Message preached Sunday, September 13, 2015 from Mark Mark 7:24-30
Theme: Even those who are unworthy of Jesus receive His blessings through persistent faith
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
For the longest time now, my wife and I have enjoyed a nightly after-dinner ritual. We watch Jeopardy together. More than watch; we play! We have a notepad by the television; and we keep score. Just so you’ll know, however, nobody wins a cash ‘jackpot’. Instead, the winner gets to have a nice ‘back-scratch’ from the loser.
Now; I think she and I are pretty evenly matched. But there have been several times when she has quite soundly defeated me. And sometimes when that happens—particularly when it happens by a pretty high margin—she looks at me funny and says, “You didn’t just ‘let’ me win, did you . . .?” She wouldn’t want that; of course. She wants to win fair and square. And whenever she asks me that, I can’t help smiling, looking down coyly, shrugging and saying, “Well . . . you know . . .”; and then begin scratching away. But she can’t see the look on my face that says, “How in the world did she do that!! Did she already watch this episode earlier today or something??”
So; next time you see Jeopardy on television, just know that my wife and I are watching it. And that she’s probably winning. And that I’m NOT just ‘letting’ her.
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Now; I tell you all that not just to reveal more about myself to you than I would ordinarily want you to know. It’s also to illustrate something of what I believe was happening in our passage this morning. The Lord Jesus was met by a woman in a very serious state of need. And as she kept asking for His help (repeatedly, as the original language has it). And He seemed to keep putting her off. In fact, the passage shocks us; because He even seems to speak to her in a demeaning way. But she nevertheless persistent in her request. In fact, she was so bold as to get into something of an argument with the Lord over it. And she won!
But I suspect that the Lord actually ‘let’ her win—and in the process, taught us a lesson about how we are to come to Him in faith.
The story is told to us in Mark 7:24-30. Jesus had been in the regions of Galilee—probably at Capernaum; and we’re told,
From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 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.” And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed (Mark 7:24-30).
I love this story. And if you are a student of the Bible, I suspect you do to. That woman is a real heroine of faith. And I love the Lord Jesus’ mercy to her and to her daughter. But to fully appreciate this, there are a few pieces of background information that it might be helpful to know.
First of all, let’s consider the Lord Jesus Himself. He’s the real ‘focal point’ of this story. And in terms of the Gospel of Mark, this story begins a period in the earthly ministry of our Lord that Bible scholars refer to as His ‘period of withdraw’. Up to this point, He had been ministering primarily in the regions of Galilee. Starting in Chapter 10—He will be making His way to Judea; and soon afterward—beginning with Chapter 11—to Jerusalem and on His way to the cross.
Most of the things that we read in this “withdraw” section of the story involves miracles that our Lord performed—or things that He taught—in or near Gentile regions. And I believe that a part of the reason for this season of ‘withdraw’ was because of the opposition He was receiving from the Jewish leaders. It was the time in Jesus’ ministry that the Gospel writer John introduces in this way:
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him (John 7:1).
But I don’t believe that He was withdrawing into the northern regions of Galilee only because of the threats against Him. I believe it was also for a time in which to concentrate on some specific instructions to His disciples before the suffering of the cross. And more, I believe that it was so that He could allow Himself to become known by the Gentile people. I believe these are the times that the prophet Isaiah wrote about in Isaiah 9:1-2;
Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined (Isaiah 9:1-2).
So; those are some things that we should know about the Lord Jesus in this passage. And then, let’s consider the woman in this story. She was not a Jewish woman. We’re told that she was a Greek—that is, she was a Gentile woman. She would have been considered outside of the covenant blessings of God toward Israel. In fact, in Matthew’s Gospel—when he tells this same story—he lets us know that she was “a woman of Canaan”. She was of the very same people group that the children of Israel were to drive out of the land that God had given them.
And there’s more. We’re told that she was a Syro-Phoenician woman. That means that she was of Syrian birth; and lived in the portion of the Roman empire known as Phoenicia. She lived in the regions of Tyre and Sidon—cities along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea that were famous for their Greek history but notorious for their paganistic idolatry. She was a woman of mixed breeding who would have been despised by pious and devout Jewish people—someone who, humanly speaking, would have been as far away from the covenant promises that God had made with Israel as someone could be.
Stop and consider what a remarkable thing it is that she appears in the story when she does! We had just read about how the Pharisees and the scribes—the Jewish religious leaders—had confronted Jesus because He didn’t make His disciples wash their hands in the ceremonial way before eating food. They were extremely focused on ceremonial ‘uncleanness’ and ritualistic ‘impurity’; and Jesus rebuked them strongly for their hypocrisy. He even took the opportunity to show His followers;
“There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man” (Mark 7:15).
And then—immediately afterward—His twelve disciples sat and watched as along came this woman, who was about as ‘ceremonially unclean’ to a Jewish person as someone can be! Clearly, this was no coincidence! This was a teachable moment!
