Mark chapter 7, after many miracles, some great teaching, many lives impacted, the critics caught up with Jesus.
! Pharisees and scribes had accused him of blasphemy for telling the paralytic that his sins were forgiven.
They had questioned his feasting with tax collectors and sinners and told him that he should be fasting.
They accused him of plucking grain on the Sabbath. That's harvesting in their minds.
They saw him healing on the Sabbath. That is considered work as well.
They even said that he was of the devil because he had power over the demons.
Earlier in Mark chapter 7, they called him defiled. They called him unclean.
It just keeps coming.
Sometimes you just have to get away.
That's what he does in our passage today.
But yet, not really.
Mark chapter 7, beginning in verse 24, it says,
And from there, Jesus 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.
But immediately, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
Now, the woman was a Gentile, a Seraphonician by birth, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
And he said to her, Let the children be fed first.
For it's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
And she answered, Yes, Lord.
Get even the dogs under the table, these children.
And he said to her, For this statement you may go your way.
The demon has left your daughter.
And she went home and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
The devil to Tyre is about 40 miles from the area in which Christ had been before.
It moves northward to the Mediterranean coast.
Sidon is about another 20 miles north of that, further into Gentile land.
This is the first time in the recorded ministry of Christ that he has been in this area full of Gentiles.
But they hadn't seen him before.
Word had gone out about him.
Crowds that he fed for the 5,000.
The crowds that surrounded him in the Galilean area.
For people who had traveled from as far as that area to be near him.
Because when he got there, they recognized him.
Word had spread.
Now the question is, why should he go so far from what seemed to be his strategic area of ministry?
Mostly in that Galilean area.
Well, I can give you several reasons why I believe he took this year.
One is, he was tired.
He needed some rest.
He was never alone, and the people had gotten more aggressive to get close to him.
They tried to force him to be king.
You see throughout the Gospels that Jesus loved his time alone.
He loved to be with the Father.
And if you live a busy life, and if you're around people a lot, that does not surprise you.
He was tired.
He also wanted things to cool down.
The religious leaders were back.
They were more critical, and they would soon become more aggressive.
And that had to, he had to, none of that had backed off.
And Jesus didn't back off from his story.
He didn't back off from his mission.
He told them when they were wrong.
He was not scared of them.
However, he needed more time.
I believe that the incarnate Christ came to earth for two reasons.
One very primary reason, the other secondary.
The primary reason Christ came to earth was to live a sinless life,
and to die, shed his blood on the cross for our sins,
and rise again and ascend to heaven and bear a place for us.
That is the redemptive story that Christ came to share with us.
But I believe the other reason he came was to train the twelve,
to train the disciples to carry out his ministry
when he no longer would be physically present with them.
And you see the evidence of that in the book of Acts.
As a matter of fact, the rest of the New Testament
are letters that are written from the time of the book of Acts
when it continued to spread.
And if it wasn't for them,
in planting that vision and that mission within those apostles,
that continue to spread that,
literally in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and the uttermost parts of the earth.
You can see like a rock in a pond with the ripples.
You can see the great commission in the book of Acts
start in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2,
spread to Judea, Samaria,
and the uttermost parts.
And thank God he came for that,
because we're the uttermost parts.
So he needed time to train the twelve.
His ministry was only three and a half years.
He needed time to train them,
and he had to pull them away.
Things needed to be cool.
But the third reason I believe he traveled there
is because he also was just living out what he was teaching.
I want to focus on that.
You'll notice in Mark verse 19
that we looked at last week,
it says,
Thus he declared all foods clean.
Foods are a powerful symbol in the New Testament.
As the Gospels broke down this,
as the Apostle Paul put it in Ephesians,
this dividing wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles.
In Acts chapter 10,
the Lord uses food to explain to Peter
that he was to reach out to the Gentiles,
the heathens,
the world.
In a dream,
Peter saw a blanket
spread out of heaven
with unclean food on it.
He didn't eat such foods,
and so
he said
when God told him to eat,
take, eat,
Peter responded
with the greatest oxymoron
in all of the New Testament.
He said,
Not so,
Lord.
He didn't say no to him,
he called him Lord.
And
he didn't eat unclean animals,
so he wasn't going to eat them.
And the Lord told him
he had made the foods clean to eat.
That was an illustration
to show Peter
that he was to go to the Gentiles.
So Peter went to Cornelius,
a Gentile's house.
He ate with him.
He brought him to Christ.
A bridge was built
there,
and we see the evidence
of that continuing to spread
throughout the rest of
the book of Acts.
However,
Jesus is building
the foundation
of that bridge
that would come
later years
here by going
to the land
of the Gentiles.
And listen to me,
after a conversation
in the previous part
of Mark chapter 7
about unclean things
and unclean people.
He wanted to get away
and take a break.
