Be Caring To Other Cultures Series

Leo Tolstoy, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, once said that “those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs” possess a state of mind that is not common, but essential for right thinking.(1) Right thinking, therefore, will allow us to lower our prejudices toward those who are different, in order to understand and address their unique needs; such as their cultural, physical and spiritual needs.

Right thinking, or rather correct moral thinking, occurs as we begin to develop the mind of Christ. We acquire the mind of Christ by first having a personal relationship with Jesus, and secondly by reading the Bible and observing the way that Jesus treated those around Him. In our message today, we will discover how Jesus had no social prejudice nor felt inconvenienced; therefore, He was able to meet the needs of a woman from another country and different culture.

Jesus Needed to Spend Time Alone (v. 24)

24 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.

Jesus “went to the region of Tyre and Sidon” (v. 24). Tyre was “a celebrated commercial city of Phoenicia, on the coast of the Mediterranean,”(2) and Sidon was a fishing town about twenty-five miles north of Tyre.(3) The King James Version states that Jesus “went into the borders.” A. T. Robertson comments that Jesus went “into distinctly heathen land. It was not merely the edge of Phoenicia, but into the parts of Tyre and Sidon.”(4) The reason why He journey so deep “into” the region is because, “Jesus wanted to be alone . . . after all the strain in Galilee. He craved a little privacy and rest. This was His purpose in going into Phoenicia.”(5)

Now, let me summarize the timeline, or sequence of events, up to this point. Back in Mark chapter six, we read how the disciples approached King Herod and requested the body of John the Baptist in order to give him a proper burial (Mark 6:29). When the disciples informed Jesus about their heart-wrenching experience (Mark 6:30), He told them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Mark then testifies, “But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him” (Mark 6:33). It is an understatement to say that their get-away plan was unraveled!

Jesus then began to teach the multitudes, for He was moved with compassion toward them (Mark 6:34). He and His disciples even fed five thousand men, plus women and children (Mark 6:35-44). They were no doubt exhausted by this point, and needed some rest and relaxation; therefore, next Jesus sent them across the sea to get away, while He went upon a mountain by Himself to pray (Mark 6:45-46). When He joined His disciples and they landed on the opposite shore, the people began demanding their attention once again (Mark 6:53-56); and if that were not enough, the Pharisees began criticizing Jesus and His disciples (Mark 7:1-13)!

Jesus then ducked into a house so He could have a moment away from the crowd to share something with the disciples (Mark 7:17), and then afterward, they departed to Tyre and Sidon (v. 24); which brings us to our primary text. We read that when they arrived, “He entered a house and wanted no one to know it” (v. 24). Jesus was still trying to find some down-time for Himself and His disciples, because no one was letting them have any rest.

Jesus’ primary mission was to the Jews (Matthew 15:24); therefore, He wanted to vacate the premises and get out of Jewish territory in the hope of things letting up. This was the reason why they headed to Tyre and Sidon. It’s important for us to understand that Jesus and His disciples were trying to get away, so we can see the significance of what takes place next!

Jesus Took Time Out for a Foreigner (vv. 25-27)

25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

So, Jesus had just entered a house, hoping that no one could find Him; but the text states back in verse 24, “He could not be hidden.” Why? “For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him” (v. 25). She had “heard about Him,” meaning that she was probably aware of how Jesus had healed all manner of diseases; about how He had opened the eyes of the blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf; and about how He had driven out demons from many other people. Mark earlier stated that “His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee” (Mark 1:28), and Galilee was right next to Phoenicia.