Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-37

Jesus is not interested in a popular movement. It takes genuine efforts to not become a pop star figure; rather, He engages people at a much deeper level. This woman comes to him and she is everything that culturally could be wrong with a person. She is a woman, a Greek and religiously she has it wrong. The presence of a demon in her daughter requires us to think about how demons arrive in a person's life, we need to answer questions of spiritual authority. This is not the time for that in detail, but we can assume that in some way the demon had received an invitation. In some way the parents or the woman had joined with the powers of darkness. Now they were in a fix. What we give to demons they do not willingly release. But complete hopelessness can be a pretty good motivator. She knows she can make no claims on Jesus and He reminds her of that and in her approach to God in flesh, that's a pretty good thing to remember. Yes, we are adopted; yes, He loves us deeply. However, acknowledging that we have no claims on Him and being grateful are different from the presumptuousness that we often see. Her acknowledgement of not being able to make a claim on Him while having faith both in His capacity and His grace is the answer that so impressed Him.

Jesus next heals a man with both the inability to hear and a speech impediment. There are three key points: First, Jesus takes the man out of the crowd. Jesus again wants to work with the individual not mass people movements. Secondly, Jesus sighs. Why did Jesus sigh? Was it relief? Was it fatigue? Was it a comforting moment for Him? It could be that it was because it felt good for Him to bring relief to suffering people. Third, despite His warning, the people that Jesus healed could not resist telling others about him. Is our silence the result of our not understanding the importance of the healing He has done for us?

We sometimes get fixated on the wrong point of this passage. We focus on the description by Jesus of the woman. We try to parse, to examine, to understand, the implications that Jesus called her a dog. What we need to focus on is the woman herself. She comes with the attitude that, “I bring nothing to this relationship and have nothing to offer, but will accept your grace.” And we need to emulate the attitude of the man Jesus healed that "my life is so shaped and so changed by Jesus I can't stop talking about it."

"Lord, help me live in humble gratitude knowing I bring nothing to you except my thanks and love. AMEN"

Mark 7:1-23

Mark 7:1-23

It seems unlikely that the Pharisees came from Jerusalem just to address the issue of ceremonial washing; but then again, uptight Jews are pretty unpredictable. The conflict is really about the rituals’ place in religious life. What role do the rituals of faith play in our everyday lives? It is entirely possible for our rituals of faith which began as an honest expression of faith can become as important as our faith and finally eclipse our faith altogether. To make the sign of the cross isn't a bad thing. But if the ACT becomes as important as the cross itself and then if in a superstitious way we imagine the ritual has power itself, we have made a grave error. We do not have the man made precept “Corban” in our lives today, but we can easily elevate our human intentions to the level that we think they are primary. The problem is we don't realize we have done so. We grow up with something and we assume that it is true and right and Biblical. It never occurs to us that what we do is only a man-made tradition. That is why keeping check on our heart is so important. The passage is less about traditions and ceremonial washings and dietary laws than it is about a heart check. If the heart is right, we will honor God with our actions and even our rituals. If our heart is not right, all the rituals in the world will not change it. If our heart is right, we cannot help but live out that faith which may sometimes include rituals of that faith. If it is not right then the ritual it is only a façade.

Lord, please help me to never allow rituals to replace a heart committed to You. AMEN"