However,
when Jesus
entered a house,
he cannot be hidden.
Notice,
he says,
when he went,
he entered a house
and did not want anyone
to know it,
yet he could not be hidden.
Listen,
when Jesus is present,
you can't hide it.
When he's present
in someone's home,
people hung through
the windows
to get a word from you.
And when he's present
in someone's life,
it cannot be hidden.
It should not be hidden.
Not in our lives.
Sometimes people tell me,
well,
pastor,
I believe one's faith
is private.
There's a Greek word
for that,
baloney.
There is no,
that is not
Christian biblical faith
if it's private.
There's nothing private
about it.
Romans 10,
10,
9 says,
if you confess
with your mouth
Jesus is Lord,
and it's not talking
about in the privacy
of your home.
It's not talking
about just with the preacher
or just with your parents
or just with your spouse.
You take the context
of that passage,
he's talking about
boldly proclaiming
that Christ is Lord.
There's nothing private
about our faith.
It's real.
And if it's real,
you can't hide it.
But when you really
know Christ
and have a personal
relationship with Him,
He is not just
in your heart.
He's all over your life
and the presence
of Christ cannot be hidden.
The presence of Christ
in a home
cannot be hidden.
And it could not be hidden
in that day
and it still can't be.
And in that atmosphere,
He meets a woman
with a daughter
with an unclean spirit.
That means she had a demon.
If there are categories
of people,
and we tend to categorize people,
I mean, I don't,
and I know you don't,
but I'm talking about
other people.
They do that.
But if there are categories
of people,
this woman would be
obviously not worthy.
I mean,
who is she to ask Christ
for anything?
She's an unclean Gentile.
She's a Seraphonician,
Canaanite woman.
That means she lives
in the most hideous,
pagan,
hardened,
rough people
around her.
Josephus,
the ancient Jewish historian,
said that Tyre
represented the most
bitter enemy
that the Jews had
at the time.
And quite honestly,
nothing's really changed.
That's modern day
Lebanon today.
Constantly fighting.
And in the first century,
it was filled
with the worst kind
of idolatry.
some of the darkest places
on the earth.
Therefore,
she is very unclean,
very unworthy
to approach Jesus.
She has no covenant
standing as an Israelite.
She has demons
in her home,
even in her own daughter.
She has no standing.
She has no leverage here.
She's completely desperate.
She's a mother
pleading for her child.
And a mother's plea
is the most earnest
of any on earth.
mothers fight
for their children.
And Mark tells us
that she fell
at his feet.
Not only does that
show her utmost
respect for him,
but she is pleading
with Christ.
Matthew writes
about this man.
And of course,
Matthew gives us
more details
than Mark does.
Because Mark writes
like a man.
He's in a hurry.
And he gives us,
Matthew gives us
some details
that we need.
Matthew chapter 15
verse 22 says this,
And behold,
a Canaanite woman
from that region
came out
and was crying,
Have mercy on me,
son of David.
My daughter is severely
oppressed by a demon.
But Jesus
did not answer
her.
And his disciples
came
and begged him
saying,
Send her away.
For she's crying
out after us.
And he answered,
I was sent
only to the
lost children
house of the Lord.
She came
and knelt
before him
and said,
Lord,
help me.
And he said,
Let the children
be.
And she said,
Lord,
help me.
Matthew tells us
how Jesus
responded.
He didn't.
Matthew 23
said he didn't
answer her
one.
Eugene
Peterson
wrote a
paraphrase
of the New
Testament
called
The Message.
And in that
paraphrase,
Peterson says
that Jesus
ignored her.
I believe
Peterson was
wrong.
That's one
of the dangers
that you run
into when you
read a paraphrase
of Scripture.
Because a
paraphrase has
a lot of
somebody's
interpretation.
And I'm not
knocking the
message over
all.
Sometimes it
helps us to
understand passages
better.
But you need to
understand.
It's not a
translation,
it's a
paraphrase.
And here he
made an
interpreted
decision that
I believe
was wrong.
And the
reason why I
think that
partially is
because of
something that
happened to me.
one of the
toughest
assignments that
I ever had
in ministry.
I had a
dear member
of my
church that
was a
well-respected
retired
servant.
I love
judgment.
When I
first went to
that church,
I was
preaching a
prayer meeting
one night on
Matthew 24,
a very tough
controversial
passage.
scripture,
he was
sitting in
the back
at a table
of the
fellowship
hall there.
As I was
finishing up,
he raised
his hand.
And I
was new to
the church.
I wasn't
even honeymoving
in.
They were
just
getting
them.
And he
raised his
hand,
and so I
let him
speak,
and he
asked me
a question.
Now,
to be honest
with you
folks,
I ain't
going to
take
questions
today.
I'm
going to
tell you
everything
I got
in my
bag,
and that's
it.
I ain't
got a
high key.
I ain't
taking
questions.
