The Gospel of Mark #19 – “Faith in Unexpected Places”
Mark 7:24-37
Intro –
1. We humans are a strange breed, aren’t we?
2. ILL – A pastor was once looking through some old church records of a Norwegian congregation which listed its membership as: “52 souls & 2 Swedes.”
3. Why do we feel as if we have to discriminate between others based on where the others were born, or where they live, or what color their skin is, or if they are rich or poor, a Southerner or a Yankee, blue collar or white collar, English speaking or Spanish speaking, Republican or Democrat, Vikings fan or Packers fan…? (OK, maybe not the last one!!)
4. God does not show favoritism & neither should we!
5. Acts 10:34 “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.’”
6. James 2:8-9 “8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”
7. Everyone we see, everyone we look at, everyone we meet, whether they are dressed in rags, or in the most expensive designer clothes, are eternal souls in need of God’s love, mercy, kindness & salvation.
8. Of the many traits Jesus possessed, the one most people remember & admire would be His compassion. He genuinely cared. Life was never too busy for Him to help someone in need.
9. Mark 7:24-37 (read)
10. In our text, Jesus visited 2 predominantly Gentile regions, Tyre & Sidon (vs. 24-30) & the Decapolis (vs. 31-37). In fact, it is the only time recorded in the gospels that He left the borders of Israel. There He ministered to a desperate woman & a disabled man.
11. The Jewish Law separated the Jews from the Gentiles, not because the Jews were better, but because the Jews were different in their covenant relationship with God. A wall in the temple prevented Gentiles from entering the Jewish temple courts under penalty of death.
12. God wanted the Jews to witness to the Gentiles of the true and living God; but His people failed in their task.
13. Jesus would break down the wall of separation and remove the “spiritual distance,” thus making believing Gentiles & believing Jews one in Christ (Eph. 2:11-22).
I. The Faith of a Desperate Mom – Vs. 24-30
Imagine the scene. This mother has a demon possessed daughter & so she begs Jesus for deliverance. Initially He remains silent, but ultimately He grants her request & commends her faith.
A. The obstacles to her faith were great – vs. 24-27
She had to overcome many obstacles in order to secure her daughter’s healing. Yet, she persisted until she achieved her goal.
1. The obstacle of race – vs. 26 tells us that this woman was from Tyre & Sidon. Matt. 15:22 tells us that she was a Canaanite. She was descended from a cursed people.
a. When Joshua led the people of Israel into Canaan, they had been commanded to totally destroy the Canaanites, Deut. 7:2. She was a member of a hated race.
b. When the disciples see & hear this Gentile calling out to their Messiah, they react by telling Jesus to send her away! They wanted nothing to do with her. She was not one of their people! In their eyes, she was different and that was enough to justify them not caring about her at all.
2. The obstacle of religion – She came to Jesus and called out to Him and said, “Lord, Son of David, Have mercy on me.” Here she was a Gentile mother crying out to the Jewish Messiah. She had no right to come to Jesus through the door of Judaism. She was a Gentile and according to Matt 15:23, Jesus gave her the response she deserved, “He answered her not a word.”
3. The obstacle of rejection – As Jesus speaks to this woman, His words appear harsh to our ears. His words must have shaken her to the very core of her being. His words probably broke her heart.
a. First, Jesus simply ignores her. It is as if He turns an indifferent ear to her cries for help.
b. Then, He tells her that His whole purpose in coming to this world was to reach the lost sheep of Israel. When she persists, Jesus tells her that she is a dog & does not deserve the children’s bread. The disciples rejected her and now it appears that Jesus is rejecting her too.
4. What obstacles are you facing today? Persist in seeking the Lord & in His time, you will see every barrier fall!
5. John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
6. While the obstacles to her faith were great…
B. The object of her faith was greater – vs. 28-30
1. When Jesus calls here a dog, it was a play on words. While the Jews often called the gentiles “dogs” they used a different word than Jesus used here which literally means “little puppy.”
2. ILL – A Christian couple from the south decide that they want to get a dog. As they are walking down the street in town, they notice that a sign in the pet shop is advertising "Christian Puppies." Their interest piqued, they go inside. "How do you know they’re Christian puppies?" "Watch," says the owner, as he takes one of the dogs and says, "Fetch the Bible." The dog runs over to the desk, and grabs the Bible in its mouth and returns. Putting the Bible on the floor, the owner says, "Find Psalm 23." The dog flips pages with its paw until he reaches the right page, and then stops. Amazed and delighted, the couple purchased the dog and headed home. That evening, they invited some friends over and showed them the dog, having him run through his Psalm 23 routine. Impressed, one of the visitors asks "Does he also know ’regular’ commands?" "Gee, we don’t know. We didn’t ask," replies the husband. Turning to the dog, he says, "Sit." The dog sits. He says, "Lie down." The dog lies down. He says "Roll over." The dog rolls over. He says "Heel." The dog runs over to him, jumps up on the sofa, puts one paw on the owner’s forehead and bows his head. "Oh look!" the wife exclaims. "He’s PENTECOSTAL!"
