Introduction: Wit’s Ends

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought of what you should have said but only after the fact? In French, that’s called l’esprit de l’escalier or staircase wit. That’s the witty response that only comes to you when you are on your way down the stairs after the conversation has ended. “Ah, I should have said…” This term exists because not all of us are gifted with a quick wit and a crafty tongue.

One notable exception was Sir Winston Churchill. One time, as the story goes, Lady Astor chided him saying, “My dear Winston, if I were your wife, I’d put poison in your tea!” To which Churchill replied, “Well, my dear lady, if I were your husband, I’d drink it!”

In today’s reading (Mark 7:24-37), we find another quick wit, that of the Syrophoenician woman. A desperate mother from modern-day Syria and Lebanon,^[1] she begs Jesus to heal her daughter, only to have him reply, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (7:27 NRSVue). This, a parable in which the children of Israel are contrasted with unclean Gentile, or non-Jewish, “dogs.” Unsatisfied, the bold mother counters with a canine metaphor of her own, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (7:28). And with that, her daughter was healed at a distance.

A Disenfranchised Woman and Wit on Display

This passage is full of surprises. Both participants—Jesus and the woman—put on a surprising display as we witness support for the claim that well-behaved women rarely make history. Such is the case with the Syrophoenician woman, or Justa as she was later nicknamed by the Early Church for having cleverly outwitted Jesus.^[2]

In this section of Mark, we find Jesus in Gentile territory away from his own people as a stranger in a strange land. A non-Jewish woman seeks him out because of her daughter’s spiritual affliction.

This story paints a surprising portrait of Jesus. First, we find him unable to stay hidden when he wants to. Then, he heals after first coming across as reluctant. In Jesus’s day, it wasn’t unheard of to refer to non-Jewish people, especially one’s enemies, as “dogs.” In this pointed exchange, “the children” are the children of Israel, those who were initially the primary focus of Jesus’s ministry. Though we may find his choice of words abrasive, in fairness to him, he does say “first.” “Let the children be fed first” not alone.^[3]

The woman actually rebuffs Jesus twice: 1) First by finding him while hiding. 2) Second, answering back, meeting his parable with one of her own.^[4] Her play on words is masterful: “Yes, Lord, you’re right about us dogs, but dogs also eat crumbs under the table.” She gets Jesus with a zinger, perhaps one of the sickest burns in the entire Bible. What a woman!

Her faith, her confidence, her trust that Jesus is able to drive the demon out of her daughter is so great that she is willing to humble herself in order to earn his compassion. In so doing, she accepts God’s priority of mission to the Jews first.^[5]

God’s Unfolding Story

But even if she accepts Jesus’s words, we may find it difficult to do so, what with likening her to a dog.^[6] Some have called this the criterion of embarrassment.^[7] Why would the earliest Christians have recorded and preserved such a potentially embarrassing story about Jesus unless 1) it really happened and 2) it has exceptional teaching value.

First, let’s remember that with the Syrophoenician woman—Justa—we’re seeing a single snapshot of a specific time in Jesus’ ministry as it unfolds. It’s necessary to relate this brief episode to the larger question of God’s timing and the unfolding of events in history. Both she and Jesus are caught in the unfolding plan of God as we are today.

At the start of his ministry, Jesus and his disciples primarily sought out the people of Israel as a matter of first importance. They were God’s chosen vessel of redemption who would give birth to the Messiah, so it’s reasonable to expect that blessings would come to them first. But now we see Jesus’ ministry starting to widen to include this un-chosen, disregarded Gentile woman. This foreshadows the definitive widening of the Good News that will later come after Jesus’s resurrection. But at this stage, it’s still early days of the kingdom, a transition period filled with growing pains, such that even the Son of God himself is crucified. Today we stand much further down the timeline, looking back after the resurrection as the fruit of Jesus sending his disciples to the ends of the earth.

It may surprise us that Jesus didn’t heal at first request. But that’s what makes this story remarkable and why it’s been preserved. Jesus must have performed thousands of miracles that we’ll never hear about. This one was recorded. So, something more must be going on. Rather than immediately granting her request, Jesus draws out her faith, draws her closer to himself and into the stream of the faithful all because she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

We might not appreciate where this episode fits within the grand narrative of redemption; that’s part of what makes it shocking. It offers a surprising reversal the likes of which we’ve only seen hints and heard whispers so far in the Gospels, namely, that Jesus is redrawing the boundary lines, redefining what it is to be God’s people.