And finally, let’s consider the need that she had. She had a little girl who was oppressed by an unclean spirit. I’m engaging in a little speculation here—but I believe it is speculation that is justifiably guided by the things we read in this passage. First, even though the word that is used to describe her daughter can be translated “infant”, I believe that the girl was actually older than that. She’s probably somewhere around her pre-teens or in her teen years—old enough to be horribly oppressed by a demonic force. The fact that she is called by a “baby girl” kind of name is probably meant to show us how dear she was to her mother.
Second, because of the fact that after she was healed she was found ‘lying on the bed’—and that this was seen by her mother as a clear indication that she had been delivered of the demon—I take it that the poor girl’s suffering was horrible. She may have been like the demon-possessed boy that we will be reading about in Chapter 8—a boy who, whenever the demon seized him, caused him to foam at the mouth, and gnash his teeth, convulse, wallow on the ground, and be a terrible danger to himself and to others. It would be hard to imagine the agony this poor, helpless mother must have been going through. If that’s the case, then the fact that she was laying on a bed was truly a sign of deliverance!
And third, I am taking it that the girl’s mother knew about Jesus, and was aware of what He could do for her tormented little girl. There had been a time—not long before this—when Jesus was performing great miracles in the regions of Galilee. People were coming from everywhere to carry the sick to Him, and the needy, and yes—even the demon-possessed! And do you know what one of the far-away places was that people were coming from? Mark 3:7-8 tells us that
a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him (Mark 3:7-8; emph. added).
I think that this woman heard about what Jesus could do for her little girl, don’t you?
But here’s the problem. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah; but she was a despised Gentile. What right could she expect to have of any of the blessings and benefits of the Christ? The only thing she could hope for was mercy. And so; she—an outsider; a despised Gentile—determined to come and ask, and plead, and beg, and not give up until she got a ‘yes’ from Him!
And she got that ‘yes’!
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Now; before we look any closer, let’s ask: What does this story have to do with you and me?
Well; certainly, it’s meant to display to us the tender mercies of our Savior. It’s also meant to help us see His power—that there’s nothing to hard for Him, and no problem that He cannot solve for those who trust Him. But I believe that, in particular, we are to see ourselves in this story from the standpoint of that undeserving, unworthy, alien Gentile woman who had no natural right to ask anything from the Messiah.
You and I can only rightly see ourselves that way in relation to Jesus Christ. We don’t deserve any blessings or benefits from Him. And it’s not just in the same sense as this woman—alienated from a right to ask anything of Him because of cultural, or ethnic, or covenantal disqualifications. Rather, we are unworthy of His blessings because we are sinners before a holy God. We have rebelled against God the Father, and have broken His commandments, and are only worthy of judgment.
But clearly—as this story shows us—Jesus is ready and willing to save and bless even such as us. And I believe that the great lesson of this passage is that we—unworthy as we are—may nevertheless partake of the blessings and the benefits of Jesus Christ if we come to Him and appeal to Him for mercy on the basis of persistent faith.
That makes this story a great ‘invitation’ to come humbly and persistently to Jesus and ask!
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Let’s look at this story a little closer. Notice first how . . .
1. JESUS CAME TO WHERE SHE WAS (v. 24a).
I see this from the fact that we’re told that Jesus left the relatively familiar and Jewish surroundings of Capernaum, and journeyed some twenty to thirty miles to the northwest and settled for a time right up to where the Gentiles lived. Mark tells us, “From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon” (v. 24)—right up to where the most spiritually needy of people would be; right up to where the ‘unworthy’ ones were to be found.
And may I suggest to you that that’s the way our Savior operates? We are fallen and broken sinners, unworthy of God’s grace. And yet, our Lord doesn’t keep Himself far away from our need. He comes in close. In fact, the whole point of His incarnation—the whole reason He would leave the glories of heaven, take on human flesh, and become one of us—was so that He could come up close to us, walk among us, atone for our sins on the cross, and lovingly meet our need.
Do you remember what happened when He came to His own home town of Nazareth? He went to the synagogue, picked up the Scriptures, found Isaiah 61, and read:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:18-20).
He came in close to where this woman lived. He came close so that He could meet her need. And He does the same for unworthy sinners like you and me.
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And then, having come near to her, notice also that . . .
2. JESUS COULD NOT BE HIDDEN FROM HER (v. 24-b-25).
Mark writes, “And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it . . .” (v. 24). Why would He want to keep it a secret? Perhaps it was because He needed a rest from the huge crowds that flocked about Him. Perhaps He didn’t want word to get out because huge mobs of people would soon gather around the house. Perhaps He simply wanted some quiet time in order to teach His disciples and to fellowship with them. But whatever the reason, Mark tells us, “but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet (vv. 24-25).
