Consider the Word, September 2, 2021
16^th Sunday after Pentecost
 
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/92395423097
Meeting ID: 923 9542 3097
 
Readings for September 5:

• Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
• Psalm 125
• James 2:1-10 (11-13), 14-17
• Mark 7:24-37

 
Collect

Stir up, O Lord,

the wills of your faithful people,

that richly bearing the fruit of good works,

we may by you be richly rewarded;

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Reading: Mark 7:24-37

Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Are we surprised, perhaps offended by the initial response Jesus gives the Syrophoenician woman? If so, why?
   
2. Do you find it significant that both of these healings take place in Samaritan territory, amongst a people hated by Jesus’ home community?

 
Closing Prayer

Life-giving God,

heal our lives,

that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds

and offer you thanks from generation to generation

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 
The Message: Mark 7:24-37

^24-26 From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.

²⁷ He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”

²⁸ She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”

^29-30 Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

^31-35 Then he left the region of Tyre, went through Sidon back to Galilee Lake and over to the district of the Ten Towns. Some people brought a man who could neither hear nor speak and asked Jesus to lay a healing hand on him. He took the man off by himself, put his fingers in the man’s ears and some spit on the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up in prayer, groaned mightily, and commanded, “Ephphatha!—Open up!” And it happened. The man’s hearing was clear and his speech plain—just like that.

^36-37 Jesus urged them to keep it quiet, but they talked it up all the more, beside themselves with excitement. “He’s done it all and done it well. He gives hearing to the deaf, speech to the speechless.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson