Luther Seminary

A daily devotion brought to you by the alumni of Luther Seminary

Thursday, September 5, 2024

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

How do we grasp this puzzling story before us? Some preachers might conclude, “I think I’ll preach on the Psalms text this week!”

The petitioner is a woman and a Gentile. That’s already two strikes. And besides Jesus is weary from travel and wants to be left alone. So, what are we to think when Jesus responds to the woman’s pleading for her daughter by calling her a “dog?”

Many have tried to explain away this reaction of Jesus. “Hangry” we say, so he lashed out. But there must be a reason that Mark included this less than elegant image of the Savior in his gospel. So maybe it’s just this: that the Son of God really was fully human and fully divine. That’s all I’ve got.

But let the record show that, after the woman pushed back at Jesus, his last words to her were magnificent. “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”

Fully gracious!

Prayer

Dear Jesus, I know the feeling of an unanswered prayer. Honestly, it can sting. But when I come to trust that you are God and I am not, you reveal your plan, and it usually exceeds what I asked of you. Your wisdom, Jesus, humbles me, and for this I am grateful. Amen.

Steve Molin ‘75 M.A., ‘82 M.Div. Retired


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