CHANNELS of GRACE
Mark 7:24-30
Introduction: We talked quite a bit in 2017 about our first
mission field: the people God has sovereignly put in our lives, that is, our
friends, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers. Our most fundamental responsibility is to love
them and pray for them! We see an example of this as we return to our study of
Mark. This beautiful scene shows a mother, a gentile woman, seeking Jesus, and
pleading desperately and persistently for Him to help her demon possessed daughter.
The mother’s love for her child is evident, as is her faith that Jesus could
deliver the girl. The story continues to answer the question: Who is Jesus? Who
but God could answer the petition of this woman in the way that Jesus does! Why
did He come? Implicit in the story is the answer to that question as well, and
it wasn’t only to heal and cast out demons. It was to fulfill the promise of a
Rescuer who would reconcile us to God, by laying down His life for us. And what does it mean to follow Him? It means
believing Him, trusting Him, taking Him at His word.
The Context: In the previous context Jesus had been disputing
with the Pharisees regarding spiritual “uncleanness,” teaching that what
defiles humans is not what we eat or drink, but what comes from within. Almost
to underscore what He had taught, Jesus travels now into a gentile region, to a
place filled with people who would have been considered “unclean” by the
leaders of the Jews. Here He continues to teach His disciples, and also a
gentile woman who comes to Him on behalf of her daughter.
The Maine* Idea: As we humbly persist in praying for the needs of
others, God may be changing us and growing our faith.
I. Divine Appointments can come in
unexpected places and with unlikely people (24-26). We must be always ready to point others to Jesus!
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of
Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he
could not be hidden. 25 But immediately
a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him
and came and fell down at his feet. 26
Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to
cast the demon out of her daughter.
Jesus
cannot be hidden (24)! It seems that Jesus wanted to disengage for a time
from the ongoing conflict with the religious leaders of the Jews. The scribes
and Pharisees were seemingly watching every move that Jesus and his disciples
were making, and looking for a reason to accuse them. God had a plan, and a timetable to implement
it. There was no doubt that Jesus would have a climactic conflict with the
leaders in Jerusalem at Passover, but that time was not yet. So, Jesus
withdraws, heading away from Jewish territory to the Mediterranean coast, to
the gentile city of Tyre. We’re told he “entered
a house,” intending to keep a low profile. The disciples might have thought
they were going to finally get the rest they had been waiting for! Several
planned retreats had already been cancelled due to ministry demands. Would they
have some quiet time on the coast? A nice Mediterranean vacation? No, not this day!
As
happened wherever He went, word got out that Jesus was there. In some ways this
scene is reminiscent of the encounter with the Gadarene demoniac, when Jesus walked
on the water and then crossed the lake with his disciples. Jesus sent the disciples across the lake, met
them in the midst of the storm, they arrived at their destination, He healed
the demoniac, and then wound up getting back in the boat and leaving, after sending
the healed man back to his own people. The whole ministry on that trip focused
on one person, who would then be a channel of God’s grace in Decapolis! Here,
in this scene, as far as we know, as in that case, Jesus seemingly traveled to
this region to meet with this one person, this time a woman. Immediately after this encounter Jesus
departs for the region of Decapolis. As far as we know, Jesus never even met the
little girl that He frees from the demon! One obvious lesson here is that God
is interested in every soul, and He coordinates “divine appointments.” This
scene is also reminiscent of the dialog between Jesus and the Samaritan woman
in John 4. In that scene, once again, is a context where the Jews fail to
recognize Jesus, and a “foreigner” expresses faith. We are being reminded that God’s
mission would extend to the nations.
By the
way, it is a good thing, as we are strategically deployed by God in our
families and among our neighbors, that Jesus
cannot be hidden. He is building His church, and we are His
witnesses, laborers for the harvest! As God is drawing people to Himself,
opening their hearts to believe, He will use regular people like us, with our
flaws and our weaknesses, to bring the Word of Life to those who will believe.
