Marco 7:24 Commento

In this chapter we have, I. Christ's dispute with the scribes and Pharisees about eating meat with unwashen hands (Mar 7:1-13); and the needful instructions he gave to the people on that occasion, and further explained to his disciples (Mar 7:14-23). II. His curing of the woman Canaan's daughter that was possessed (Mar 7:24-30). III. The relief of a man that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech (Mar 7:31-37).

See here, I. How humbly Christ was pleased to conceal himself. Never man was so cried up as he was in Galilee, and therefore, to teach us, though not to decline any opportunity of doing good, yet not to be fond of popular applause, he arose from thence, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, where he was little known; and there he entered, not into a synagogue, or place of concourse, but into a private house, and he would have no man to know it; because it was foretold concerning him, He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall his voice be heard in the streets. Not but that he was willing to preach and heal here as well as in other places, but for this he would be sought unto. Note, As there is a time to appear, so there is a time to retire. Or, he would not be known, because he was upon the borders of Tyre and Sidon, among Gentiles, to whom he would not be so forward to show himself as to the tribes of Israel, whose glory he was to be. II. How graciously he was pleased to manifest himself, notwithstanding. Though he would not carry a harvest of miraculous cures into those parts, yet, it should seem, he came on purpose to drop a handful, to let fall this one which we have here an account of. He could not be hid; for, though a candle may be put under a bushel, the sun cannot. Christ was too well known to be long incognito - hid, any where; the oil of gladness which he was anointed with, like ointment of the right hand, would betray itself, and fill the house with its odours. Those that had only heard his fame, could not converse with him, but they would soon say, "This must be Jesus." Now observe, 1. The application made to him by a poor woman in distress and trouble. She was a Gentile, a Greek, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, an alien to the covenant of promise; she was by extraction a Syrophenician, and not in any degree proselyted to the Jewish religion; she had a daughter, a young daughter, that was possessed with the devil. How many and grievous are the calamities that young children are subject to! Her address was, (1.) Very humble, pressing, and importunate; She heard of him, and came, and fell at his feet. Note, Those that would obtain mercy from Christ, must throw themselves at his feet; must refer themselves to him, humble themselves before him, and give up themselves to be ruled by him. Christ never put any from him, that fell at his feet, which a poor trembling soul may do, that has not boldness and confidence to throw itself into his arms. (2.) It was very particular; she tells him what she wanted. Christ gave poor supplicants leave to be thus free with him; she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter, Mar 7:26. Note, The greatest blessing we can ask of Christ for our children is, that he would break the power of Satan, that is, the power of sin, in their souls; and particularly, that he would cast forth the unclean spirit, that they may be temples of the Holy Ghost, and he may dwell in them. 2. The discouragement he gave to this address (Mar 7:27); He said unto her, "Let the children first be filled; let the Jews have all the miracles wrought for them, that they have occasion for, who are in a particular manner God's chosen people; and let not that which was intended for them, be thrown to those who are not of God's family, and who have not that knowledge of him, and interest in him, which they have, and who are as dogs in comparison of them, vile and profane, and who are as dogs to them, snarling at them, spiteful toward them, and ready to worry them." Note, Where Christ knows the faith of poor supplicants to be strong, he sometimes delights to try it, and put it to the stretch. But his saying, Let the children first be filled, intimates that there was mercy in reserve for the Gentiles, and not far off; for the Jews began already to be surfeited with the gospel of Christ, and some of them had desired him to depart out of their coasts. The children begin to play with their meat, and their leavings, their loathings, would be a feast for the Gentiles. The apostles went by this rule, Let the children first be filled, let the Jews have the first offer; and if their full souls loathe this honeycomb, Lo, we turn to the Gentiles! 3. The turn she gave to this word of Christ, which made against her, and her improvement of it, to make for her, Mar 7:28. She said, "Yes, Lord, I own it is true that the children's bread ought not to be cast to the dogs; but they were never denied the crumbs of that bread, nay it belongs to them, and they are allowed a place under the table, that they may be ready to receive them. I ask not for a loaf, no, nor for a morsel, only for a crumb; do not refuse me that." This she speaks, not as undervaluing the mercy, or making light of it in itself, but magnifying the abundance or miraculous cures with which she heard the Jews were feasted, in comparison with which a single cure was but as a crumb. Gentiles do not come in crowds, as the Jews do; I come alone. Perhaps she had heard of Christ's feeding five thousand lately at once, after which, even when they had gathered up the fragments, there could not but be some crumbs left for the dogs. 4. The grant Christ thereupon made of her request. Is she thus humble, thus earnest? For this saying, Go thy way, thou shalt have what thou camest for, the devil is gone out of thy daughter, Mar 7:29. This encourages us to pray and not to faint, to continue instant in prayer, not doubting but to prevail at last; the vision at the end shall speak, and not lie. Christ's saying that is was done, did it effectually, as at other times his saying, Let it be done; for (Mar 7:30) she came to her house, depending upon the word of Christ, that her daughter was healed, and so she found it, the devil was gone out. Note, Christ can conquer Satan at a distance; and it was not only when the demoniacs saw him, that they yielded to his power (as Mar 3:11), but when they saw him not, for the Spirit of the Lord is not bound, nor bounded. She found her daughter not in any toss or agitation, but very quietly laid on the bed, and reposing herself; waiting for her mother's return, to rejoice with her, that she was so finely well.

