Mark 7:24-37
(A Bible Study Led by Dr.
Larry Reynolds)
July 19, 2012
In this section of Mark we have recorded two interesting
encounters between Jesus and an unnamed woman (Mark 7:24-30) and an unnamed man
(Mark 7:31-37). There is much for us to
learn from each of these encounters.
Mark 7:24-30 – The encounter between Jesus and this woman provides
us an amazing demonstration of faith that is great. This woman is one of only two people in the
gospel records who were commended by Jesus for having great faith. In Matthew 8 Jesus complimented a Roman
centurion for his great faith. In
Matthew's account of this event, Jesus told this woman, "...your
faith is great; be it done to you as you wish..." From her example I want share with you
today some characteristics of faith that is great. Faith is essential to our existence. It is just as important as the air we breathe
or the food we eat. We cannot really
live without faith. Harold Blake Walker
put it this way: "Either we live by faith or we do not live at
all. Either we venture or we vegetate...
This
story reveals three characteristics of great faith.
I. Great faith is courageous
1. Because our culture/customs are so different
from those in NT world, hard for us understand kind of courage it took for this
woman to approach Jesus...all kinds of things were working against her...
-- She was a woman - In that day women did
not have same rights as men...were considered more property than
persons...Jesus was recognized as a rabbi/teacher...no respected rabbi would
converse with a woman in public, and especially true of woman who had
ethnic/religious background this woman had...was a sect of Jewish rabbis called
"The bruised and bleeding Pharisees"...called that because when saw
woman coming their way would close their eyes and move away as quickly as
possible...along way would bump into things putting bruises on their bodies
...the fact Jesus conversed with this woman would be scandalous to such
people...took courage for a woman to approach an important teacher...
-- She was a Gentile - Mark says in v.26
she was "of the Syrophoenician race"...that is, she was
from the coastal district of Phoenicia in the country of Syria...that was
Gentile territory...she would have been considered unclean by almost any rabbi
in the religious establishment...for all she knew, Jesus could well have had
same view of her... took courage for a Gentile to approach an important
teacher...
-- She was a Canaanite - Mark doesn't
tell us that, but Matthew adds that piece of information...the Canaanites were
ancient enemies of Israel...the Israelites had attempted to exterminate them
when they entered the Promised Land...even in Jesus day, for a Canaanite to
approach a Jew was risky...took courage for her to do so...
2. No doubt if she told any of her
friends/family that she intended to approach Jesus they would have said,
"Don't do it! The odds are too
great. There is too much against
you. You might be
rejected...ridiculed...or worse. Play it
safe and you won't get hurt."...but her courage helped her overlook such
bad advice...and she has become for us a wonderful example of courageous
faith...
3. An un-named philosopher wrote: "There are not great people;
rather, there are great challenges that ordinary people are forced to
meet." Great faith doesn't look for reasons why something won't work;
it looks for ways to make things work...doesn't shrink from big challenges;
welcomes them!...
II. Great faith is persistent
1. Mark tells us in v.26 the woman "kept
asking" Jesus to help her daughter...didn't ask once or twice or
three times...but over and over again until got what she wanted...behind that
statement is entire sequence of events which took place between Jesus and this
woman...have look at story in Matthew's
Gospel to get full picture...
-- First Jesus ignored her...perhaps to see how
disciples would respond to her...she had no way knowing His motives but kept on
asking...
-- Then disciples became impatient with her and
said, in effect, "Lord, do what she wants and send her away."...Lord's
response must have been devastating to her...said, "I was sent only
to lost sheep house of Israel..."...believe again was testing
disciples and perhaps the woman...she had no way of knowing that but kept on asking...
-- Then, Lord turned to woman and tested her
faith directly...said, "...it is not good to take the children's
bread and throw it to the dogs."...the word "children"
in that statement refers to Jewish people...the word "dogs"
was common way for Jews to refer to Gentiles...in making that
statement Jesus was asking the woman, "Aren't
you aware of the conventional wisdom of the day? Haven't you heard that some people are more
important to God than others?" ...Jesus certainly didn't buy into such
philosophy...however she had no way of knowing that but even that didn't
discourage her...with quick wit she said, "...but even the dogs
under the table feed on the children's crumbs."...
2. What want you see in all that is this woman
had kind of faith simply would not give
up...it would not quit...she kept asking and asking and asking until she got
what she came to get....
3. That's kind faith God wants His people to
have...faith that doesn't give up...faith that overcomes obstacles...faith that
keeps on keeping on...faith that as Apostle Paul said in Philippians "presses
on toward the mark of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus..."
1. This month the summer Olympics are opening in
London. One of most moving moments in
Olympic history took place on October 20, 1968, about 7:00 p.m. in Mexico
City...only handful of spectators remained in the Olympic stadium....more than
an hour before the winner of the 26 mile marathon crossed the finish line...not
long after runner after runner made way into stadium and finished the
race...when everyone thought the race was long over, a single runner entered
the stadium...was John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania...had seriously injured
his knee in fall early in the race...leg was bloody and bandage and he grimaced
with each step...but hobbled around the 400 meter track, crossed the finish
line, and slowly walked off the field...when was asked why he did that here's
what he said: "My country did
not send me 7,000 miles to start the race.
