In this portion of Chapters 7 and 8 Jesus puts His men into several situations to show them what it means to rely on Jesus. Sadly, they don’t get it, but it gives us some great direction on how to trust Jesus in our lives. We leave a situation where Jesus encountered the Pharisees who thought they had external holiness down to a “t” but were inside filled with brokenness and evil. We next come to find a person who had no external appearance that would have been favored in that day—but internally she has what it takes to move Jesus.
24
The area of Tyre and Sidon is about 30 miles northwest from where He was on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This was a port area on the Mediterranean with deep Canaanite roots. At times this area was on friendly terms with Israel, and at other times it was not (like when Jerusalem fell in 586 B.C.). Jesus and His men went, presumably, to a Jewish home in order to get some time to rest away from crowds But, alas, such was not the case.
25 – 26
This woman had two strikes against her: she was a Greek, and a Canaanite at that; and she was a woman. Yet such is the love of a mother for her daughter that nothing would stop her from finding healing. Doesn’t this remind you of the story of Jairus the synagogue ruler in chapter 5? There, a father pleads for his only daughter—this woman had no position, culture or even gender to make her worthy—yet she comes. Such is the wonder of Jesus that those who have nothing to offer are given everything. Yet we see here a little interchange—Jesus wants the woman to realize just how strong her faith in Jesus really is!
27 – 28
Jesus probably switched to Greek here, out of His native Aramaic. Jesus speaks to her in a parable—but not using the derogatory “wild dogs” that Jews used as a label for Gentiles—instead He used the Greek word for a household pet. The idea is that kids are served first at dinner, then whatever vegetables they dislike are passed under the table to the doggies! She doesn’t skip a beat but realizes that Jesus is talking about Jews and Gentiles—and that He, as a Jew, would provide for His people first. Jesus came first to the Jews but always intended for the gospel to go out from there to the entire world (John 4:22 for instance). But in Jesus’ parable she sees that the dogs are provided for as well. Perhaps some of the “leftovers” from Jews who rejected Jesus could be hers?
29 – 30
Jesus is obviously delighted with this woman’s faith and focus. She passed His test of her understanding with flying colors—know your need, acknowledge Jesus as Lord (she addressed Him as Lord), and let nothing stop you—even Jesus’ conditions. It doesn’t mean she is less than, but all must come to the cross on Jesus’ terms, not our own. We don’t make our own deal with God.
Jesus showed the immensity of His power in that the demon was thrown out without Jesus touching the girl, being present, or even speaking a word. Wow!
31 – 32
The Decapolis was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been there before—releasing the man possessed with the legion of demons. The man had wanted to come with Jesus but instead the Lord told him to be a witness. That is apparently exactly what he did and when Jesus came back to this predominately Gentile area, people came to Him for healing.
The deaf-mute could not ask Jesus for healing so his friends brought him and begged the Lord to touch him. It’s fascinating how Jesus goes about healing him.
33 – 35
First Jesus takes the man away—Jesus was not about doing a miracle healing show but touching this man’s life personally and privately. Mark is the only one who records this miracle. Jesus does two unusual things. First, He places His fingers in the man’s ears, then spits (presumably on His hand) then touches the man’s tongue. I think this is cool because Jesus is communicating to the man in a way he could understand, not with words but with actions. It’s like Jesus is using some form of sign language saying “I’m going to heal your hearing and your ability to speak.” Spittle, by the way, was thought at the time to have healing powers.
Jesus then looked up, to the source of power (the Father), sighed (perhaps in sympathy to the man’s condition) then spoke one simple word in Aramaic: “Be opened.” Often deaf people can speak, but because they don’t hear the sound their speech is not clear. Once this man’s ears were opened he was able to speak clearly.
36 – 38
It’s kind of hard to hide a man who couldn’t speak but now can! As with many of Jesus’ miracles—it was just too good to remain silent about, so the man spread the news widely. “He does all things well” is certainly true, but an understatement!
8:1 – 4
Jesus, still in the Decapolis, spoke to a large crowd who had gone through their resources after three days. Likely this was a mixed Jewish and Gentile crowd. Instead of waiting for the disciples to approach Him, Jesus tells them this time to get the group something to eat. Their response shows they really hadn’t gotten it yet about Jesus.
5 – 8
It’s possible that this miracle took place very near where Jesus freed the man with the demons, on the southeastern shore of the lake. Notice Jesus didn’t say “go get them food.” He simply stated a fact—the people were hungry, they couldn’t get to where they could buy food, and He had compassion on them. It was the disciples that jumped to the conclusion about how they were to get the food. Like with the feeding of the 5,000—they looked at the problem through human eyes. Had they but said “Lord, what would you like us to do?”
Again, He uses what they have. Jesus could have created food out of nothing or some rocks lying around, but He chose to use what the disciples presented, just as Jesus uses whatever we have to offer and supercharges it for His use. A little side note. In the feeding of the 5,000 the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers. These were small baskets. Here, there are seven baskets left over but each is big enough to hold a person—that’s a lot of leftovers!
9 – 10
Jesus left for a place called Dalmanutha. There are no records of this place, but it could be Magadan, the home of Mary Magdalene.
11 – 13
The Pharisees were not about to give up in their efforts to discredit Jesus. Last time they attacked Jesus’ disciples. This time they directly come against Jesus. Mark calls their demand for a “sign” a test—such as where Satan tempted Jesus to perform at his will—so too the Pharisees want to control Jesus. But Jesus will not be controlled. He sighs again and tells them that no sign will be given. Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 12:38-42) tells us that He added that the only sign that will be given was the sign of Jonah who was three days in the belly of the fish—symbolizing the death of Jesus who would be three days in the grave.
People all the time want us to prove the existence of God and they pull us off track by steering the argument towards things such as the seeming inconsistencies in the Bible and the like. But as with Jesus, we need to stick to the main thing—and that is the gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Before that, nothing else makes sense. After that, everything makes sense!
So Jesus doesn’t do their bidding and simply leaves.
16 – 21
Apparently Jesus left so abruptly that the guys didn’t have time to provision for the trip back across the lake. While they were realizing they had only one loaf, Jesus uses it as an opportunity to make a spiritual point. He mentions the “yeast” of the Pharisees and Herod (or the Herodians). Yeast represented evil, even as the Israelites were to remove all yeast from their houses during Passover. His point is that introducing self-righteousness or political expediency is dangerous when it comes to relating to God. Like yeast, a little bit can spread both internally in our souls and externally to others.
They thought He was just talking about bread. Jesus found hard-heartedness among the Pharisees but now finds it even among His own men. Firstly, He is surprised they are still worried about provisions when they’ve seen two incredible miracles of feeding. Secondly, He is concerned that their thinking is so carnal, rather than seeing the real issue confronting them—the wrong-headed thinking of the religious leaders.
Conclusions
So what can we learn about faith?
Faith isn’t about external appearances (a Gentile girl was healed – 7:24 – 30) but an inward attitude
Faith means engaging in the struggle to understand Jesus (7:27 – 28)
Faith means being persistent (7:29 – 30)
Faith is personal (7:31 – 37, away from the crowds, Jesus touched)
Faith means a change in reliance for provision (8:1 – 10)
Faith is not about what you want, but what God wants for you (8:11 – 13)
Faith means looking for the big picture (8:14 – 21)