Does that amaze you? It should!
Jesus alone can meet the deepest need of
all people (25). Jesus withdrew to this gentile town of Tyre and entered a
house. We don’t have any clues as to whether it was a Jewish or gentile home.
We don’t know if it was someone who had already met Jesus and at least been
intrigued by His teaching, or someone who simply was showing eastern
hospitality to some strangers. All we know is that someone opened their home
and allowed Jesus and his close group of disciples to enter. Quickly, a mother
hears he is there and “immediately” comes seeking help for her desperately
needy daughter. Notice that this mother comes pleading, begging Jesus to help
her daughter. I think any parent can empathize with the mother here. Her child
was possessed by a demon! No one else could help, but she believed Jesus could.
So she came, asking, begging, for help, like Jacob wrestling with the angel holding
on until she got a blessing.
God’s
grace extends to all nations (26a). “Now
the woman was a gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth…” This woman was not a
Jew. She is identified as a gentile, a Syrophoenician. All four of the Gospels
make it clear that Jesus came first to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel, but also show that the goal of his ministry was always to save a
remnant from every race and nation. It was necessary for the children of Israel
to first consider, and then reject, their promised Messiah. Don’t miss this: The
Cross was not a “plan B,” it was always God’s plan for Jesus to give himself as
our substitute, laying down His life so that we could be reconciled to God. As
Peter would preach to his countrymen on the day of Pentecost, “…this Jesus, delivered up according to the
definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the
hands of lawless men…” (Acts 2:23, ESV). As sin extended to all humans by
the transgression of Adam (Rom 5:12) so salvation would be offered to all
because of the obedience of Christ.
If the Lord delays in answering our prayers,
it may be to allow us to express and grow our faith (26b). “She begged Him…” Some translations say
she “…kept asking Him…” which conveys
the idea of persistent, ongoing petition. This fits with Matthew’s account of
this story in that he reports that at first Jesus did not answer her cries for
help. Why would Jesus delay? Why does He delay at times in answering our
prayers? Have you heard it said that prayer
changes things? Usually by that
statement we mean that God works through the prayers of His people. Both
Scripture and experience support that idea. But prayer also changes us.
As we cry out to God for help He will use those times to grow our faith, and to
show our trust in Him to people around us. It is both “training” and
“testimony”! Have you ever had unbelieving friends or family ask you to pray
when facing a time of crisis? It is also true that as we pray for people in our
extended family, our oikos, that our
love for them will deepen. That leads into the Maine* Idea, As we humbly persist in praying for the needs of
others, God may be changing us and growing our faith.
II.
The Lord Delights in
testing us, to grow and deepen our faith (27-30). God’s mercy and grace overflow to those who recognize their
desperate need.
27 And he said to her, "Let the children be fed first,
for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the
dogs." 28 But she
answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the
children's crumbs." 29
And he said to her, "For this statement you may go your way; the demon has
left your daughter." 30
And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Jesus responds to the woman’s pleading with
a Shocking Statement (27). First of all, remember that Jesus knows the
heart of all people. Even as she falls down before Him and pleads with Him to
help her daughter, Jesus knows her heart, and He knows what she needs to learn
and grow through this meeting. Yes, to be sure Jesus came first to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel! When Jesus
tells the woman to wait, could it be that He is referring to the fact that He
came to present Himself first to Israel, knowing that He would be rejected by
Israel and handed over to the Romans to be crucified? The gentile mission was coming, it was part of
God’s plan, but it wasn’t yet time for the mission to the nations to begin. The Jews had to make a decision: What would
they do with Jesus? Would they have this man to be their king? The answer was inevitable… He was, after all,
the Passover King, the Servant King, the Righteous Sufferer spoken of by the
prophets, the Lamb who would take away the sin of the world.
