But She Answered Him (PiA)

Isaiah 35:4-7a

4Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 

"Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, 

He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. 

He will come and save you."

5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

And the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6Then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert.

7the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Mark 7:24-30

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, 25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 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." 28But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go - the demon has left your daughter." 30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

We're dealing with a prophet. A prophet speaks on God's behalf.

In Western Culture, we've inherited the tradition of oracles and soothsayers from ancient Greece, and often we use the word prophet to refer to someone who tells the future. They make forecasts and their skill as a "prophet" is shown through how accurate they are. But the prophetic tradition of ancient Israel isn't about telling the future. We're not dealing with a fortune teller in these passages.

We're dealing with a prophet. A prophet speaks on God's behalf.

A prophet looks out at the world, full of empires and nations and powerful armies, and has the boldness to speak to the people. A prophet speaks on God's behalf and reminds us that authority doesn't come from the tip of a spear or the barrel of a firearm or from titles and accolades. A prophet speaks on God's behalf and reminds people that the LORD is God, and he rules the world with truth and grace.

We're dealing with a prophet.

The prophet Isaiah wrote during the time before the Babylonian exile. Kings came and went as empires fought over who would control what we now call the middle east. Syrians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Israelites, and Judahites all fought to control that relatively small corner of the world.

As armies marched across the countryside, and kings and generals sent men to kill each other, setting themselves up with absolute control, the prophet Isaiah spoke up. This prophet tells the poor and the oppressed that these kings and generals and rulers do not have absolute authority, the LORD does. "Say to those of a fearful heart, here is your God."

We're dealing with a prophet who will not let any empire stand between God and the people of God. The commanders and chieftains declare that they have the power and authority, and that all should support them or get out. Corrupt and petty demagogues sell stories of greatness but deliver only cruelty and disappointment. Isaiah, the prophet, speaks on God’s behalf, telling a different story than the one the people are accustomed to hearing.

Isaiah tells them that they have hope in the LORD. "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” To the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, this hope is beyond belief. All they have heard are stories of war, all they have seen are unjust rulers and worldly powers. Yet we’re dealing with a prophet who speaks on God’s behalf. This prophet looks at the royal powers traipsing across the landscape and reminds them who the true king is: the LORD of Hosts. The empires who rage tell each other that “My god can beat up your god,” and the people are caught in the middle. So Isaiah reminds them that the LORD GOD is here, with vengeance and terrible recompense for all who have dealt unjustly with his beloved people.

We’re dealing with a prophet. who else would declare this unbelievable hope in the face of such violence. Yet Isaiah tells them a story of what is to come, “then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf unstopped; Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” Isaiah tells a story like that of the land flowing with milk and honey, a story of the desert blooming, of wasteland turned into life. “For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.”

We’re dealing with a prophet. A prophet speaks on God’s behalf. The prophet Isaiah gives the people hope that in the midst of death and suffering, there can be healing and life from the absolute sovereignty of God.

Jesus has come to the region of Tyre. He's on the outskirts of Jewish culture, taking a break from the constant stream of healings and teachings that follow him everywhere he goes in Galilee. There's no indication that the disciples have come with him, there's no image of a crowd following him, as is mentioned in so many other places in Mark. He's in a house, outside his element, trying to take a break from his mission to proclaim the good news of God to the Children of Israel. Perhaps Mark is showing us that Jesus was weary, perhaps he was frustrated at the scribes and Pharisees and his own disciples, all of whom either didn’t understand his message or resisted it when they did understand it.

“But a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin.” We don’t know her name, we don’t know how long she had sought a solution for her daughter’s suffering. We don’t know her station in life or what happened after she left Christ’s presence. But we know, in this story, that we’re dealing with a prophet.

Jesus’s conversation with this woman has troubled students of scripture probably since it was written down. “She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He 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.’" Jesus dismisses her, and her daughter’s suffering, for reasons at which we can only guess. It’s troubling. An outsider calls to Jesus with a legitimate request, and he pushes her away with hurtful language.

But she answered him.

But she answered him. She called back to him with the kind of anguish that only the parent of a suffering child can speak. She cried out to Jesus to help her little daughter, and her answer seems to change Jesus’s mind.

We're dealing with a prophet.

The Word of the LORD came to an unnamed Syrophoenician mother, and she went to find the Word made Flesh, knowing that he could heal her little one. He initially refused, but she answered him.

When she calls back to Jesus, she is doing so in the same way that a prophet answers God. Not only do prophet’s speak on God’s behalf to the people, they also speak on behalf of the people, crying out in anguish. "It is the courage of the woman to confront Jesus that changes him, just as it is the courage of Israel to demand justice from God that moves God to respond, keeping with the prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Bible.” This woman is a prophet, through whom God is speaking.This woman’s prophetic call shows Jesus that his mission is to more than the Jews, Christ is the savior of all the world, he is the embodiment of the Word of God that frees people from their slavery to sin and death, and gives us all everlasting hope. God’s grace starts in Jerusalem and crosses every social boundary and human border. Not even the tomb can contain God’s love. There are no children who are outside Jesus’s jurisdiction.

Scripture teaches us, and the church has long testified, that Christ is without sin. Having a limited view is not sin, provided you’re wiling to open your vision when God shows you something new. Learning something new is not a sin, and Jesus never stopped listening for the voice of his father, even when it came out of the mouth of a foreign-born prophetess. She answered him. “Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go - the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” For her answer, she is freed, and so is her daughter, from the suffering that had held them in bondage. The power of Christ sets us free, and this woman’s prophetic utterance calls us to share that hope with the whole world.

We’re dealing with a prophet. A prophet speaks on God’s behalf. In these days of polarized pundits, the Church is uniquely placed to live into the prophetic hope we have inherited from this Christian narrative, and reach out to all peoples in love, in compassion. “The woman’s boldness inspires us to be bold in our prayers…Even through our basic principle is ‘your will be done,’ we must not prematurely abandon our prayers for healing, thinking they are futile.”

The God of hope can speak through anyone, even an unnamed Syrophoenician mother. The Lord of hosts calls us all to himself, promising us a future filled with joy. The Church of Jesus Christ, which I’m grateful to say includes all of us, lives because we have seen deserts bloom in the past. We have seen that the tomb is empty. We have inherited these narratives and this prophetic tradition that keeps us holding on to hope, even when we face rejection, even when we face death. Prophets tell us how God at the center of our story, therefore our journey is worth celebrating in bold accord. We have seen the resurrection, and we know that we can sing, O Church, in joy.