Sunday 8th September 2024 – 16th Sunday after Pentecost
The Faith of the Syro-Phoenician Woman – Mark 7:24-37 In Galilee, Jesus has challenged official Judaism over the authority of non-biblical traditions and has taught that ritual purity is irrelevant. He now travels to the coast (“Tyre”), a largely Gentile area. The “woman” (v.26) is Gentile by birth and of non-Jewish origin; she seeks healing for her daughter who (at least in contemporary understanding) is possessed by evil. In Jesus’ statement (v.27), the “children” are presumably Jews; Jewish writers sometimes…