But
doesn’t His language sound harsh? It was time for the children to eat, it
wouldn’t be right to throw their bread to the dogs! Actually, the language was a little gentler than it sounds in English. Most “dogs” would be scavengers that lived on
the streets, wild, and sometimes fierce. The word that Jesus uses it a diminutive
form, “little dogs.” It would be used
to refer to small, household pets that would be found in some gentile, and even
some Jewish homes. It’s only a clue, but I wonder if this might be telling us a
little about the setting for this encounter. Remember Jesus had arrived in Tyre
and entered a house. We don’t have any information about the family, and know nothing
about Jesus’ expression or body language as he dialogs with the woman. Could it
be that he spoke with a smile, with a twinkle in his eye, even looking over to
some children sitting at the table, and their little dog underneath it by their
feet? We don’t know. It is pretty likely
that often as Jesus used parables to teach He referred to things from everyday
life, things the hearers could see even as he spoke. At least this woman didn’t
feel rebuked or rejected by Jesus’ answer, but she is encouraged to take the
analogy a step further!
The
woman, not put off by Jesus’ parable, but somehow encouraged, answers with a Savvy
Response (28): We deserve nothing from the Master’s hand. The woman answers
Jesus, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” H.A. Ironside
reflected on the humility and faith expressed the woman’s response to Jesus…
It was as much as to say, “Lord, I recognize the fact
that I am just a poor, outcast Gentile, but, Lord, give me some of the crumbs
that the children of the kingdom are refusing; allow me to take the place even
of a puppy under the table and so obtain mercy at Thy hand.” Nothing appealed
to our blessed Lord more than faith coupled with humility.
There was no defensiveness, she wasn’t offended by the Lord’s
words, rather she persisted, humbly accepting the analogy, and turning it into
a plea for mercy.
Jesus responds with a Show of
Compassion (29,30): He is the discerner of hearts, and God delights in blessing
humble, persistent faith. Jesus answers, "For this statement you may go your way;
the demon has left your daughter." Think about what this shows about Jesus and about this
woman. What was she expecting? That
Jesus would go with her to her daughter, and rebuke the demon? We’ve seen Jesus
show authority over disease and demons in Mark, but so far, it has always been
when He was physically present. Now He tells this woman, “Go, she is free!” It
took faith for the woman to leave, what if Jesus was wrong? If she went home
and had to come back, Jesus could be gone! But she believed Him. She had faith.
And think about the authority of Christ in this scene. He doesn’t need to be
there, He doesn’t even need to say anything, He simply wills it, and it is
done. He is absolutely sovereign in the spiritual realm. The demon is gone,
that is it.
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
As we humbly persist in praying for the needs of others, God may be changing us
and growing our faith.
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? One application is clear: renew your commitment to
pray for those you love. We talked a lot
in 2017 about being a “Laser Focused Church” as we all commit to pray for,
witness to, and invite the people God has sovereignly and strategically placed
in our lives. Are you praying daily for the 8 to 15 people in your extended
household, your oikos? Don’t give up, consider the example of this
woman who persisted in pleading with the Lord to set her daughter free from
spiritual bondage! Maybe there is a prodigal
son or daughter for whom you have prayed for years. Keep asking, keep seeking,
keep knocking. Maybe it’s a neighbor, that you are not even sure you like, but who
desperately needs the Lord. Could it be that the Lord is working on you,
growing your faith, even as you wait to
see Him answer your prayers?
Secondly,
be reminded that Jesus came to rescue people of every race and nation. Let’s
pray and plan ahead to the seasonal influx of people in the spring and summer.
Seasonal workers, snow birds, vacationers… How can we best reach out to this
mission field that comes to us? Would that we would see the opportunities God
puts before us as He does, that we would see the fields, white for the harvest!
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that “…in
Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” That reconciliation
was made possible through the Cross. As we celebrate the Lord’s table let’s
reflect on what He did for us, and rejoice in His amazing grace. God commended His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!
That is Good News, and that message has been entrusted to us. So let’s
renew our commitment to love our neighbors, our friends, and our family enough
to pray fervently for them, pleading with God for their souls! AMEN.
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