Mark 7:24-37
What’s the farthest you’ve ever walked? I took the girls to the Asheboro Zoo last month, and if you’ve ever been there, you know that it’s a lot of walking. I walked about 11,000 steps, which means my girls took more because their legs are shorter. In total, we walked over 5 miles in just a few hours. That’s a lot of walking.
In our passage this morning, Jesus walks over 100 miles to uncharted territory for He and His disciples, and performs some really cool miracles while they are there.
Read Mark 7:24-30
1.. Jesus Goes to Great Lengths to Reach People (24)
1.. Jesus Walked Really Far! (24)
He starts His journey by going to the region of Tyre and Sidon. The understanding is that He would have started in Tyre, which was about a 35 mile walk from His last known location of Genesserat. This is the only recorded journey of Jesus outside the borders of Israel, which is pretty interesting. It appears that He was again seeking some sort of rest. He entered an undisclosed location, hoping that no one would find out. Because of the spread of His fame, this was near impossible, and so people found out that He was there.
Let’s not breeze past this passage and miss a really important thing that Jesus is doing. In a commentary I was reading this week, the author said this of Jesus’ journey: “From a socio-religious perspective, Jesus’ visit to Tyre universalizes the concept of Messiah in terms of geography, ethnicity, gender and religion in a way entirely unprecedented in Judaism.” He is making a huge statement here by crossing boundaries. This particular region had a long history of opposition with Israel, dating back to Queen Jezebel in 1 Kings 16. So, much like the Samaritans, these were a people that were strongly disliked by the Jewish people.
2.. Jesus is for Everyone! (25-30)
2.. Jesus is for Everyone! (25-30)
As soon as He gets there, this woman shows up. She is referred to here as Syrophoenician. This just simply means that she was from Phoenicia, which is in the Roman province of Syria. However, Mark used this intentionally. This is important because this woman had multiple strikes against her in the eyes of the Jews, yet Jesus still journeyed all that way knowing that He would meet her.
Her daughter is possessed by a demon, and she begins to beg Jesus to heal her. The language here implies a persistent begging. She would not give up. She had heard about the power that Jesus had, and even though she was most likely an idol worshiper because of where she lived, she had some level of faith that He could heal her daughter.
Let’s look at the exchange that they have. Jesus, in response to her begging, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Kids, how many of you have a dog? Do you ever feed the dog people food under the table? The children in Jesus’ statement refers to the Jewish people. So Jesus is saying that the Jews must be fed first. It wouldn’t be right to take their food and throw it to the dogs. At first pass it seems like Jesus is referring to this woman as a dog, and if you know much about the historical context, you would know that the Jews often referred to the Gentiles as “Gentile Dogs.” This was a very derogatory term, but this is not what Jesus was saying.
The Greek word for dog behind the hateful term was “kuon” (ku-own). The word that Jesus uses is “kunarion”, which means a “little dog,” essentially a puppy. This would have taken the people’s mind to a household pet, not to a hated vicious street dog. Jesus is simply saying that it wouldn’t be right to starve children to make sure the dogs were fed.
Romans 1:16-17 - “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The Jews were the first front in the mission of Jesus. The Jews then would be God’s primary torch-carriers in moving that mission forward to the rest of the world. It doesn’t mean that one is more important than the other, it just means there was an order in which things were going to happen. But then look at the faith of this woman.
Read Mark 7:28. She doesn’t argue with Jesus, but instead shows her understanding of her position before Jesus. She’s like, “I know I’m not a Jew, but I’ll take any crumb that is left.” Like for her, any little bit of Jesus is enough. She just wants a taste. That little bit of faith that led her to Jesus, her persistence in begging Him to heal her daughter, her boldness in responding to Him in this way, and look where it leads: “For this statement you may go your way, the demon has left your daughter.” Jesus sees her desperation, sees her faith, and heals this woman’s daughter from across town. The woman leaves Jesus and finds her daughter free of the demon, and resting in bed. This is unbelievable. Somehow, in another location, the demons sensed the power of God and left this little girl. Jesus spoke in the Spirit realm and cast out a demon. This is next level power of God being shown here!