Jesus simply cannot be hidden. The Bible tells us that He came as “the light of men”. John tells us, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”(John 1:5)—or as it can be translated, “the darkness did not overcome it.” This world was too small to conceal the Son of God when He walked upon it. And even now—now that Jesus has died on the cross and has risen from the dead—the whole world cannot but know about Him. He said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
And I suggest that, once again, this has something important to say to unworthy sinners like you and me. Even our unworthiness cannot conceal Him from us when we need to be saved by Him. Salvation is now no longer a mystery. God has graciously made the way as clear as it can be. The apostle Paul wrote;
For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:5-15).
No one who needs Him has to search for Him as if He is hidden. And no one can hide Him from those who need Him. He is made plain to all; and He cannot be hidden!
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Now; that brings us to this dear woman. She found Him and fell at His feet.
When Matthew tells us her story, he lets us know that she came to the apostles first; and she kept pestering them for the saving of her daughter. They even came to Jesus and asked Him to send her away; because they were really getting annoyed with her. And it may even be that they felt a little bit of prejudice toward her—that she, an unworthy pagan Gentile woman, had no right to come to ask anything of the Jewish Messiah.
Mark seems to make a point of her unworthy Gentile origin. But the truly remarkable thing is that so does Jesus! In fact, Jesus even speaks of her in—I have to say—some of the unkindest terms I can remember reading of Jesus saying to anyone who asked something of Him. Mark tells us, “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’” (v. 27). Admittedly, He gives her at least a little reason for hope, doesn’t He? He says, “Let the children [that is, the Jewish people who whom He came] be filled first . . .” And of course, this is reasonable in the light of God’s redemptive purposes. The Bible tells us that the Gospel is the good news of salvation “for the Jew first, and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Jesus said that He “was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).
But look at how He speaks of her and her people!—“little dogs”! The kind of ‘dog’ He is talking about here is not the dangerous kind of pack animal that ran wild in that part of the world. Rather, the kind of dog that He is speaking of here is a small household pet—the family pup. It’s not right, He says, to take “the children’s bread” (that is, the blessings and benefits of the Messiah that belong to the Jewish people as the covenant people of God), and to “throw it to the little dogs” (that is, the unworthy Gentile people who are outside of the covenant of God).
And do you know what that woman could have done? She could have become very offended, put her hands to her hips, and said, “Well—! How dare you—!” That’s what most people would have done. I suspect that that’s what most people feel like doing today when they are told that they are sinners—unworthy, in and of themselves, of the blessings of God through Christ. But this woman didn’t react that way. In fact, she accepted the description the Lord gave her; and used it as the basis for her appeal for mercy. “And she answered and said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs’” (v. 28).
What a brilliant answer! She honored and respected the redemptive plan of God—that the blessings of the Messiah belong primarily to the Jewish people. But in the context of their covenant relationship with God—and perhaps because she saw that Jesus was coming to His own people and His own people were rejecting Him—she asked, “If the Jewish people let some of the ‘scraps’ of those blessings fall from the table uneaten, couldn’t unworthy Gentiles like her have them?”
May I dare to say it? She appears to have ‘outwitted’ Jesus! But I don’t really think she did, do you? I think she ‘won’ the argument; but I think Jesus let her win. I would say that . . .
3. JESUS DREW OUT WHAT HE WANTED TO HEAR FROM HER (vv. 26-28).
And a lesson for you and me in this is that we must come to Jesus in that same humble way—not demanding salvation as our right, but humbly as a little dog under the table, begging for scraps of mercy. I would dare to say to you that you and I cannot even be saved by Jesus unless we come to Him in that way.
Do you remember the story that Jesus once told?
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14.)
Could it possibly be that Jesus is seeking to draw that kind of faith out of you right now? Could it be that He wants you to come to Him in the humility displayed by that great woman of faith?—simply pleading for the favor of His saving grace on the basis of His mercy alone?
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And that’s when we read that . . .
4. JESUS LOVINGLY GAVE IN TO HER REQUEST (vv. 29-30).
I say, “gave in”; because it seems to me that, after that, Jesus could no longer say no.
Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed (vv. 29-30).
And it’s not, of course, because she gave such a worthy answer that she thus ‘earned’ what she wanted. It’s not as if she won the jackpot on Jeopardy. Rather, her answer displayed humble persistence of faith in Jesus’ mercy; and it was to that persistent faith that Jesus was responding.
This is like another parable that Jesus told—one that came before the story about Pharisee and the tax collector:
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:1-8).
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Our wonderful Savior is a lover of unworthy sinners—whoever they may be. He graciously comes up close to them, and make His availability known to them. But He is looking for the right kind of faith from them. The great lesson of this story is that even those who are the least worthy of Jesus may receive His blessings through persistent faith.
Let’s be, then, more like this humble Syro-Phoenician Gentile woman. She argued with Jesus on the basis of persistent faith for His mercy—and she won!