3. Perhaps Jesus had a twinkle in His eye or a smile on His face, because she got it & responded in faith to who Jesus is & what He could do! Vs. 28 “Yes, Lord…”
4. A lot of people would have given up & not persisted, but this woman would not. She persisted in spite of everything that was thrown into her pathway.
5. Why? She persisted because too much was at stake! Her little daughter needed to be delivered from her bondage. She needed help and she was determined to get it!
6. A crumb might have been all she could get; but she knew that a crumb from His hand was more than enough! She wouldn’t give up until she got what she needed!
7. Jesus responded to her faith & granted the healing she desired!
8. What do you need from Jesus today? Keep bringing that need to Jesus until He answers. Keep seeking His face until He responds. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking & in His time, He’ll hand you down a morsel of answered prayer!
9. Matt. 7:7-8 “7Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
II. The Healing of a Disabled Man – Vs. 31-37
I find it interesting how often Jesus took the time to minister to those who were disabled. He would stop & help those who society would just assume forget about!
The story Mark includes in these last 7 verses describes one of these instances. It is only mentioned here in Mark but gives us a glimpse into the heart of Christ.
A. The man’s condition – vs. 32
1. The Bible tells us that this man was “deaf”. The word means “to blunt or to dull”. It may have been that this man lost his hearing as the result of an injury.
2. Not only was he deaf, but he also had a speech impediment. He could talk, but his speech was impaired.
3. These two conditions seem to go hand in hand. Because a deaf person cannot hear themselves saying words, they tend to have trouble using verbal language correctly.
4. Thankfully, even though he was handicapped, had people around him that cared about him. They heard that Jesus was passing by & they brought their deaf friend to Jesus. They believed that the man Who had cast a legion of demons out of the demoniac could heal this poor handicapped man!
B. Jesus’ compassion – vs. 33-35
1. Jesus truly cared about this man. Notice that Jesus “took him aside”. Jesus refuses to make a spectacle of this man. By taking him aside, Jesus is saying, “you are more than a problem, you are an individual & you are important to me! I care about you!”
2. Next, Jesus uses a rough form of sign language to communicate His intentions. He sticks His fingers in the man’s ears to let him know that He is going to do something about his deafness. He spits on His finger and touches the man’s tongue to let him know that He is about to lubricate his speech.
3. Why? It seems that Jesus is attempting to awaken faith in this man’s heart. He is trying to get the man to understand that something is about to happen in his life & that Jesus is going to bring about the changes.
4. Whatever the reason for His actions, Jesus reaches out & touches this man!
5. After touching him, Jesus looks toward Heaven. He is telling the deaf man where the healing was coming from. Jesus was looking to His Father & He was telling this man, via sign language, that his healing was coming from above.
6. After looking toward Heaven, Jesus “sighed”. This word means “to groan”. The deaf man could not hear the sigh, but he could see Jesus when He did it & it spoke volumes to him. The sigh said “I care about you & what you are going through!”
7. ILL – One day a little boy came home from school and he looked rather sad. His mother said, “Honey, is everything all right?” He said, “Well, I guess so. But, Billy came to school today and told the class that his daddy had died. They just buried his daddy yesterday, mama.” Then he said, “Mama, Billy was so upset about his daddy dying that he just cried and cried.” His mother said, “Well, what did you do?” He said, “I just laid my head on my desk and cried with him!”
8. That is the kind of heart that Jesus had, and that is the kind of heart that we need!
9. Finally, Jesus said one word, “Ephphatha”, which means “be opened”.
10. When Jesus said this, the man’s ears were healed and his tongue was loosed. He could hear! He could speak! Oh, what a miracle! One command from Jesus & his life changed forever! That is the power of the Word of God!
C. The crowd’s confession – vs. 36-37
1. As soon as He has accomplished the miracle, Jesus tells the multitudes not to tell anyone else. He does not want to identified as a Gentile Messiah.
2. The tense of the phrase “commanded them” suggests that He kept on commanding them to keep the matter quiet. But, they did just the opposite. He told them to tell no one and they told everyone!
3. What a contrast that is with the church today. He told them to tell no one & they told everyone. He commands us to tell everyone and we tell no one – Mk 16:15!
4. The Bible tells us that these people were “overwhelmed with amazement.” What they saw Jesus do was more than their minds could comprehend. It left them with their mouths hanging open in amazement.
5. They summed up what they felt about Jesus by saying, “He has done everything well!” (vs. 37).
6. When I look at my life & where God has brought me from, I can say with these gentiles, “He has done everything well!” Can you?
Conc. –
1. Personal Applications - When we follow Jesus...
a. He will lead us beyond the limits of our comfort. If you think following Jesus is the best way to play it safe in life, you’re mistaken. Following Jesus means going where Jesus leads you, & sometimes he leads us to places that are chillingly out of our comfort zone.
b. He will lead us to respond with compassion to the needs around us. Jesus went out of his way to meet the need of this unnamed deaf person. Often we go out of our way to avoid seeing the needs of others. God calls us to compassion, which means allowing ourselves to feel the plight of others, placing ourselves in their shoes, & helping.
2. Vs. 37 – “He has done everything well.” Whether you need salvation from sin or healing from suffering, Jesus can meet your need today!
