Two Teachers, One Powerful Message - Mark 7:24-37

Do you remember first day of school jitters? Maybe some of you have had those recently, and I hope that you’re feeling more in the swing of things than you were on the first day. I remember that one of the biggest things to worry about was who your teacher or teachers would be. Would you like them, and would they like you? How demanding would they be, how hard do they grade, and how would you do their class? Even in the lower stakes of continuing education, I can still have those first day worries until I get a sense of the teacher. Once you know who’s guiding you, you can settle in as a student and get to work.

You and I are pretty accustomed to thinking of Jesus as our teacher in this place. Unless today is the very first time you’re hearing about him, we’ve already settled in to hear what he has to say to us. We’ve come to anticipate certain lessons from him - like loving our neighbors, welcoming the stranger, and showing mercy. Hearing those again never gets old. One of the great joys of circling back through scripture again and again is noticing something different each time - perhaps a nuance, or a new insight into your own life, or an invitation to change course on something important. Things can feel both familiar and new. And so, on a day like this when we celebrate the beginning of a new season of Christian formation here at the church, we can settle in already knowing the teacher and looking forward to the work ahead. No first day jitters required.

Except, on this back to school Sunday, in an unexpected biblical twist, there are two teachers in the room. For a moment, Jesus’ attention is turned away from his disciples and everyone else in the lecture hall, and we overhear his conversation with the Syrophoenician woman. It’s surprising that she’s here, and even more surprising that she’s going head to head with Jesus. She is an outsider, a Greek-speaking Gentile, and a woman, in other words, a person with no business talking to Jesus. She doesn’t even have a name, though tradition will come to call her Justa, from the Latin for just. She has come to Jesus to ask for healing for her daughter who is tormented by a demon.

Her presence in the room is more than a little surprising, but then comes Jesus’ response. He calls her a dog, a common ethnic slur at the time. "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs,” he says. This is not the Jesus, or the teacher, we think we know. We should definitely sit up and pay closer attention in class now.

Over the ages, scholars have tried to clean up Jesus in this exchange, by suggesting that the word he uses for dog is in the diminutive, meaning something more like “little puppy.” Or that he is tired and it’s kind of an off day. Or that he is using the insult with a wink or a twinkle in his eye, about to have a teaching moment. Or maybe the woman is a wealthy urbanite, and Jesus is annoyed by her distraction when there are so many in his care already who have much greater need. But there isn’t evidence for any of these suggestions. To me, the most compelling argument is from a scholar who said it perfectly: Jesus has been caught with his compassion down.

From our perspective as students, what happens next is classroom gold. I mean, it’s always awesome when the teachers get into a debate with each other, leaving the students off the hook for a moment as we watch. The Syrophoenician woman is persistent, and her rebuttal is smart. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And with those words, she has won the argument. Jesus doesn’t have the last word as he usually does, and he changes his mind. This is the only place in the Gospels where that happens. He tells her to go, the demon has left her daughter. We all watch her leave the room, amazed at what has just happened.

As students of Jesus and now the Syrophoenician woman, too, we have to ask why Mark is telling us this story. Why include such an unflattering view of the one you’re saying is the messiah? Fortunately, the great New Testament scholar Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza has done some research on this for us. She argues that the Syrophoenician woman has changed history. Take a look at the chapter before this one. Mark recounts the feeding of the 5,000, in which there were 12 baskets of leftovers, a symbol of the 12 tribes of Israel. And in the chapter after today’s scene, there is another feeding story, only this time with seven baskets of leftovers. 7 is the symbol for all the nations. Because of the Syrophoenician woman’s persistence, Jesus has come to understand that his ministry is not only to the Jews but also to Gentiles, and to the world. What started as a local call has become global, thanks to her.

Now, if you are looking for a research paper topic for the end of this course, you might look into why Matthew and Mark tell this story but Luke does not. Luke seems pretty invested in having Peter and Paul be the ones who will figure out that the new Christian movement is open to Gentiles. Interesting reading list there if you’re so inclined. But for today, we are simply blessed to watch our two teachers have this historic debate, and to watch Jesus’ heart expand in real time as a result.

After today’s lesson, some question may emerge for the students. These will serve us well as guiding questions for this new year of formation. For example, what slurs do we carry around about particular people? Are there demons in our lives that need to be cast out? Or, and this one is the trickiest, have our hearts become hardened in ways we’re barely aware of? We’ve got two strong teachers in the room ready to show us a better way and a more open heart. And be ready to take notes, because Jesus is already off to the next healing encounter, to restore a man’s speech and hearing. Notice that the first thing Jesus says after today’s debate is to that man, with the words, “Be opened.”

I think “Be Opened” is a remarkable theme to use for our new year. It speaks to each of us on our Christian journey, to the ways we are called to follow Jesus and expand our our hearts. And it speaks to us as a community of faith. There are changes ahead through our master plan. We will quite literally open up the parish house through renovations, thus opening our congregation and the downtown community to one another in new and important ways. It is exciting and faithful work, which will also undoubtedly have challenging days, too. Let’s keep Jesus’ experience with the Syrophoenician woman and his own words close to us, to be opened. I’m excited to see what our teachers would have us learn.