Is this woman unclean? Mark 7
In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who were bothered by the disciples not ritually washing their hands before they ate, which was a tradition of the Pharisees. This isn’t a command in Scripture. It is an extension added to the law taught by certain Jewish elders.
This led to a discussion about what makes a person clean or unclean. Jesus challenges the Pharisees’ position on purity, and then turns to teach his position to the crowd-
“there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile” (Mark 7:15).
It isn’t that the practice of washing hands before they eat is bad, but Jesus emphasizes a deeper moral purity over ritual purity. This is an important teaching to keep in mind as we look at this week’s Gospel reading. These readings are connected.
In this week’s reading, Jesus is in Gentile (non-Jewish) territory. He is confronted by a Syrophoenician woman, who has a small child with an unclean spirit. So, she is a Gentile. Jesus seems to reject the woman’s plea. His reaction is shocking, especially to modern sensitivities around treating people differently on the basis of their ethnicity. … But, his shocking reply probably reflected the division and hostility that existed between Gentiles and Jews. So, it probably would have been the expected normal kind of interaction between people of their kind.
This seems very out of character for Jesus as we know him in the Gospels. Which makes me think that there is more going on here than meets the eye. Jesus encounters other Gentiles or Samaritans and doesn’t seem to say anything like this to them. So, something else is going on here.
Jesus is speaking the words that are common in his culture regarding Gentiles. But I suspect there is a kind of test happening. A lesson is being taught. I suspect the lesson is being taught to us, as readers of the Gospel of Mark, and I believe the lesson has to do with the previous passage about what makes someone clean or unclean.
Outwardly, this woman has the markers of ritual impurity. She is a Gentile, from Gentile territory. That means she doesn’t follow kosher laws. She is probably involved in the worship of Pagan gods. Her daughter also has an unclean spirit. So, on the surface, there is a lot of impurity happening here, and there were pretty significant norms separating Jews from Gentiles. To step into a Gentile home was to become ritually unclean. You also couldn’t eat at the same table with a Gentile.
In our Gospel reading from last week (which is just before this reading), Jesus was telling us to look deeper than ritual uncleanness. True uncleanness was indicated by the evil that came out from the heart. Jesus says
Outwardly, this woman has the markers of ritual impurity. She is a Gentile, from Gentile territory. That means she doesn’t follow kosher laws. She is probably involved in the worship of Pagan gods. Her daughter also has an unclean spirit. So, on the surface, there is a lot of impurity happening here, and there were pretty significant norms separating Jews from Gentiles. To step into a Gentile home was to become ritually unclean. You also couldn’t eat at the same table with a Gentile.
In our Gospel reading from last week (which is just before this reading), Jesus was telling us to look deeper than ritual uncleanness. True uncleanness was indicated by the evil that came out from the heart. Jesus says
“it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person" (Mk 7:21-23).
These are the kinds of things that indicate an impure heart.
So, turning again to this woman. What do we see coming from her heart? … She immediately goes to see Jesus when she hears that he is near. She falls at his feet, just as the leader of the synagogue Jarius did when he asked Jesus to heal his daughter. And just as the woman who suffered for 12 years with a bleeding problem did (Mark 5). These are marks of belief. This woman humbly accepts Jesus’ words, she calls him “Lord”, and is willing to wait in line for the scraps that fall from the table. She is glad to have the leftovers that were rejected by the Pharisees and Sadducees. In the chapter before this, Jesus fed five thousand (Mk 6:30-44) and he will feed them again in the next chapter (Mk 8:1-10). In both cases there is much left over, which implies that some of Israel has not come- there are leftovers (There are crumbs that have fallen from the table).
So, does what is flowing out of her heart- in her words and actions- show that she is clean or unclean? Are these the words and actions of impurity?
