On leaving that place, Jesus went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, and did not wish anyone to know it, but could not escape notice.
been feeling pretty
high and mighty
words of wisdom and division
rolled easilyin another breath
we are again elsewhere
quietly cocooning
o for space and quietas soon as this is acknowledged
our desire evaporates
pressure heated
with multiple needs
Before proceeding to a next scene it will be helpful to have Matthew 15:22–28 open alongside. There will be opportunity to reflect on whether both Mark and Matthew are using an independent source or tradition. This is a scene that makes it very difficult to know which came first, Matthew or Mark, and gives evidence to both sides of debate.
The opening word, ἐκεῖθεν (ekeithen, from, and thence) is not clear in the above CEB translation. It is the only time Mark uses this word, while Matthew has 13 uses. Is Mark following Matthew or a common source to both? This word may be Matthew’s version of Mark’s euthys or “immediately”.
The sudden shift of location from debate with Pharisees to pagan territory suggests that we are now entering a new part of the narrative.
This is a clear indication that the purpose of the journey was to secure privacy, not missionary activity. That the purpose of Jesus was unfulfilled because of a reputation that had preceded him from Galilee is the obvious sense of what follows, but it may be that Mark wishes us to understand that Jesus was everywhere immediately recognized. Matthew omits any mention of Jesus’ crossing the border, and he has no equivalent of Mark’s 24b. ~ Mann320
This reference to entering a house is not about one entrance, but carries the weight of establishing residence. In Mark, home and house is something that Jesus seems to carry with him. It also challenges his followers to travel with an expectation of a hospitality he commissioned the twelve to look for on their fishing-for-people expeditions. This continues to challenge a settled church.
Inside every situation an en-homed Jesus finds himself, people find healing shining out from the construct of his life. Being at home in our own life may be the lure Jesus taught people-fishers.