesting feature of this story, however, is that it is the Syrophoenician woman who crossed the boundaries of race, religion, and gender – not Jesus. Jesus merely crossed a geographical border; the cultural frontiers she crossed were much more daunting. She came to him inside the house where Jesus was hiding (?), she spoke first, she would not take “no” for an answer, and she cleverly turned an apparent insult to her advantage.
The second encounter is this Sabbath’s reading is very different. The barrier of gender is not involved but the other boundaries are still present – geography, race, and religion. It adds, however, the barrier of physical limitations – deafness and a severe speech impediment.
The man who was deaf and mute also was a Gentile. Jesus encountered him in the Decapolis, a federation of ten Greco-Roman towns in the northeastern corner of Palestine. Like the Syrophoenician woman, he was in desperate need, but he was unable to help himself. This man is completely passive. Friends bring him to Jesus and beg Jesus to help him.
Also, remember that neither the woman nor the people asked for anything for themselves. The woman was an advocate for her daughter, the people for the deaf and mute man. This recalls the important role of intercession and advocacy through prayer and through public social action.
How different the two characters are! The Syrophoenician woman is quick-witted, courageous, persistent and assertive. She takes Jesus’ apparent insult about not throwing the children’s bread to the dogs and turns it to her advantage. The man is completely inert.
Sometimes the Gospels hold up a mirror to our lives. What do these two stories tell us first, about ourselves and second, our relationship with Jesus? Where do we see ourselves in these stories? Of the two persons Jesus helped, I would prefer to be the Syrophoenician woman. She is the desperate outsider taking a chance on getting a hearing from the itinerant Jewish miracle worker. She risks rejection and rebuke by going directly up to Jesus and pleading her case for her daughter. I admire her chutzpah! I would like to imagine myself to be the outsider with a bit of an edge who defies convention and won’t take no for an answer.
It is more difficult for me to imagine being the man who was deaf and mute. He seems unable to speak for himself. He doesn’t come to Jesus on his own; others bring him to Jesus. This man is at odds with the self-image most of us have. We visualize ourselves as independent and resourceful, not passive and dependent upon others. We like to believe that we can speak up for our selves, not be tongue-tied.
I wonder if we are meant to see this woman and man as two halves of a whole. They do not represent different kinds of people; they represent all of us at different times in our lives. Sometimes we are strong and resourceful like the woman, but at other times we may be weak and passive like the man. Furthermore, no matter how strong and assertive we may be now, if we live long enough, the day will come when we will need others to carry us to those who can help us, and to plead our case. And that may be the most difficult wall to break down – the image we see of ourselves as strong, independent people who do not need help. We think and talk about this prospect at home and our sons and daughters-in-law have brought the subject up that we are getting older in several different and not exactly subtle ways.
Whether we are male or female, strong or weak, bold or shy, Jesus has broken down the barriers. He welcomes us, frees, us, and sends us on our way wide-eyed and wondering: “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” (verse 37). Amen!
PRAYER: Healing God, we thank you for the examples of the foreign woman and the foreign man who were considered outsiders whom Jesus encountered. May we ever be challenged to continue to be persistent in the ministry of intercession and advocating for others who need your healing, care and help. Open our eyes and our hearts to be attentive, we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