Faith, Wit, and Tenacity in God’s Kingdom

So, why doesn’t Jesus heal immediately? St Ambrose, the 4^th century Bishop of Milan, once said something to the effect that if God answered every prayer immediately and equally, we would be in charge rather than God.^[8] Seemingly unanswered or delayed answers to prayer is God working things out according to his own timing and in his own way. Our task is to trust him while using our God-given wit and wisdom to persevere in doing good.

The Trajectory

So, don’t lose sight of the trajectory of God’s kingdom and his unfolding plan to put the world right under the banner of Jesus’s kingship. Today there is plenty of news that isn’t great. Why is the world so broken? How does this all end?

It’s broken because of our individual sin, the sin of our parents, and the collective sin of systems we’ve erected to deal with our sin. The world is also broken because that’s where we currently find ourselves in the grand narrative of God’s redemption: the already but not yet. An inaugurated kingdom being slowly but steadily rolled out and ushered in.

So how do we fix it? How does this all end? It starts like it did with the Syrophoenician woman: boldly approaching the throne of grace. Get me to Jesus! Even though he sometimes feels hidden, take me to the Messiah, the Savior! He alone is the one who can truly and fully deal with our brokenness, our sin, all that separates us from God and one another. Such boldness reaches out in faith and says, heal my daughter, heal me of myself, make me whole. Make me a new person, with a new heart, surrendered to you and your kingdom.

It’s a faith that pushes back against at the current state of affairs that God recognizes as unjust. He is pleased to draw you in to do something about it. Just think about how strange it is that Jesus frequently pushes back against displays of faith; for example, asking a blind person, what do you want me to do for you (Mark 10:51)? Umm, shouldn’t it be obvious?!

So why does Jesus sometimes challenge faith? He may do so to further draw out our faith and to draw us closer to him. Jesus draws out the Syrophoenician woman’s humble request for healing into a powerful, revolutionary declaration of the widening of God’s kingdom.

Otherwise, what is the story? It’s just another miracle. “Heal me.” “OK. Boom!” Healed. End of story. That is amazing and indicative of one aspect of the kingdom, namely physical or spiritual wholeness. But Jesus masterfully draws out the woman’s wit to make a wider statement than just physical wholeness. He’s interested in holistic healing of the individual and the world through the redrawing of boundaries of what it is to be part of God’s people and redefining who can experience God’s blessings. It’s people regardless of background and disenfranchisement who are united to him by faith and who love him who are his people.

That’s how all this ends: with a kingdom of misfits ruled by a resurrected Messiah. No one could have predicted it. It’s God’s surprising reversal of fortune that follows contours as unpredictable as the people who comprise his kingdom. And this is in addition to healing the girl, not in place of.

Closing

So, what do we do now? You will likely have one of two reactions to today’s reading:

1. Jesus will harden your heart. “What a disturbing story. I’ve had enough of this Jesus.”
2. Jesus will draw out your faith, drawing you closer to him. “Jesus honored, accepted and put on display this disenfranchised woman’s faith, wit, and tenacity since it was centered on him and aligned with God’s kingdom. I want to be a part of God’s kingdom!”

Life is not just knowing what to say, but is knowing when and how to say it; that’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowing tomatoes are fruit is knowledge, but not putting them in a fruit salad is wisdom. Your wit and your wisdom, however modest or immodest, are part of God’s kingdom if you are. How will you use these for his kingdom?

God is in the habit of using unlikely vessels to pour out his blessings. The Syrophoenician woman is remembered for her faith, her tenacity, and her wit. As a recipient of God’s compassion, she was able to play a part in the healing of a loved one. How will you be remembered? What part will you play in the redrawing of boundaries?

“A word spoken at the right time is like golden apples in silver settings.”
(Proverbs 25:11, CSB)

References

1. Claudia Setzer, “The Syrophoenician Woman,” Bible Odyssey, https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/the-syrophoenician-woman/. ↑
2. John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark, vol. 2 of Sacra Pagina (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), 233. ↑
3. Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark: A Commentary, ed. Harold W. Attridge, Hermeneia (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 367. ↑
4. Sabine Van Den Eynde, “When a Teacher Becomes a Student: The Challenge of the Syrophoenician Woman (Mark 7.24–31),” Theology 103.814 (2000): 274–79, https://doi.org/10.1177/0040571X0010300406. ↑
5. Collins, Mark: A Commentary, 367–368. ↑
6. Andrew Wilson, “No, Jesus Was Never a Racist,” Christianity Today 65.5 (2021): 34. ↑
7. Rafael Rodríguez, “Criterion of Embarrassment,” Bible Odyssey, https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/criterion-of-embarrassment/. ↑
8. Thomas C. Oden and Christopher A. Hall, eds., Mark, Revised., vol. New Testament II of Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 96. ↑