GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION
THE SILENCE OF GOD
9/1/19 – Garfield
A. There is a cliché that says, “Silence is golden.”
1. This is especially true when we find ourselves wanting to speak DEROGATORILY about someone,
yet we have the good sense to keep our MOUTHS shut.
2. It is also true when you come home EXHAUSTED from a HARD DAY’S WORK and all you want is
some PEACE and QUIET.
3. However, there are times when SILENCE makes us UNCOMFORTABLE.
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was a kid my Dad was giving a DEVOTIONAL TALK one Wednesday night at church. It was obvious that he was NERVOUS, but he was doing fairly well. But as he was DRAWING his
CONCLUSION, he went blank. He just stood there SPEECHLESS with a puzzling look on his face.
My little brother and I were DUCKING down behind the PEW trying to HIDE, because we felt both EMBARRASSMENT and SYMPATHY for Dad. He was SILENT for no more than a minute, but to us, and I’m sure to him, it seemed like an ETERNITY. He then collected his THOUGHTS and concluded his LESSON.
B. Silence, at times, is difficult to bear, but what is even more difficult to UNDERSTAND is the SILENCE
of God- Mark 7:24-30 (READ) and Matthew 15:21-28 (READ).
1. Matthew said that this is a “Canaanite woman”, a Gentile, who comes to Jesus. This is significant!
Jews had nothing to do with Gentiles because they were not part of the “covenant children of God”.
COMMENT:
But this is a concerned MOTHER who has a daughter who is demon-possessed. Undoubtedly,
she had heard about the COMPASSION and LOVE that Jesus had shown people in DIRE NEED.
So, although she is a Gentile and Jesus is a Jew, she comes to Him begging, “Lord have mercy on me. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession”- Matthew 15:22. She waits for Jesus to HELP her in some way, but what she gets from Him is SILENCE. Jesus IGNORED her.
2. Have you ever felt IGNORED by God?
ILLUSTRATION:
Have you ever PRAYED for a JOB PROMOTION, but instead was LAID OFF?
Have you ever PRAYED for the HEALING of a LOVED ONE critically ILL or INJURED in a CAR ACCIDENT, only to have that person DIE?
3. When TRAGEDY strikes or when our DESPERATE PRAYERS go seemingly UNANSWERED, we sometimes feel that God doesn’t CARE or that he simply IGNORES us.
C. Our text presents us with a difficult story about Jesus.
1. Jesus’ RESPONSE or lack thereof is confusing, given the DESPERATE condition of this poor Mother
who has come on behalf of her DEMONIZED daughter.
COMMENT:
Here she is BEGGING Jesus to HELP her little girl and He responded only in SILENCE. And
to top it off the APOSTLES are saying, “Send her away, she’s bothering us!”
Can you imagine how this woman must have felt? She’s heard about Jesus’ LOVE and COMPASSION for HURTING people, and all she gets from Him is first, SILENCE, and then is BELITTLED by His followers!
MESSAGE:
COMMENT:
Why is Jesus SILENT? I believe Jesus is teaching a LESSON, not only to this woman but also to His apostles. This is the only RECORD we have of Jesus ever leaving the borders of Israel. Why is He there? I believe He’s there for this woman’s SAKE, because as soon as He HEALS her daughter He returns to the Sea of Galilee. (Let’s look at three possibilities for the silence of God.)
I. TO SHOW US WHO WE ARE
A. No person can come to Christ unless he or she first recognizes a DESPERATE need.
1. One thing we know about the Canaanite woman is that she RECOGNIZED her NEED.
COMMENT:
She had a CHILD who was DEMON-POSSESSED and knew the only person who could help was Jesus. So, she SOUGHT Jesus for HELP.
2. Sadly, many DO NOT come to Christ because they don’t SEE a NEED.
a. There are those who hear the GOSPEL preached week after week and still not OBEY it because they don’t SEE the NEED!
b. The person who finally reaches a point of DESPERATION, who has nowhere else to turn, is
usually the one who is READY to SEEK Christ.
ILLUSTRATION:
When a CHILD is severely ILL, a MARRIAGE is FALLING apart, one is on the verge of BANKRUPTCY, a DAUGHTER runs AWAY from HOME, the DRUG or ALCOHOL PROBLEM escalates, you are DISGUSTED with the PORNOGRAPHY that once brought you PLEASURE—that’s when people out of DESPERATION often RUN to God.
B. After the mother PLEADS a second time for Jesus to HELP her, He says something to her that seems
so unlike our Lord.
