Mark 7:24-37

In the Land of the Gentiles - Both of our stories for this Sunday occur in Gentile land and will reach their summit in chapter 8 with the feeding of the Gentile multitude. Both of the stories before us-the healing of a womyn’s daughter and the man who could not hear or speak-are symbols of God’s desire to break down barriers that obtrude into mission. In the stories, Jesus breaks down geographical, ethnic, physical, and sexual barriers. [1]

Foreigner Among Us - In the first story, we encounter the only character in Mark-an outsider-who wins an argument against Jesus and in the process teaches him something important about the scope of his ministry. Her counter assertion wins the womyn what she has come for-the healing of her daughter. [2]

Final Word - In both of these stories Jesus heals with the power of the word. "The demon has left your daughter!" says Jesus, and it is so! (Mark 7:29). Ephphatha . . . Be opened!" Jesus said, "and immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released and he spoke plainly" (Mark 7:34-35). These are proclamatory words of Jesus. You may wish to consider structuring your sermon on these stories in such a way that the congregation hears Jesus’ words of proclamation and healing as words spoken to them. [3]

 

What connection may the writer have wanted to make between what occurs in Mark 7:1-23 and the two stories which follow? Why?

If you suddenly lost your ability to speak and to hear, what word, what sound would you most miss saying? Hearing? What would you like Jesus to help you hear or say?

What is Mark’s point in including these two missional stories?

 

Richard Jensen offers two homiletical possibilities for this lesson. [4] First, weave a sermon around the theme of "Unnamed Women of Faith." The women in Mark’s gospel that fit such a description are the womyn in Mark 5 with the hemorrhage, today’s Syropheonician womyn, and the unnamed womyn of Mark 14 who demonstrates deep spiritual insight when even the closest disciples don’t get it.

A second possibility is the focus on the role of the community in bringing people to faith. In the first story, a womyn brings a daughter to Jesus and he heals the daughter in light of the womyn’s faith; in Mark 7:31-37, friends bring a man to Jesus and he heals the man in light of the faith of the man’s community! You could also move to the 2nd chapter where the community brings the paralytic to Jesus. When Jesus "saw their faith, he said . . ." The learning point: faith has a communal nature. The church gathered is a community of faithful people.

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[1] Richard A. Jensen, Preaching Mark’s Gospel (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Co., 1996), page 123.
[2] The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), p. 1822.
[3] Jensen, page 125.
[4] Jensen, pp. 125-128.