Luther Seminary

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Archives for September 3, 2021

Friday, September 3, 2021

Mark 7:24-37 (NRSV)

Read Mark 7:24-37 on biblegateway.com

Verse 24From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, Verse 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Verse 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. Verse 27He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." Verse 28But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Verse 29Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-the demon has left your daughter." Verse 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Verse 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. Verse 32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. Verse 33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Verse 34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Verse 35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Verse 36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. Verse 37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Devotion

Though the writer of Mark does not specifically say so, the deaf and semi-mute man is also likely a Gentile like the woman, since the Decapolis region is outside the boundaries of Israel. Jesus heals him. Then—take note—Jesus orders them to “tell no one.” Yet the more he insists on secrecy, the more enthusiastically they tell others.

Here is something counter-intuitive to conventional thinking: Jesus showed no interest in creating a mass movement. Crowds were never important to him as a measure of his ministry. He acts like an anti-evangelist. Why? I wonder if it is that popularity is fickle and should not be trusted? That the quality of encounter is lost in crowds and movements? That the power of transformation occurs in more hidden places? Or all of these?

Jesus takes the man away from all the others. There the healing occurs. When others realize it, he tells them—futilely—to keep quiet about it.

Prayer

Gracious God, most of our churches are in no present danger of massive crowds. Help us avoid the false senses of success or failure from our numbers. Give us the power of yeast and mustard seeds to do the hidden, life-giving work we can always do. Amen.

John Marboe ’98 M.Div. Pastor, Zion Lutheran Church. St. Paul, MN