Isn’t it ironic?

Irony is an undervalued virtue of the Gospel according to Mark. This Sunday’s reading (Mark 7:24-37) is a prime example of irony in the Gospel of Mark, and is also – perhaps – the reading that should give us the most hope for humanity after the resurrection!

So how is this ironic? Is it like rain on your wedding day? A free ride when you’ve already paid? (If that joke didn’t land go watch Alanis Morisette’s Ironic) The irony that is so common in Mark’s Gospel is dramatic irony. We, the audience, have information that advantages us over the people within the story in some capacity. This irony is knowing about Jesus’ resurrection and thus knowing how the story ends when the disciples do not, or being aware that the Temple has already fallen when Jesus tells the disciples “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2) and so we know he is right while the disciples would be forgiven for not believing him.

We usually think of irony is only having the drop on the disciples, but it does happen to Jesus too. Our reading this week being by saying “a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin…” (Mark 7:25-26) We are told her ethnicity, which was seemingly apparent, but note the order that the we get the information: 1) a woman with a sick little daughter, 2) a Gentile, 3) a Syrophoenician. We are introduced to her as a person first and then we get her ethnicity. When Jesus addresses her, he does not have the kind of sensitivity one might expect: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” (Mark 7:27)

Jesus fails – note the word fails – to see her humanity first. He sees a Syrophoenician, not one of the Children of Israel, and does not see her needs as his concern. The irony is that we are primed to see this woman as a person in need without any modifiers, and Jesus sees a Syrophoenician distracting him from his business. How often are we in the same boat with Jesus!? We avert our eyes. They’re not our concern. We have other business. Are you one of the lost sheep of Israel? What kind of Christian are you?

This Syrophoenician demands to be seen as a person, and we too should have our attention redirected from Syrophoenician to human, a sibling in need: ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ (Mark 7:28) What looks like crumbs to us is a feast to another. No matter if those are the crumbs of a meal, the crumbs of the dollar bill in our pocket, or the crumbs of our freedoms; they are all a rich feast to those who hunger and thirst for bread or liberation or equality.

So why should we feel hope? Jesus, the Son of God, has his heart broken and is changed by this experience. ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” (Mark 7:29-30) He finds the same faith and trust in this woman that he is supposed to find in Israel. The faith of the Children of Israel is strengthened by seeing God act, and her faith is proved right and she is a witness to God’s saving help. The final irony comes through to give us hope: if Jesus, the Son of God, can fail and then get it right, how much more can we?! We truly are in the same boat as Jesus. Isn’t it ironic?