1. Jesus- “…it’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs”- Mark 7:27b.
COMMENT:
Remember, Jesus is the “Bread of Life” and the Jews were the covenant children of God. Jesus already told her that He was sent to the “lost sheep of Israel” (Matthew 15:24), but to call her a “DOG!” The Jews called Gentiles “DOGS”.
2. It may seem CRUEL for Jesus to allude to the woman as a DOG, but notice how she accepts the
DESIGNATION.
a. She said, “Yes Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat the children’ crumbs.”- Mark 7:28.
b. She is not asking for a place at the TABLE! She only asks for CRUMBS that might fall onto
the FLOOR.
COMMENT:
I think this woman is saying, “I know who and what I am! I recognize my NEED. I know that I fall short. I’m well aware that I don’t DESERVE this BLESSING.”
Often we come to God asking for a BLESSING, but we come with our PRIDE and we leave UNBLESSED.
C. God OWES us NOTHING!
COMMENT:
Whatever God does for us is out of His GOODNESS, not out of OBLIGATION. We OWE everything to Him, not the other way around. When we come to Him and say, “Lord, I DESERVE nothing from You. I’m not even asking to sit at your TABLE, I’ll just be satisfied with the CRUMBS that fall to the FLOOR,” that’s when we will receive the BLESSING.
II. TO TEST OUR FAITH
A. The SILENCE of God is the greatest TEST of our FAITH.
1. What happens when you turn to God out of DESPERATION asking for something of Him that you
feel you NEED and He doesn’t GIVE it to you?
a. What if you were a TEENAGER and had some members of your FAMILY turn AGAINST you, which RESULTED in STRANGERS taking you AWAY? Then later, being FALSELY ACCUSED of a CRIME you didn’t COMMIT, you are THROWN into PRISON. Although you TRY and are even HOPEFUL at times of getting out of PRISON, months turn into years. All of your EFFORTS seem to be in VAIN.
b. What if you were AFFLICTED with a PAINFUL and DEBILITATING illness and you PRAY over and over for RELIEF, but instead you have to LIVE with it for the rest of your life?
c. What if you were faced with the most PHYSICALLY painful, gut-wrenching, heart-rending ORDEAL of your life and you fall to your knees BEGGING your Father in heaven to not allow you go through this TRAUMATIC ordeal, but not only do you have to go through it— you face it ALONE?
COMMENT:
If any of these situations happened to you or me, would we still LOVE God? Would we still remain FAITHFUL? It’s easy to LOVE God when everything is going our way. It’s easy to be FAITHFUL when our WORLD seems to be in PERFECT ORDER.
But God asks, “Do you really LOVE Me? Do you LOVE me only because I give you GOOD things? Is it only when everything is RUNNING SMOOTHLY that you LOVE me? Can you still LOVE me when times are TOUGH? Will you FOLLOW me when the ROAD gets ROCKY? Will you still have FAITH in me when your WORLD is turned UPSIDE DOWN? Do you really LOVE me?”
2. What about the TRYING CIRCUMSTANCES I just mentioned, can anyone still LOVE God when
He allows those TERRIBLE things to happen?
a. When, out of JEALOUSY, Joseph’s brothers sold him into SLAVERY, he wound up in charge of Potipher’s household only to be falsely accused by Potipher’s wife of trying to RAPE her. And then he was thrown into PRISON for at least two years before finally being RELEASED by Pharaoh. Does Joseph BLAME God for the UNFAIR TREATMENT brought against him by his brothers? NOT AT ALL! He later tells his brothers, “What you meant for evil against me, God meant it for good” – Genesis 50:20.
b. Paul, a dedicated apostle of Christ, is afflicted with some type of physical infirmity that he describes as a “thorn in the flesh.” He prays three times for God to remove it, but God doesn’t. God allows Paul to suffer with it explaining, “My grace is sufficient for you.” But Paul wasn’t asking for ENDURANCE, he wanted the THORN REMOVED. Yet, Paul doesn’t LOSE FAITH and WALK AWAY from God, instead he writes, “…for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
c. Then there was Jesus. He knows in a few hours he is going to DIE the most PAINFUL, HUMILIATING DEATH known at that time. He goes to the garden with Peter, James, and John to pray. He tells them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He then walks out in the GARDEN and falls to the ground. Sweat falls from his forehead like great drops of blood. He pleads, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for you; remove this cup from me…” Three times he prays in AGONY that God would not allow him to go through this HORRIBLE ORDEAL But as soon as He says his final “AMEN!” Judas comes with armed soldiers to take him to be TRIED and consequently CRUCIFIED. God denied His Son’s PRAYER REQUEST. Not only did He have to DIE on the CROSS, He died ALONE. Even so, Jesus loved His Father enough to OBEY His WILL even when it HURT!
