We join Jesus and his disciples
in this passage on a return trip from the region of Tyre, where, with some
earnest persuasion on the part of a Gentile girl’s mother, he healed the child
who was possessed by a demon. We were told that Jesus was reluctant to serve
them at first (as counterintuitive as it seems to see Jesus portrayed as
“reluctant” to heal), precisely because the child was a Gentile, and Jesus at
first perceived his mission as being primarily directed toward Israel — at
least until all the children of Israel had received the message. But, cajoled
by the child’s mother, Jesus relented, and healed the child with a word.
Jesus then returned from Tyre to
“the region of the Decapolis,” a Hellenized region east of the Jordan River
with a significant Jewish population.1
As far as Jesus is concerned, the
Gentile/Israelite distinction seems now to have been laid to rest. The
population in the Decapolis — among whom we now find Jesus — is Gentile, albeit
with a significant Jewish presence. There is movement implied here: Jesus
“travels,” figuratively and literally, from Jews to Gentiles. His ministry is
at first to Israel only. Then he is persuaded by a Gentile mother, who will not
take “no” for an answer, to extend his ministry to embrace a Gentile child.
That expansion continues, and carries Jesus into Gentile territory, where he
administers another healing. The man that Jesus heals here is probably a
Gentile.2
Individuals
and community
“They brought to him a deaf man,” we
are told, “... and they begged [Jesus] to lay his hand
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