In Jesus Holy Name September 8, 2024
Text: Mark 7:24-36 Pentecost XVI - Redeemer
“Faith Beyond Distractions”
Mark has another great story for us this morning about the vastness of the Kingdom of God and the ministry of Jesus which reaches beyond the walls the Jewish Pharisees who had built a religion that kept non Jewish people out. The religious belief of the Jewish theologians was that the God of Creation, was only for the Jews.
Here are a few of my questions this morning about this Gospel lesson?
1. Why is Jesus going to non Jewish territory? And why in secret?
2. Was the covenant God established with Abraham for Jews only? Or were all people to be blessed? Was this message of Jesus?
3. Is this gospel lesson about faith? Over coming distractions?
4. Is this visit of Jesus to a non Jewish area, a reference to Elijah whose miracles in (Zarephath Sidon) saved a widow and her son from starvation?
5. Why did Jesus tell this story of Elijah’s visit and miracles to a Gentile in his first sermon in his home town of Nazareth when he said he could do very few miracles for their lack of faith. Then they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff
6. The bible is filled with miracles of Jesus that healed people, but his one is odd…. Why did Jesus have to spit in order to heal a man who was deaf and unable to speak?
7. Why did Jesus “sigh”? He did not sigh when He worked other miracles.
These are just some of my questions this morning.
If this story is about faith, then this is why Mark and Matthew both tell about this Gentile mother who wants her daughter healed. It is a lesson for us about over coming distractions, which Peter failed to do when he tried to walk on water. Both Peter and the Canaanite mother faced distractions. Peter took his eyes off Jesus because he was distracted by the wind and waves. His faith then faltered. Mark wants to show us another individual who when confronted with distractions did not falter in the face of the difficulties of life.
Jesus has ventured outside the confines of Israel and entered the Gentile region of present day Lebanon, were even here, the stories of a prophet named Jesus was not a secret. (you can see the map in the bulletin) Word has spread far and wide that Jesus had supernatural power to heal the sick and raise the dead. Even in this Gentile territory, people knew about His ministry, and that’s why one particular woman came to see Him.
She is called a Canaanite, meaning she descended from the Canaanites in the Old Testament who were mortal enemies of the Jewish people. She had many things going against her that day. She was not Jewish. She was a woman. But her daughter was very sick.
Every parent can understand this. If you have a sick child, how far will you go to help your son or daughter? To ask the question is to answer it. It’s not a matter of time or distance or money. When your son is sick or your daughter is ill, nothing matters except getting them well again. When your child is sick, you don’t care about test results, x-rays, percentages, new medicines, research protocols, or anything like that. “People just want to know one thing: ‘Is my child going to be all right?’” Nothing else matters.
The conversation between Jesus and the mother seems harsh. Jesus’ response to this woman seems peculiar and perhaps even cruel This woman is about to be overwhelmed by distractions. Nothing terrifies the soul like the silence of heaven when we have our own requests for God’s intervention into our life’s story.
1) In the Gospel of Matthew, he adds that she is also confronted by 12 disciples who keep pushing her away.
The scene was like any secret service agent who has the responsibility to stand between the President and the crowd. Don’t get too close!
2) The disciples are frustrated… “Jesus, she keeps crying out after us.” Just send her away…. She is not Jewish…. She doesn’t deserve your kindness. Is this about their prejudice? Should non-Jews receive a miracle?
3) She does not let the disciples stop her request. Jesus speaks but they are words meant to distract. His words are meant to discourage her by telling her that God’s blessings belonged to God’s chosen Jewish people.
4) Jesus said:
a. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
b. She is not distracted by words of refusal… she gets in His path and kneels in front of Jesus, grabbing His attention.
Jesus heard everything she said.
Jesus wanted to bring out the woman’s faith, not only for her benefit and ours, but also for the disciples who were watching. …. “Peter are you listening?” God’s grace is not limited. Don’t let distractions stop your prayers, God grace is in His time.
I think there is also a message was to the disciples about His mission and ministry. “Don’t you guys remember the promise of in Isaiah?” Read Isaiah 9:1-2
The message of impending salvation, which Jesus would bring about by His death on the cross and resurrection, and thus the forgiveness of sins, the promise of eternal life by faith in Jesus was also meant for Gentiles. This is not the first time Jesus offers God’s grace and salvation to non-Jewish people. Remember the woman at the well in Samaria? Eventually, on the day of Pentecost, the disciples will overcome their inborn prejudices. But for now, Jesus provides a lesson about “faith” and the future acceptance of all people into God’s kingdom.
Let’s pick up the story again. Jesus provides a distraction. “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Pretty sarcastic! In other words…. It is not right to give God’s grace which is meant for His chosen people, Israel to non Jewish people. That is what His offensive words means. This is not a compliment. No one wants to be called a “dog”. Most people would just be filled with anger and turn away. Not this woman. She is not distracted.
Who understands this better than the mother of a sick child? She will stop at nothing, she will not take no for an answer. Not this woman…. No harsh words. No brush off by the disciples. Nothing was going to distract this woman from seeking a miracle for her daughter. She knows Jesus can heal her daughter.
