We have been going through
the Gospel of Mark.
The Faith of a Canaanite / Greek Woman
Two wonderful examples of healing Power of Jesus
A scene change, go to a
very strange place, realizing Jesus left Israel for privacy, going to the
region of Tyre and Sidon and the healing of a Gentile daughter. A
Gentile woman’s request.
Mark 7:24 From there He arose and
went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted
no one to know it, but it couldn't be kept a secret.
*Matthew 15:21 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of
Tyre and Sidon.
Jesus did not follow the Jewish traditions that said a faithful
Jew would have nothing to do with Gentiles, and would never enter
a Gentile’s house. Remember,
Peter example.
Jesus just
showed His Disciples that there is no distinction or difference between clean and unclean people,
Jews and Gentiles and for salvation and bringing them into one body, the
church.
Like a vacation to get
away from the crowd, way up north on foot (walking). He needed some R&R. It is interesting, Jesus always finds a way
to touch people lives, because Jesus cannot be hidden.
The only recorded occasion outside Israel: a
summer cottage for privacy, on the Mediterranean coast, about 50 miles from
Capernaum.
A Pleasing Faith
There are only a few in
Scripture commended for their faith and they seem to be only Gentiles. Here is one whose name is unknown.
Mark 7:25 In
fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard
about him and came and fell down at his feet.
*Matthew 15:22 Suddenly a
Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout,
"Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!"
This woman came to
intercede for her daughter, and she is a picture of an intercessor because she
made her daughter’s needs her own.
Demon-possessed individuals was not limited to just Jews.
Mark 7:26
Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
*Matthew 15:23 But he didn't answer her at all. Then his disciples
came up and kept urging him, "Send her away, because she keeps on
screaming as she follows us." { She kept asking
him}
Disciples were against
her; tried to send her away.
Out of desperation she hears
about Jesus, goes to Him and fall at His feet.
A Greek, Gentile.
The verb tense indicates
that she kept on begging. Nationality was against her: Gentile, not Jewish.
“Unclean” by Jewish standards; despised by the religious establishment. Like a little child when they want something.
Remember, she was a woman;
no standing in that society and everything was against her. Satan was against
her: demons had taken control of her daughter; What does Jesus say to her, He is putting Her
to the test.
Mark 7:27 But Jesus said to her,
"Let the children
be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and
throw it to the
little dogs {or puppies}."
Jesus seems to
discourage the woman, reminding her that the children (the Jewish
people) get priority over the little dogs (Gentiles like her).
*Matthew 15:24 But he replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation
of Israel." {important
words of Jesus}
*Matthew 15:25-26 Then she came and fell down before him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
(26) He replied, "It's not right to take the children's bread and throw it
to the puppies."
Household dogs: little pet
household dogs, not street scavengers.
Jews called Gentiles “dogs” in a very bad way.
Jesus hinted at hope here,
and she grabbed it! There might be some
left overs.
Mark 7:28 And she answered and said
to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's
crumbs."
*Matthew 15:27 She said, "Yes, Lord. But even the puppies eat
the crumbs that fall from their masters' tables."
She used Jesus’ own words
and used them as the basis for her plea! A
persistence of faith. This woman knew Jesus could heal and was willing
to spend untiring energy in pursuit of healing for her daughter.
The woman responds with great faith. First, she accepted the term for her low place before Jesus by not debating
the reference to little dogs. She asked Jesus to deal with her on her own
low level.
How do we pray for
anything in our life? Do we really get
serious in praying or do we send up once in a while.
She depended entirely upon
Jesus’s mercy and it was all grace.
*Hebrews 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for
whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently search for him.
Mark 7:29
Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."
*Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman,
great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed
from that very hour.
Just like that, it was
done, the demon left her daughter. Just
by saying the Word, her daughter demon was gone and was healed. {demon = healed}
Interesting, we know of
two examples of Gentiles believe that all Jesus had to do is say the word. This woman and the Roman Centurion.
Mark 7:30 And when she had come to
her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed. {Praised
God}
This lady was grateful for
her child was healed.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man and Many others
Mark 7:31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and
went through
Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and
into the region
of the Decapolis.
*Matthew 15:29 Jesus departed from
there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.
Remember, this is on the
east of the Sea of Galilee where he removed the demon from the man.
Mark 7:32
Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and
had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to lay His hand on him.
This is another
example of the friends of this deaf man came and brought his need to Jesus.
*Matthew 15:30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them
the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at
Jesus' feet, and He healed them.
Some authorities indicate
that deafness is worse than blindness on the person. The social stigma of
deafness and isolation is more severe.
In blindness, they can still feel like part of a group. They can fellowship, hear, talk, connect,
etc. Someone blind, we try to help, but
someone who is deaf, it is hard to commutate with them, because we do not know
they are deaf.