They sent me 7,000 miles to finish the race."[Proclaim,
OND, 1994, p.37]
2. The Christian life is like a race...it's a
journey...a pilgrimage ...faith that is great is persistent...it perseveres to
the very end...
III. Great
faith is strengthened by adversity
1. The woman obviously distraught over illness daughter...Mark
simply says her daughter “…had an unclean spirit…” Matthew is more graphic describing
her as being "cruelly demon possessed…"…for some time
had watched child suffer...and, of course, that was terribly difficult...
2. But did not weaken
faith...strengthened...didn't cause her turn from God in bitterness...drew her
to Him…Difficulty, adversity, tragedy, heartache will affect our relationship
with God...that's a given...but question is how will it affect that
relationship...will either make us bitter, resentful, and drive us away or will
make realize how dependent are and draw us to...great faith is kind which
causes us turn to God and is strengthened in adversity...
I realize that many people scoff at the concept of and
need for faith in our lives. They say that
faith is for the emotionally and intellectually weak. But those who make such assertions generally
misunderstand biblical faith. They think
of faith as "blind acceptance of
that which cannot be proved" rather
than commitment to the God of the
universe. The woman in this story
demonstrates faith as commitment...commitment that is courageous...that is
persistent...and that is strengthened in adversity...That's the kind of faith
God wants His people to have...
Mark
7:31-37 – This particular encounter is unique to the Gospel of
Mark. After leaving Tyre, Jesus traveled
north through Sidon. Then He turned to
the southeast and went to the mountainous region south and east of the Sea of
Galilee known as Decapolis (league of ten cities).
We
live in a culture that is becoming increasingly secular. We in the United States now live in what many theologians
refer to as the "post-Christian era.”
In the book, How to Reach Secular People, George G. Hunter III
points out the church in the western world no longer enjoys a "home court
advantage." He points out that in
the United States alone there are at least 120 million secular people whose
lives are not significantly influenced by the Christian faith. The Scripture makes it clear that the mission
of Christians is to impact our culture with the good news of Jesus. In this paragraph Jesus provides a model of
how to do that.
I. Be sensitive and compassionate
1. Can't read the story without seeing the
sensitivity and compassion Jesus displayed toward this man.
Verse 33 tells us two significant things Jesus did:
·
"And He took him aside from the multitude by
himself..."...all of his life this man had been a public
spectacle...even though he couldn't hear what the people were saying, no doubt
he knew that some people would make jokes about his condition...he'd probably
seen children pointing at him as if he were some circus freak...Jesus in no way
wanted to add to that burden... He had no desire to embarrass the man or make
the man's healing a public attraction...with tender, understanding,
compassionate spirit Jesus pulled the man away from the crowd and dealt with
him in a private manner...
·
“He touched…” Jesus didn't have
to do that...could have merely spoken a word and the man would have been
healed...or could have had one of the disciples touch the man for Him...but
Jesus reached out and put His hands on the man...why did He do that?...one
person said it was just "the instinct of a his loving heart"
[Hughes, p.181]... I like that!...was just the natural thing for Jesus to do...
2. Can't read v.33 without seeing the great
sensitivity and compassion of Jesus...to impact people in a positive way with
the gospel we must have the kind of compassion Jesus had...the kind which
causes us to reach out and touch people in a gentle, understanding, sensitive,
caring way...
II. Be dependent on God
1. At same time Jesus reached out to the man in
need, He also looked up to God...look at the first phrase of v.34 - "...an
looking up to heaven with a deep sigh..."...the looking up to
heaven was an outward, visible indication of Jesus' dependence on the
Father...Jesus wanted the man to know the source of His power...
2. The "deep sigh" was
probably a prayer...in Romans 8 the same word that is used here is used in
connection with prayer...and the point of all that is Jesus was able to help
this man because He was in touch with and dependent upon God...
III. Be simple
and direct
1. Mark records that Jesus said only one word to
this man...it was an Aramaic word which means "be opened or be released" ...but that single word
radically changed this man's entire life...
2. And basically, God has given us one word to share
with our world...the word Jesus...whatever else we do and whatever else the
world hears from us, if we are not clearly proclaiming the gospel/good news of
Jesus, we are not doing what God has called us to do...
3. The message the world should hear from us
clearly and consistently is, "For God so loved the world that He
sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but
have everlasting life."
4. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once walked into what
he thought was an empty auditorium where he was scheduled to preach later that
day...decided to test the acoustics of the room, so he repeated several times
the words of I John 1:7 - "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanses us from all sin."...Spurgeon later learned that a worker
in the auditorium heard those words and gave his life to Christ...
5 .To reach people for Christ, we must be
faithful in proclaiming that wonderful word God has given to us...
That’s a good formula for impacting our increasingly
secular culture: Be compassionate, be
dependent on God, and be clear.