B. Jesus COMMENDS the woman for her “GREAT FAITH”- Matthew 15:28.
1. What would you do if you were this woman?
ILLUSTRATION:
All this woman wants is HELP for her DAUGHTER. And she is seemingly IGNORED by Jesus. The disciples INSULT her, “Send her away, she’s bothering us.” She falls on her knees before Jesus and pleads, “Lord, please help me?” Then Jesus alludes to her as a DOG.
Unlike this woman, many Christians would have thrown their hands up in the air and given up. But she is PERSISTENT. She remained constant in her pursuant of Jesus to help her.
2. Jesus then COMMENDS her, “Woman, you have GREAT FAITH!”- Matthew 15:28.
COMMENT:
Did you realize that there is only TWO TIMES in the gospels where Jesus COMMENDS someone for their “GREAT FAITH”—here the “Canaanite Woman” and a “Roman Centurion
whose servant Jesus had healed” (Matthew 8:5-13).
Both were non-Jews—PAGANS. And, yet, Jesus COMMENDS them for their “GREAT FAITH,” while on many occasions He REBUKED His apostles for their “LITTLE FAITH.”
3. We must continually strive to GROW in our FAITH in God and never allow life’s PROBLEMS and SET-BACKS, no matter how SEVERE, to weaken our RESOLVE to FOLLOW Christ wherever He leads us.
III. TO TEACH US THAT LOVE TRANSCENDS TRADITION
A. Both Mark 7 and Matthew 15 begin with Jesus dealing with the Pharisees who are once again
BINDING their TRADITIONS, which they believe is LAW. (I didn’t have time to preach on it.)
ILLUSTRATION:
The Pharisees and teachers of the law come to Jesus asking, “Why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat”- Matthew 15:2.
Jesus replied typically by asking them a question, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition” – v. 3?
COMMENT:
Their TRADITIONS meant more to them than the COMMANDMENTS of God.
B. Jesus moves His LECTERN from Israel out to the real CLASSROOM of life.
1. As stated earlier, this is the only record we have of Jesus going into a Gentile DISTRICT.
a. I believe whole-heartedly that He is there not only for this woman’s sake, but also to TEACH His disciples some valuable lessons.
b. I believe two of the lessons are that: 1) CREDO TRADITIONS breed FALSE SECURITY and 2) LOVE is the GREATEST COMMANDMENT.
COMMENT:
It was fairly easy for the Jews to sit inside their BORDERS and say, “We are the only ones who are RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG.” It’s fairly easy for Christians to sit inside their CHURCH WALLS and say, “Everyone else is going to HELL but us,” and then sit back and DO NOTHING about it.
But it’s an entirely different matter to look into the EYES of the DESPERATE UNSAVED and really see them. It’s a different matter to look into the EYES of PAIN and CONFUSION and to confront the real AGONY of the outside WORLD.
2. No wonder the DISCIPLES were NERVOUS.
COMMENT:
It was easy back in Israel to act SANCTIMONIOUS toward the Gentiles. It was easy to call them “DOGS.” But it’s not easy to PUSH them aside when you LOOK into PLEADING EYES and HEAR their DESPERATE CRIES.
Yes, this was the only recorded time that Jesus took His apostles outside the BORDERS of Israel. But these are the same men who will return to help ESTABLISH churches for these UNCLEAN GENTILE DOGS.
C. Jesus taught His disciples over and over that LOVE was the GREAT COMMANDMENT.
1. Helping this Gentile woman PROVES it once again.
2. But did you know when Jesus helped this Gentile woman that He BROKE His own COMMANDS? - Matthew 10:5-6 (READ)
COMMENT:
Jesus told His disciples “DO NOT go among the Gentiles.” But then He takes them to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile district. He then explains, “You are to go to the lost sheep of Israel.” He even tells the Gentile woman, “I was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of Israel” – v. 24. Then WHY is He there?
Jesus commanded, “You are not to go to the Gentiles, but only to the lost of Israel.” Five chapters later He is seen BREAKING both COMMANDS. WHY? The only reason I can think of is to teach that “LOVE IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENT!”
When our CREEDS, our LAWS, and our TRADITIONS negate LOVE for God and people, then it’s not what God INTENDED.
CONCLUSION:
A. We have all been CONFRONTED with the SILENCE of God.
1. The question is: Do we allow the times of DIFFICULTY to DESTROY our FAITH or make our FAITH stronger?
2. Jesus- “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”-
John 16:33.
3. John- “FAITH IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD”- 1 John 5:4.
HAS THE SILENCE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE CHALLENGED YOUR FAITH?