Didn't plan
on doing
it that
night.
But
I
answered
his
question
to the
best of
my
ability,
and I
moved on.
Nobody
raised his
hand again,
and I
said,
Judge,
this ain't
your
courtroom.
I said
that,
knowing at
the time,
either I'd
be looking
for a job
next day,
or either
be a
judge and
hit it
on.
And I
figured if
he's a
retired
circuit
judge,
he's got
to be
tough enough
to understand
that.
He's one
of the
respect I've
ever met in my
life.
I made
rounds here in
Sunday school
to speak to
folks,
and when I
got into his
class,
I'd sit down
and listen to
him teach.
coach.
He's an
inductive
teacher.
He taught
like a
man who
fights with
a roundhouse
kick.
You don't
see him
coming.
You just
get kicked
in the
back of
the head
all of a
sudden.
That's
the way
he taught.
He'd start
out, and
you'd think,
man, what
is he
talking about?
He didn't
even study.
He don't
know what he's
talking about.
And by
the time
he got
done,
man,
he had
landed
in my
head.
His wife
came to
me one
day, and
she said,
how's he
doing teaching?
Because he's
struggling at
home.
And I
don't want
to do
embarrassing
to him.
And I
said, I
haven't
picked up
on it.
I said, I
never know
where he's
going until
he gets
there anyway,
so I
haven't really
picked up
on it
yet.
You know,
but I'll
watch out
for him.
So I
hung out
a little
longer in
that class,
and I
began to
see him
that.
There was
another
class of
the same
aged men.
There was
a class that
he taught,
and everybody
was in there
because he
was teaching
it, and
there was
another
class that
was over
there because
he wasn't
teaching it.
They
needed a
teacher.
I
couldn't
find one.
so because
of his
wife's
plea to
me,
for it
to keep
his dignity,
I want
you to
house
one.
hard thing
to do.
I sat
down and
I said,
Judge,
this other
class needs a
teacher,
and I can't
find one.
I really
need to
combine their
small class
with yours.
And I'm
just wondering
to make
that transition
smooth.
If you
wouldn't mind
me teaching
it.
The judge
had a
trait about
him that
I highly
respect,
but I sure
don't like.
he had a
trait of
long
pause.
And I'll
tell you what
was different
about this
man than
me or
most of
us,
is that he
thought before
he spoke.
That's a
novel concept.
most of
us just
open our
mouth and
hope we
catch up
with it,
you know.
And he
paused.
And I've
been prone
sometimes in
those pauses
to repeat
myself.
When I was
about to do
that,
he said,
passion.
I never
talked to
him.
I loved
him until
he died.
But I
believe the
pause that
Jesus did
was that
he was
trying to
to
gather
his
thoughts.
to
get
together
her.
But even
more than
that,
he was
wanting
those
disciples
together
things.
What
filtering
his
thoughts?
He was
letting the
woman and
the apostle
filter
things.
And he
then says
something
shocking.
he said
to her,
he said to
her,
let the
children
be fed
first.
It's not
right to
take the
children's
bread and
throw it
to the
dogs.
did he
call her
a dog?
I mean,
we're not
talking about
a pampered
household
pet here.
They didn't
have those.
Nor is it
in a couple
terms of
dogs in Greek.
Nor is it
the harsher
term of a
scavenger
dog like a
coyote kind
of concept
where they
come in and
tear and
you're scared
of them.
It's really
more of the
kind of dog
that we
inherited one
day when I
came home
from a late
meeting and
there was a
dog laying
right by my
back door
in a pile
of, among
a couple of
bags of
clothes we
were going
to give
away.
That dog
was nestled
up there
trying to
stay warm
and I
when my
family could
look, I
kind of
shooed the
dog off,
you know,
and when I
came back
the next day
that dog
was there,
you know,
and the
rest of
that's where
I get time
to tell
him,
I'm more
tired than
you are,
I promise.
We're
leaving
for spring
break.
I went
in and
fed the
dog.
We're
gone for
a week.
The dog
got to
find a
meal
somewhere
else.
The
girls wanted
that dog
so bad.
And I
said,
if the
dogs ever
get back
to the
dog,
I didn't
know.
They
have
been
in
the
family.
My
family,
my
rascals,
they
got
somebody
to feed
that
dog
at my
house.
But he's
not talking
about a
little dog.
He's
talking about
a softer
term for
a little
dog.
He kind
of wonders
the
harsher
term for
dog
was used
by Jews
to
support
Gentiles
like the
Canaanites.
So why
did he
say that?
I hope
you sense
this morning
the awkwardness
and the
tension
because you
should.
That's what
Mark
wants.
That's what
Jesus
wants.
after all
the
talk of
the
Pharisees
and the
scribes
about
what's
clean
and
what's
not,
Jesus
purposely
goes to
an
unclean
area,
is
approached
by an
unclean
woman
with a
demon
in her
home
begging
and the
apostles
just want
her to
go away
and Jesus
just wants
it all
to play
out.