Then came together unto him the Pharisees,.... Having heard of his miracles, and that he was come into the land of Gennesaret; they consulted with one another, and came together to Jesus, to watch and observe what was said and done by him, and take what advantage they could against him. These were not of that country, but were of Jerusalem, as were their companions the Scribes: and certain of the Scribes, which were of Jerusalem; for the fame of Christ had reached the metropolis of the nation; and these men being the more artful and cunning of the whole sect, either came of themselves, or were sent by the sanhedrim, to make their observations upon his doctrine and conduct; See Gill on Mat 15:1.

For a certain woman,.... One way and means by which he came to be more openly discovered who he was, was this; a woman in those parts, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit; a devil, with which she was possessed; hearing of some miracles he had wrought in healing the sick, and casting out devils; heard of him, and came; and understanding that he was in such a place made all haste to him; and fell at his feet; and with great respect and reverence to so venerable a person, threw herself at his feet, and earnestly entreated mercy for her child; believing he had power to cast the devil out of her, though at a distance from her.

He withdrew, perhaps because the Pharisees were offended when they heard that “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.” … It is probable that he sought to avoid the Pharisees, who were offended at his teaching, while he was waiting for the time of his impending suffering—a time suitably and duly appointed.

The Gentiles, those who dwell on the borders, can be saved if they believe.… Think of it this way: Each of us when he sins is living on the borders of Tyre or Sidon or of Pharaoh and Egypt. They are on the borders of those who are outside the inheritance of God.

(de Con. Evan. 2, 49) It appears however that some question about a discrepancy may be raised, because it is said that the Lord was in the house when the woman came to her, asking about her daughter. When, however, Matthew says that His disciples had suggested to Him, Send her away, for she crieth after us, (Matt. 15:23) he appears to imply nothing less than that the woman uttered supplicating cries after the Lord, as He walked. How then do we infer that she was in the house, except by gathering it from Mark, who says that she came in to Jesus, after having before said that He was in the house? But Matthew in that he says, He answered her not a word, gave us to understand that He went out, during that silence, from the house; thus too the other events are connected together, so that they now in no way disagree. It continues; But he said unto her, Let the children be first filled.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Tyre and Sidon were places of the Canaanites, therefore the Lord comes to them, not as to His own, but as to men, who had nothing in common with the fathers to whom the promise was made. And therefore He comes in such a way, that His coming should not be known to the Tyrians and Sidonians. Wherefore it continues: And entered in to a house, and would have no man know it. For the time had not come for His dwelling with the Gentiles and bringing them to the faith, for this was not to be, till after His cross and resurrection.

And from there, rising, he went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. Leaving behind the scribes and Pharisees, who were detractors, he crossed into the parts of Tyre and Sidon to cure the Tyrians and Sidonians.

And entering a house, he did not want anyone to know, but he could not be hidden. It is rightly asked how it is said that the Lord did not want anyone to know his journey, yet could not be hidden. For what is it that he could not do, who, even while placed among men temporally, invisibly arranged everything that happened outside inwardly with the Father? Or for what reason is he thought to have entered the regions of Tyre and Sidon, except to free the daughter of the Syrophoenician from a demon, and through the faith of the Gentile woman to refute the disbelief of the scribes and Pharisees? But it must be faithfully and piously believed that not at all did what he did not want happen to him in this matter, but that it was shown primarily in his good works which the faithful following his journey should wish to do. For upon entering the house, he commanded the disciples not to reveal to anyone in the unknown region who he was. Nonetheless, he himself made known this entrance to the Gentile woman and to whomever he wished among the wise, he himself kindled her heart with an invisible prompt to seek salvation from him, so that by her example they might learn to whom the grace of healing the sick should be conferred in the exhibition of miracles, to avoid, as much as possible, human glory and favor, yet not cease from the pious work of virtue, whenever these deeds were justly deserved by the faith of the good or necessarily compelled by the unbelief of the wicked.