The woman doesn’t dispute what Jesus said, she agrees with him.
She could have become indignant and said, “Don’t talk to me that way. I’m no dog! I’m a human being. But she did not. She agreed with Jesus. Yes, I have no claim to your grace. “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” With out Jesus even going to her house. His words were enough.
Jesus then leaves the Gentile area of Trye and Sidon and travels south to another Gentile area call the Decapolis. It is a confederation of Ten Towns under Roman rule. Once there, a group of people begged Jesus to lay his hand on a man who was deaf and could not speak. People knew that Jesus was a miracle worker.
The healing is a little unusual. Why did Jesus heal the man this way? Why did he give him privacy? Why did he put his fingers in the man's ears? Why did he spit and touch the man's tongue? Why did he look up to heaven? Why sigh? Why say, in Aramaic, "Ephphatha" (or "be opened")? Why not just speak has he did with the Gentile woman from Zarephath in Sidon.
Before he performs a miracle, before he heals a man who needs his help, the Son of God looks up to heaven and sighs. Why? In this first century culture people believed that illness and disability happened because of a moral failure. There is a similar story in John 9 when Jesus heals a man born blind. As you may remember, the disciples thought that he was blind because of his sin or the sins of his parents
In this man’s world, his deafness and muteness are death sentences. He can not work, He can not be part of a community. Jesus recognizes that the man standing in front of him is an out cast. Jesus sighs!
Jesus sighs. There are no “sighs” at other miracles. It seems out of place. I never thought of God as one who sighs. I have thought of God as one who commands light out of darkness. One who speaks, and fish fill the sea, birds fill the sky. I have thought of the scene in Bethany and see a God who weeps at the grave of His friend. . I’ve thought of God as one who calls forth the dead with a command….but a God who sighs?
If you have teenagers, you’ve probably sighed. If you’ve tried to resist temptation, you’ve probably sighed. If you’ve had your motives and reputation questioned or your best acts of love rejected, you have been forced to take a deep breath and let escape a painful sigh.
Jesus sighed. Jesus recognized an illness that was never intended. Mankind was not created to be separated from our creator; and so He sighs. Creation was never intended to be inhabited by evil. His tears fall at the tomb of Lazarus because death was never to be part of our experience. All creation groans under the strain of evil….longing for a return to the “Garden”, how life once was.
In August of 2003 a blackout struck the northeastern United States. Four states were without power for five hours. One of the more unlucky individuals was a man on an elevator of the Empire State Building in New York City. When the blackout struck the elevator stopped between the 52nd and 53rd floor. The lights went out. This man was stuck in a metal coffin hanging 525 feet above the ground. That’s about 1 ¾ the length of a Football field – vertical! When the man was interviewed afterward by CNN he said:
“I have never been so terrified or alone in my life. Those five hours were a living hell. I was trapped and couldn’t get out. That’s a horrible feeling. I was trying to open the doors with my hands, but they wouldn’t budge. I yelled, but no one could hear me. I couldn’t see anything. It was like death in there. I knew I was never going to get out. But when Detective Moran repelled down from the 57th floor and opened the hatch on the roof of the elevator, I felt freedom like never before. All I wanted was for that door to be opened.
When {I was rescued} I looked at my watch – it said 9:15 pm. I will never forget what time it was. I felt alive again!”
This man standing before Jesus was trapped. He wanted to yell but could not. He wanted to hear but could not. Jesus turned him aside privately, helping the man know he had Jesus' attention. He touched his ears and his mouth. He looked up to heaven, helping the man know where the healing would come from. He sighed, a symbol of grief for human brokenness and one that the man could observe. And he said a word—Ephphatha—that would have been an easy one to lip-read.
You never forget the day that Jesus saves you! To be lost, to be scared and lonely, then to feel His touch is just the best. This man was rescued from his dark elevator in which he lived. Life was new.
In Romans 9 Paul laments that he would be willing to give his own life if it would save more people” of his own race”….. In Romans 10 Paul writes: “My prayer is that God would save the Israelites …..they have tried to obtain righteousness by keeping the law but righteousness is by faith.” (Romans 10) God always intended to include the Gentiles in His plan of salvation. God starts with the Jews, but He does not stop there. It was the responsibility of the Jews to be a blessing to all nations. Their theology had become self centered.
This is why Jesus heals the daughter of a Gentile mother, why He heals a man deaf and unable to speak in Gentile territory.
Here is the truth. You and I are like the Canaanite woman. We are outside the grace of God. Like the Jewish Pharisees our own works of righteousness fall short of earning God’s grace. Our broken commandments keep us separated from the holiness of God. Paul reminds us that we are just like this non Jewish woman. She powerless to heal her daughter. We are powerless to provide our own key to the gate heaven.
Paul writes: ”we have been justified through faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” who died on the cross and rose from the grave. Through Him we have gained access to His grace, by faith. You see, at just the right time when we were still powerless …Jesus died for us. (Romans 5)
Do not get distracted by cancel culture. Do not get distracted. Keep your eyes on Jesus.
