GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 7:29
Means vs. Ends
The “means vs. ends” question—whether the morality of an action depends on the process (the means) or the outcome (the ends)—has engaged philosophers, theologians, politicians, and others for centuries. Should a good end—say preventing starvation—justify stealing food—a means? Or must the morality of an action—say honesty—prevent one from stealing food to survive?
In Jesus’ era, women, especially strange women, did not approach a man in public—even in Greek society. Yet the woman described by Mark and Matthew put morality and tradition aside to approach Jesus—a means—and requested the healing of her daughter, certainly a noble end.
Matthew said that Jesus ignored the woman, and the disciples encouraged him to send her away, but she would not be easily dismissed. The wording implies that she kept asking Jesus to heal her daughter. He said the children of the house should be fed first; it was not right to take the children’s food and toss it to the little dogs. Not to be so easily dismissed, the woman replied that even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table. “And he said to her, ‘Because of this word, go. The demon has departed from your daughter.’” (Mark 7:29)
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the “means vs. ends” issue. Every incident must be examined, for not all means are immoral, nor are all ends worthy. In the case of the Syrophoenician woman, she was willing to use extraordinary means for a desirable end.
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