Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-37

Jesus loves the little children. And I am equally thankful that Jesus loves those a bit further down the road; we “older children.” Jesus, in our reading this week, brings His healing power to bear on two in need. The first is a child. The second is an adult who has suffered since childhood. There is another important distinction in the two served here by the Master. One is a gentile and the other a son of Abraham.

In two brief accounts, we see the faith of a troubled mother who, although not a member of the covenant community of Israel, speaks with surety and faith in the One who is Israel’s hope. Though they know it not. And next we encounter the faith of those who bring a fellow Jew deaf from birth who needed the dual healing of hearing and speech. Sometimes the brevity of Mark’s accounts could be thought to point to events of less importance. Such is not the case. Mark shows the powerful activity of the Lord in meeting needs large and small. Power in the immediate is the showcase of the second gospel. 

I’ve written about this before, but the summation of the people is what I love at the close of Mark 7. The people watching the miracle-worker get the true spin on the healing work of Jesus, “And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well’” (v.37a). He always does.