Healing the Foreigner: 5 September, 2021

Mark 7:24-37

Why, in 7:31–37, does Jesus choose such an indirect route of travel? . . . To get away from the Pharisees whom he regarded as a threat? To have some quiet time away from everyone, including the disciples?. . . “Jesus may have purposely chosen a roundabout route that skirted Galilee. . . to remain in Gentile areas throughout his journey. He would have had to cover more than one hundred miles on foot, and it would have taken about a week (or longer if he made any stops along the way, as he did near Tyre).” [George Martin, The Gospel According to Mark (Loyola, 2005), 181-183]

The Syrophoenician woman was definitely a gentile. Was the [deaf man] also one? We may speculate that he was because of the largely gentile population of the area, but Mark doesn’t tell us.

. . . The thorny problem of table fellowship in the early church may be in view here. . . Was the better reception Jesus received in the present case the product of the ongoing proclamation of the Gospel by that man whom Jesus had freed from Legion? –– Joseph McHugh

James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17

The command to love your neighbor as yourself was at the heart of the covenant of Israel, and, for James, it is to be the heart of the church as well. James knows that it is frequently the way of the world to treat those who are well-dressed and well-groomed and well-educated as special and important and worthy of respect, while those who are poor and ragged and of humble status are given short shrift or even treated as if they were invisible. But to show partiality for the wealthy and well-born is to violate the royal law.

And James goes further: You cannot say you love your neighbor if your neighbor is naked and you have the means to clothe him. You cannot say you love your neighbor if your neighbor is hungry and you have the means to feed her. Christian love was, is, and will always need to be, love in action. –– Judy Buck-Glenn

Isaiah 35:4-7a

First and foremost, the Bible speaks of love in terms of God, and most especially in terms of God’s relationship with Israel, the chosen people. Human love can be used to understand God’s love for Israel—God’s love for Israel is like the love of a husband for a wife. God’s love for Israel is like the love of a mother-to-be for the yet-unborn child in her womb. God’s love for Israel is like that of a father for a firstborn son. . .

And because God loves Israel, God acts on behalf of Israel, saving Israel and teaching Israel its social and religious obligations. Having been chosen by God’s love to be God’s own people, God’s people are to respond in kind: they are to love the God who has saved and instructed them. This reciprocal love is the basis of the covenant that binds God and Israel. And it is also the basis of Israelite society. . . This love is to be expressed through concrete actions, especially actions on behalf of the poor, the weak, the landless, and the friendless. –– Judy Buck-Glenn

John E. Smith has served as a Methodist pastor for many years.

Judith Buck-Glenn is associate rector at Christ Church Episcopal in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Homily Service 42, no. 4 (2009): 3-14.