Mark 7:33
And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat
and touched his
tongue. {deafness,
speechless}
We have seen Jesus heal in
many different ways, Jesus power to heal was not dependent on any one method,
but on the supreme power of God.
Mark 7:34
Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha,"
that is, "Be opened."
An Aramaic phrase, the
writer takes for granted we do not know Aramaic.
He sighed or groan because
Jesus is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Mark 7:35
Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed,
and he spoke plainly.
Jesus’ procedure seems to
be a form of communication with him; a form of sign language.
His was a “hands-on”
ministry: it was personal; it was compassionate; it was directed to a specific
need. What is our own ministry, is it
personal.
*Isaiah 35:5-6 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
(6) Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the
wilderness, And streams in the desert.
Mark 7:36
Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded
them, the more widely they proclaimed it.
{Human nature?} It seems, more Jesus charge the people not to
tell anyone, it became worse.
Mark 7:37
And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.
He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
*Matthew 15:31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute
speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and
they glorified the God of Israel.
We get it backwards: He
charged us to tell everyone; and we treat it as a secret and not to tell anyone
while He told them not to say anything and they told everyone. Isn’t is so
true.
Remember, how Jesus told
John disciple to encourage him in John doubts.
*Luke 7:22 Jesus answered
and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:
that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. {things Jesus has done for others}
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
(Gentiles?), test the disciples faith.
Mark 8:1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to
eat, Jesus called His disciples to
Him and said to them,
*Matthew 15:32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said,
"I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with
Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away
hungry, lest they faint on the way."
Mark 8:2 "I have compassion on the multitude, because
they have now continued with Me three days and
have nothing to eat.
The
situation is similar to the recent feeding of the five thousand. We see both a
hungry multitude and a compassionate Jesus, so Jesus presents the dilemma to
the disciples: what do we do?
Mark 8:3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses,
they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."
Jesus was always touched
by the need of the multitude. Very compassion about the people. For
three days they flocked about Him, absorbed in His teachings. Was Jesus hoping one of the disciples might say, “Jesus, You did this before. You can do the same kind of work again.
Mark 8:4 Then His
disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here
in the wilderness?" {how soon they
forget}
*Matthew
15:33 Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread
in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"
Mark 8:5 He asked them,
"How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven."
*Matthew 15:34 Jesus said to them,
"How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few
little fish."
Jesus
asked disciples to give up their own food this time. Before,
they used the food of the little boy, but this time Jesus made the disciples
give their food. This time there were more loaves for fewer people
Mark 8:6 So He
commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His
disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.
*Matthew 15:35 So He commanded the
multitude to sit down on the ground.
Mark 8:7 They also had
a few small fish;
and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.
*Matthew 15:36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave
thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to
the multitude.
Mark 8:8 So they ate
and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.
At
the end of the meal, they gathered more bread than they had to begin with.
*Matthew 15:37 So they all ate and were
filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were
left.
The Feeding of the “4000”
Seven Baskets”: In Chapter
6, after feeding the “5000,” there were 12 hand-baskets left over, a basket,
such as were carried while traveling on foot.)
Here, there were seven
hampers-full, large baskets such as were often used for carrying commercial
goods, a reed basket; a wicker hamper). These were large enough to hold a
person: Paul escaped from Damascus in
one of these (Acts 9:25).
Mark 8:9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.
And He sent them away,
*Matthew 15:38 Now those who ate were
four thousand men, besides women and
children.
Remember,
the Jews only counted the men. “Beside
women and children”. Probably as many as twice that number!
Mark 8:10
immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region
of Dalmanutha.
*Matthew 15:39 And He sent away the
multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
“...Dalmanutha”: A place on the west of the Sea of Galilee; in
the parallel passage it is called “into the borders of Magdala” (Cf. Mt
15:39).
Probably
the Greek name of one of the many Migdols (i.e., watch-towers) on the western
side of the lake.
It has
been identified in the ruins of a village about a mile from Magdala, in the
little open valley of Ain-el-Barideh, “the cold fountain,” the mouth of a glen
a mile south of Magdala, near the beach; called el-Mejdel, possibly the
“Migdal-el” of Josh 19:38.
Summary
Jesus Feeds the Four
Thousand, plus women and children
Not to be confused with
the feeding of the “5000” in Chapter 6:
The 5000 were with
Jesus only one day;
The 4000 were with
Jesus three days
The 5000 started with 5
loaves and 2 fish
The 4000 started with 7
loaves and few small fish
The 5000 took up 12 small baskets full of fragments
and of the fish
The 4000 took up 7
large baskets full of fragments
4000: Jesus asked the
disciples to give up their own food this time.
5000: Before, they used the food of the little boy
They were a different
type of group of people:
The 5,000 were only
Jews;
The “4,000” were fed in
the Decapolis, a Gentile area plus Jews were there
Now
the bloodhounds of hate are on His trail again…
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