I think that Mark placed this story next to Jesus’ teaching on purity and impurity to point to how Jesus, through his body (the church), was going to receive and welcome the Gentiles. Not on the basis of them becoming ritually clean by following the Laws given to Israel, but through faith in Jesus. Not the ritual purity of the Law, but a purity of the heart through faith in Jesus. When identity is found in relation to Jesus, nationality is not an issue. We are baptized into one body, regardless of where we have come from.
As James teaches in his letter that we read today- we are not to show partiality on the basis of wealth (James 2:1-8). And Paul teaches in Galatians 3,
So, turning again to this woman. What do we see coming from her heart? … She immediately goes to see Jesus when she hears that he is near. She falls at his feet, just as the leader of the synagogue Jarius did when he asked Jesus to heal his daughter. And just as the woman who suffered for 12 years with a bleeding problem did (Mark 5). These are marks of belief. This woman humbly accepts Jesus’ words, she calls him “Lord”, and is willing to wait in line for the scraps that fall from the table. She is glad to have the leftovers that were rejected by the Pharisees and Sadducees. In the chapter before this, Jesus fed five thousand (Mk 6:30-44) and he will feed them again in the next chapter (Mk 8:1-10). In both cases there is much left over, which implies that some of Israel has not come- there are leftovers (There are crumbs that have fallen from the table).
So, does what is flowing out of her heart- in her words and actions- show that she is clean or unclean? Are these the words and actions of impurity?
I think that Mark placed this story next to Jesus’ teaching on purity and impurity to point to how Jesus, through his body (the church), was going to receive and welcome the Gentiles. Not on the basis of them becoming ritually clean by following the Laws given to Israel, but through faith in Jesus. Not the ritual purity of the Law, but a purity of the heart through faith in Jesus. When identity is found in relation to Jesus, nationality is not an issue. We are baptized into one body, regardless of where we have come from.
As James teaches in his letter that we read today- we are not to show partiality on the basis of wealth (James 2:1-8). And Paul teaches in Galatians 3,
“for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:26-29).
Overcoming ideas about clean and unclean would have been a challenge for Jewish followers of Jesus. … In the book of Acts, Peter is shown a vision. He is shown ritually unclean animals and told to eat them. Peter refuses saying he has never eaten anything that is unclean. This happens 3 times, and he is told
“What God has made clean, you must not call profane” (Acts 10:15).
But this is not about food. Peter is about to be invited to the home of a Gentile to share the Gospel. This man is described saying,
“In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God” (Acts 10:1-2).
We might hold him alongside the Syrophonecian woman and ask, is this person clean or unclean based on the words and actions that are flowing from their hearts?
There are plenty of ways that we divide ourselves. We might look for signs of their cleanness or uncleanness. What books do they have on their shelves? What bumper stickers do they have on their car? Do we see signs of wealth or poverty, and what meaning do we attaching to both of those? Some are still looking at a person’s skin colour, ethnicity, or listening for their accent? … This Gospel reading is teaching us to be wary of outward signs of purity or impurity. Instead, we should be looking for what flows out of the heart.
And this is true for us as well. Perhaps we have tried to collect outward markers to attach to our own life, so we can show ourselves to be successful, or to be among the “clean”. Or maybe we have tried to hide outward markers we think others might consider “unclean”.
There are plenty of ways that we divide ourselves. We might look for signs of their cleanness or uncleanness. What books do they have on their shelves? What bumper stickers do they have on their car? Do we see signs of wealth or poverty, and what meaning do we attaching to both of those? Some are still looking at a person’s skin colour, ethnicity, or listening for their accent? … This Gospel reading is teaching us to be wary of outward signs of purity or impurity. Instead, we should be looking for what flows out of the heart.
And this is true for us as well. Perhaps we have tried to collect outward markers to attach to our own life, so we can show ourselves to be successful, or to be among the “clean”. Or maybe we have tried to hide outward markers we think others might consider “unclean”.
This Gospel reading asks us to consider what is flowing out of our own hearts- that is where we should focus our attention. AMEN
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