Thursday of Week 5 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Mark 7:24-30

Having challenged some of the religious principles of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus now pointedly goes into gentile territory. The next three stories take place in non-Jewish areas. Why did Jesus go to the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast? It may have been to give him some breathing space from the crowds which pressed in on him everywhere. Later, he will move on to Sidon, and then eastwards by way of the Sea of Galilee to the area known as Decapolis (Ten Towns). All of these places were dominated by Gentiles. Because the people there recognised his healing powers, he ministered to them also.

We are told that he entered a house in Tyre and did not want to be recognised. Why was this? Because his mission was only to his own people? Because people without faith only saw in Jesus a wonder worker? Nevertheless, he was already too well known even here to escape notice. His fame had spread even to these places.

It is then that a gentile woman came to him. She was a Greek, but Syro-Phoenician by birth. She prostrated herself before Jesus and begged him to exorcise the evil spirit in her daughter. Jesus’ answer seems somewhat strange and out of character:

Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.

Jesus’ words suggest an image where the children of the family are fed first, and then the leftovers are given to the dogs under the table. In so speaking, Jesus indicates the prior claim of the Jews to his ministry. In fact, we see this, too, in the missionary work of Paul. Whenever he arrived in a town for the first time, he always went to the Jewish synagogue first to preach the message of Christ, and only later to the Gentiles. Because of the shared tradition of Jews and Christians, they were the obvious people to hear the message first.

Jews (and also Muslims) avoided dogs as unclean animals. They were unclean because they ate all kinds of things indiscriminately. The name ‘dogs’ was sometimes applied by Jews to Gentiles, and for the same reason. It is likely that the woman would be aware of this disparaging title.

It is also important to sense the tone in which Jesus spoke, and this is indicated by the reply of the woman. It is done in a mood of friendly banter. This is clear from the immediate response of the woman:

Sir [also translated ‘Lord’], even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

In other words, they do not wait until the children are finished eating. They eat simultaneously, even though they only get scraps. Her powerful faith is immediately rewarded and her daughter is healed.

This is a story anticipating the faith of future Gentiles who will become Christians. Let us pray that such faith may be ours also. We know that Jesus excludes absolutely no one from his mercy and healing power. Both as individuals and communities, may we too be as inclusive as possible in our relationships.

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Thursday of Week 5 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Kings 11:4-13

As his life progressed, Solomon moved steadily downhill. The sacred writer implies that women were the cause of his downfall, and especially foreign women. Apart from the daughter of Egypt’s Pharaoh, he took many foreign women as his wives. Among these were many from ethnic groups with which the Israelites were forbidden to marry. The reason for this prohibition was the danger that one would be tempted to worship their gods—as is the case here.

Solomon fell in love with many such women, and towards the end of his life, we are told he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (this is presumably something of a literary exaggeration!). The problem was not so much the number of women in his life—for even David had a number of wives. But these women turned him away from Yahweh as his God. Unlike his father, David:

…his heart was not true to the Lord his God…

Among the gods Solomon began to worship under the influence of his wives were Astarte (Asthtoreth), the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom (Molech), the idol of the Ammonites. Worship of Molech not only severely jeopardised the recognition of the absolute kingship of the Lord over his people, but also involved (on rare occasions) the practice of child sacrifice.

To appease his wives, Solomon built shrines to Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and to Molech on a hill facing Jerusalem. And he did the same for many of his wives, who openly worshipped their own gods.

Twice in the past God had appeared to Solomon: the first time when he asked Solomon what special gift he wanted and Solomon, setting set aside wealth and military power, had asked for wisdom. In the second vision, just after Solomon had completed the Temple, Yahweh had promised many blessings on Solomon. But now God is angry with him, especially because of his repeated idolatry and his violation of the covenant. Solomon had broken the most basic demands of the covenant and thereby severely undermined the entire covenant relationship between God and his people.

In punishment, his kingdom would be given over to not a son, but to one of his servants. However, for the sake of David, Solomon would remain king until his death. Also, for David’s sake, Solomon’s son would be left king of just one tribe. In this way, the promise of an everlasting dynasty for David’s line would be at least partially observed.

As Jerusalem contained the Temple built by David’s son, the destiny of Jerusalem and the Davidic dynasty were closely linked. The Temple represented God’s royal palace, where his earthly throne (the Ark) was situated and where he had pledged to be present as Israel’s Great King.

Solomon’s foreign marriages were primarily contracted for political ends, and the pagan shrines were intended for his wives and for traders. Such contacts, however, jeopardised the purity of the religion of Yahweh, and the author interprets the situation in the spirit and language of Deuteronomy. God punishes Solomon’s impiety by raising up enemies abroad (Hadad the Edomite) and at home (Jeroboam will take over 10 tribes as king, leaving only Judah to Solomon’s son). In the end, Solomon’s great wisdom could not prevent his being ruled by his ‘heart’ and his political and economic interests.

How often have we, too, been ruled by our emotions and other considerations and been led into behaviour which we know is wrong? It is so easy for us to rationalise, which means creating false reasons to justify what we do. And yet, the only way to go for our own long-term good is the way of truth, integrity and genuine love.

Again we pray for that wisdom which gives us an insight into where truth and goodness are to be found. The road to that wisdom, of course, is the Way of Jesus.

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