This woman had 3 strikes against her in the eyes of the Jews: Her gender, her ethnicity, and where she was from. Yet Jesus traveled to her. Jesus went on a journey to get to a place where He would encounter her. He left the territory of Israel and traveled to a Gentile region filled with pagan idolatry in order to preach the gospel and show those people the power of God.
How far will you go to take the gospel to someone? Maybe geographically, but definitely figuratively. How much work will you put in to share Jesus with your co-worker? Will you take them out to lunch? Will you invite them over to your house? As Christ followers we must have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is one that will go to the far reaches of the Earth to encounter someone who needs Him. The mind of Christ is one that would willingly leave 99 sheep to go and look for the 1 that was lost. The mind of Christ is one that sacrificed everything to bring humanity to Himself. How much sacrifice do we have in us? How far are we willing to go?
Read Mark 7:31-37
3.. Jesus Heals in Private (31-37)
3.. Jesus Shows Kindness (31-37)
Jesus goes from Tyre to Sidon, which is about 25 miles, and then back to the region of the Decapolis, which is just about another 60 miles. All in all, this journey has been about 120 miles, on foot. He’s back in the region where He healed the cave-dwelling man possessed by demons. If you remember the end of that story, the people who lived there asked Jesus to leave. As He’s there, they bring this man who was deaf, and who couldn’t speak well because of his lack of hearing. And in a really intimate moment, Jesus takes this man aside, and heals him.
(Have a child come up to the front)
This is such a cool moment. Remember, the man couldn’t hear anything, so He wouldn’t be able to hear Jesus speak. Instead, Jesus uses a form of sign language. He shows the man what He is going to do. He puts His fingers in his ears. “I’m going to give you back your hearing.” He spits and touches the man’s tongue. “I’m going to restore your ability to speak.” Jesus looks up to heaven, to show the man from whom Jesus gets His power to heal. He shows His reliance on the Father, and He sighs. He exhales and speaks the words, “Be Opened.” His ears were opened, his tongue was loosed, and he spoke clearly, for the first time in a really long time.
The original language here would translate more like this: “and were opened his ears, and immediately were loosened the bond (chains) of his tongue.”
The first words this man heard in a very long time, maybe his whole life, were the words of Jesus. The words of healing spoken in private by the Son of God. And then Jesus tells he and his friends not to tell anyone. Yea, right. Scripture says they “zealously” proclaimed it. WIth passion and excitement, they proclaimed it.
And here’s the key verse for this morning: “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Isaiah 35:5-6 - “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”
Jesus opens the eyes of the blind. Jesus opens the ears of the deaf. Jesus makes the lame man leap. Jesus causes the mute tongue to sing for joy. Before we met Jesus, we were blind, we were incapable of hearing and understanding truth, we were lame (stuck in our sin), and unable to proclaim truth.
THIS IS WHAT JESUS DOES!
APPLICATION
Jesus will go to the ends of the Earth to reach people. Jesus will break cultural barriers to reach people. Jesus will go to the cross to reach people. There is nothing that can stop Him. And the beauty of the message this morning is that there is no one that He will not go after. He wants that ALL would hear the truth, and ALL would be given sight into the true nature of the gospel.
And there is so much spiritual application that comes out of our passage this morning. I mean how many people are walking this Earth, this country, this state, our cities who are spiritually blind and deaf to the truths of Scripture. How many are walking in darkness thinking they are walking in the light?! How many are lost and need one of us in this room to do something uncomfortable and go after them?
Jesus walked 120 miles out of His way so that a rejected and despised people would have access to Him. How far are we willing to go so that the ears of the deaf might be opened?
That all might see. That all might hear. That all might experience the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
