ACC ~ Mark 7 v24 - 30

OVERVIEW:

The Lord’s compassion was awakened by the tenacity of the Syrophoenician woman’s supplications (CHRYSOSTOM). The plain sense of “the borders of Tyre” differs from its spiritual sense, which is that sinning after baptismal confession returns one to the outskirts of belief (ORIGEN). In this text the Lord promises to women the same respect and dignity as men (TERTULLIAN). We separate ourselves from the people of God by pretentious attempts to differentiate those who are good from those who are evil (AUGUSTINE). God does not respond inflexibly to our every supplication (AMBROSE). It pleased God that the Word be revealed in Jesus as displaying the ordinary limitations of human willing (JOHN OF DAMASCUS). The bread of the Word is offered to those who are inwardly prepared by the Spirit to receive it, not to the impulsive or the unprepared (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA).

7:24a | He Withdrew to the Region of Tyre and Sidon

THE PLAIN SENSE OF THE TEXT

ORIGEN: He withdrew, perhaps because the Pharisees were offended when they heard that “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.” [1] … It is probable that he sought to avoid the Pharisees, who were offended at his teaching, while he was waiting for the time of his impending suffering—a time suitably and duly appointed. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.16. [2]

[1] Mt 15:18.

[2] TLG 2042.029, 11.16.6-8, 13-16; ANF 9:444*. He withdrew temporarily to Tyre to avoid offending the Pharisees.

A SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION

ORIGEN: The Gentiles, those who dwell on the borders, can be saved if they believe. … Think of it this way: Each of us when he sins is living on the borders of Tyre or Sidon or of Pharaoh and Egypt. They are on the borders of those who are outside the inheritance of God. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.16. [1]

[1] TLG 2042.029, 11.16.30-31, 43-46; ANF 9:445*. To sin after confession of faith is to return to the outskirts of belief.

7:24b | He Could Not Be Hid

WAS JESUS POWERLESS TO KEEP HIS IDENTITY AS GOD-MAN CONCEALED?

JOHN OF DAMASCUS: His divine will was all-powerful, yet it was said that he was unable to conceal himself when he willed to. Why? It was while willing within the limits of his humanity that he was [voluntarily] subject to the limitations of the flesh. As a human he possessed the common human ability to will. … The sanctification of his will did not occur by circumventing his natural volition but by uniting his will with the divine and almighty will, as the will of God incarnate. Hence when he wished to be hid, he could not do so of himself, [1] because it pleased God that the Word be revealed in himself as having the limitations of human willing. THE ORTHODOX FAITH 3.17. [2]

[1] Mk 7:24.

[2] TLG 2934.004, 58.101-103; 61.24-30; FC 37:300, 317**. Jesus’ human will is portrayed as freely uniting with the divine will without changing or replacing its reality as limited human willing (fleshly, limited, circumscribed willing), and in this sense his humanity “could not be concealed.” Hence Jesus was unwilling to conceal his human willing, his subjection to the limitations of the flesh.

7:26a | The Woman Was a Greek

THE SAME MORAL DIGNITY IN BOTH GENDERS

TERTULLIAN: For you, as women, have the very same angelic nature promised [1] as your reward, the very same sexual respect as men. You have the same dignity in making moral judgments. This the Lord promises to women. ON THE APPAREL OF WOMEN 1.2. [2]

[1] Mt 22:30; Mk 12:25; Lk 20:35-36; Gal 3:28.

[2] Cetedoc 0011, 1.2.43; ANF 4:15. This Gentile woman had the same dignity accorded by God to men.

7:26b | She Begged Him

ELICITING THE LORD’S COMPASSION

CHRYSOSTOM: Have you not heard of the Syrophoenician woman? By the constancy of her entreaty, she elicited the Lord’s compassion. HOMILY 24, ON EPHESIANS. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 13:169; TLG 2062.159, 62.172.24-26. So it is with our petitions.

7:27a | Let the Children Be Fed First

THE EQUITY OF DIVINE RESPONSIVENESS

AMBROSE: If God invariably listened to every supplicant equally, he might appear to us to act from some necessity rather than from his own free will. ON THE MYSTERIES 1.3. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0157, 1.65.242.7; FC 44:6**; cf. GMI 168.

7:27b | Not Right to Take the Children’s Bread and Throw It to the Dogs

DILUTING THE PURE STREAM OF DIVINITY

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Those who possess the Holy Spirit search out “the deep places of God” [1] —in other words, they attain the hidden secrets that surround prophecy. But it is forbidden to share holy things with dogs, as long as they remain wild. It is never appropriate to dilute the pure stream of divinity, the living water, [2] for interests that are full of malice, disturbed persons, still without faith, who are unrestrained in barking at the hunt. STROMATEIS 2.2. [3]

[1] 1 Cor 2:9-10.

[2] Cf. Jn 4:10.

[3] FC 85:161*; TLG 0555.004, 2.2.7.3.4-8.1.15.

7:28 | Even the Dogs Under the Table Eat the Children’s Crumbs

DANGERS OF DISCIPLINARY EXCESS

AUGUSTINE: Some people, intent on severe disciplinary precepts, admonish us to rebuke the restless and not to give what is holy to dogs, [1] to consider a despiser of the church as a heathen, [2] to cut off from the unified structure of the body the member who causes scandal. [3] These may so disturb the peace of the church that they try prematurely to separate out the wheat from the chaff [4] before the proper time, and blinded by this pretext, they themselves then become separated from the unity of Christ. FAITH AND WORKS 4.6. [5]

[1] cf. Mt 7:6; 15:26.

[2] Mt 18:17.

[3] Mt 5:30; 18:8-9; Mk 9:42-48.

[4] Mt 13:29-30.

[5] Cetedoc 0294, 4.6.41.9; FC 27:227**.

7:29 | The Demon Has Left Your Daughter

THE MOTHER’S PERSISTENCE

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: She was crying out [as] she was following after him, “Have mercy on me.” But he did not reply to her. [1] The silence of our Lord elicited an even deeper cry by the Canaanite woman. He who was spurned by Israel spurned her by his silence, but she did not give up. Though neglected, she did not hold back. On the contrary, she again humbled herself and again magnified Israel, by [her words], “Even the dogs eat from their masters’ [crumbs],” [2] as though the Jews were masters of the Gentiles. His disciples therefore drew near and begged him to send her away. [3] … She was not ashamed, to her own benefit, of the name of dogs. Therefore [he said], “Great is your faith, O woman.” [4] COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON. [5]

[1] Mt 15:22-23.

[2] Mt 15:27.

[3] Cf. Mt 15:23.

[4] Mt 15:28.

[5] JSSS 2:196-97*.