And he could not, he said, remain hidden. For a woman, as soon as she heard about him, whose daughter had an unclean spirit, entered and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. Typically, however, this Gentile woman, coming to the Lord with faith, represents the Church gathered from the Gentiles. She begs the Lord for her demon-possessed daughter, as for the people who do not yet believe, so that they too may be freed from the deceptions of the devil, she entreats the divine mercy. She, according to Matthew, went out from her borders, but in this Gospel, it is said that she entered to the Lord and fell at his feet, so that from both assertions it may be gathered that only those faithfully and rightly pray for the erring who abandon the dwellings of their former unbelief and transfer themselves with pious devotion into the house of the Lord, namely the Church.

(in Marc. 2, 30) Having entered also into the house, He commanded His disciples not to betray who He was to any one in this unknown region, that they, on whom He had bestowed the grace of healing, might learn by His example, as far as they could, to shrink from the glory of human praise in the showing forth of their miracles; yet they were not to cease from the pious work of virtue, when either the faith of the good justly deserved that miracles should be done, or the unfaithfulness of the wicked might necessarily compel them. For He Himself made known His entry into that place to the Gentile woman, and to whomsoever He would.

His divine will was allpowerful, yet it was said that he was unable to conceal himself when he willed to. Why? It was while willing within the limits of his humanity that he was [voluntarily] subject to the limitations of the flesh. As a human he possessed the common human ability to will…. The sanctification of his will did not occur by circumventing his natural volition but by uniting his will with the divine and almighty will, as the will of God incarnate. Hence when he wished to be hid, he could not do so of himself, because it pleased God that the Word be revealed in himself as having the limitations of human willing.

After He had spoken about food and saw that the Jews did not believe, the Lord crosses over into the regions of the Gentiles, for with the unbelief of the Jews, salvation was to pass to the Gentiles. At first the Lord tried to remain hidden, so that the Jews would not have a pretext to accuse Him of having gone over to the side of the unclean Gentiles. Yet He could not be hidden, for it was impossible for Him to be concealed and recognized by no one.

After that the Lord had finished His teaching concerning food, seeing that the Jews were incredulous, He enters into the country of the Gentiles, for the Jews being unfaithful, salvation turns itself to the Gentiles; wherefore it is said, And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. (Pseudo-Aug. Quaest. e Vet. et Nov. Test. 77) Or else His reason for coming in secret was that the Jews should not find occasion of blame against Him, as if He had passed over to the unclean Gentiles. It goes on, But he could not be hid.

But if He wished to do so and could not, it appears as if His will was impotent; it is not possible however that our Saviour's will should not be fulfilled, nor can He will a thing, which He knows ought not be. Therefore when a thing has taken place, it may be asserted that He has willed it. But we should observe that this happened amongst the Gentiles, to whom it was not time to preach; nevertheless not to receive them, when they came to the faith of their own accord, would have been to grudge them the faith. So then it came to pass that the Lord was not made known by His disciples; others, however, who had seen Him entering the house, recognised Him, and it began to be known that He was there. His will therefore was that He should not be proclaimed by His own disciples, but that others should come to seek Him, and so it took place.

The Pharisees find fault with the disciples for eating with unwashen hands, Mar 7:1-5. Christ exposes their hypocrisy, and shows that they had made the word of God of no effect by their traditions, Mar 7:6-13. He shows what things defile men, Mar 7:14-16; and teaches his disciples in private, that the sin of the heart alone, leading to vicious practices, defiles the man, Mar 7:17-23. The account of the Syrophoenician woman, Mar 7:24-30. He heals a man who was dumb, and had an impediment in his speech, Mar 7:31-37.

Into the borders of Tyre and Sidon - Or, into the country between Tyre and Sidon. I have adopted this translation from Kypke, who proves that this is the meaning of the word μεθορια, in the best Greek writers.

FOUR THOUSAND MIRACULOUSLY FED--A SIGN FROM HEAVEN SOUGHT AND REFUSED--THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES--A BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA RESTORED TO SIGHT. ( = Mat. 15:32-16:12). (Mark 8:1-26) In those days the multitude being very great, &c.