There
are
people
that
are
obviously
not
worthy.
She was
one of
them.
Then there
are others
who are
observed
as
worthy
and the
Jews
sure
thought
they
were.
There's
a saying
and I
don't know
that it
was original
with it
but I
heard
Adrian
Rogers
say it
years ago.
A text
without a
context
is a
pretext.
This
passage
can be
easily
misunderstood
if you
ignore
the context.
Several
years ago
a feminist
scholar
said that
Jesus
was
insensitive
in this
passage
that he
was harsh
and that
he was
so severe
to the
lady
that he
demeaned
her
in a
chauvinistic
fashion
and by
doing so
he crossed
the borders
of courtesy
and slandered
her and
that means
he sinned
therefore he
cannot be
sinless.
And that
my friend
is a
false
reasoning
and a
pretext.
It's also
heresy
and it
also
demeans
Christ.
Be careful
about such
things.
I'm firmly
convinced
that Jesus
had left
an altercation
with the
Jewish
establishment
that his
disciples had
witnessed.
He had
pulled them
away for
a ministerial
retreat and
now what
seemed like
an interruption
was really
a divine
appointment,
was really
a life
lesson,
was really
an illustration,
was really
a walking
parable
before their
eyes.
They had
just been
with people
that were
seen as
worthy.
The Pharisees
and the
scribes
were descendants
of Abraham.
Those who
knew the
law,
they observed
proper
traditions,
they washed
ritually,
they attended
synagogues,
they tithed,
they fasted,
they separated
themselves.
The Pharisees,
the word
is a
participle that
means the
separated
ones.
That's what
they thrived
off of.
Anyone that
saw them
just knew
that they
were worthy.
They thought
it themselves.
A
Seraphonician
woman in
Tyre was
far from
worthy.
Good church
leaders,
they had to
be worthy.
Jesus
amplified that
thought to
the apostles.
more than
to the
lady,
I believe,
to let
it sink
in and
to sink
in heart
and in
that
pause,
my
breath.
Those
people that
appear
obviously
not worthy.
We look
down on
such people
as well.
Then there
are those
that are
observed as
worthy.
we think
a lot
of them.
We think
a lot
more of
them than
we should.
The reality
is the
only type
of believer
that there
really is,
what we
call a
Christian
today,
is one
that is
made
worthy.
Notice
what he
says.
In
Mark
chapter 7
verse 27,
he said
to her,
let the
children be
fed first
for it's
not right
to take
the
children's
bread and
throw up
the
dog.
But she
answered him,
yes,
Lord,
yet even
the dogs
under the
table
eat the
children's
clothes.
And he
said to
her,
for this
statement,
you may
go your
way.
The
demon
has
left
your
daughter.
God
went home
and
found
the
child
lying
in
the
man
and
the
demon
would
go.
Matthew
15
verse 28
says,
then Jesus
answered her,
O woman,
great is
your faith,
be it done
for you as
you desire.
And her
daughter was
healed
instantly.
she didn't
respond with
offense.
She didn't
respond with
worthiness.
She didn't
respond with
anger.
She didn't
respond with
entitlement.
She didn't
respond with
bitterness.
She knew
she was not
worthy and
she responded
humbly.
Somewhere in
her heart,
she had
become
convinced
that Jesus
was
God.
That he
had enough
power,
that he
had enough
mercy,
that he
had enough
grace to
change her
life, to
change the
life of her
family.
And even
when she
felt small,
she knew
Jesus is
sufficient.
His mercy
overflows
every border
or boundary
that we could
ever come
up with.
Nothing
can separate
us from
the love
of God.
Romans 8.38
His grace
reaches all.
His power
changes
eternity.
I doubt
she knew
because she
was a
Gentile
Seraphonician
woman,
Canaanite.
I doubt
she knew
Psalm 51
17,
the sacrifice
of God
are broken
spirit.
A broken
and contrite
heart of God.
He
is not
a
spirit.
Not being
raised around
the word of
God.
I doubt
she knew
Isaiah 66
verse 6
that says
but this
is the one
who is
allowed
to
him.
He
is
humble
and
contrite
his
fear
and
trembles
at
the
heart.
But God
gave her
the insight
to have
a faith
in Christ
great enough
to trust
him,
to submit
to him
and to
ask
him.
And Romans
10
13
tells us
for
everyone
who
calls
for
him
shall
be
saved.
I
called
her
theology,
bred
from
theology.
And that's
the right
type
of theology.
She
wasn't
worthy.
Neither
am I,
neither
are you.
But thank
God
through
his grace
and mercy
through
Christ.
He'll
make us
one
when we
send
to
our
sins.
Thank you.
With every
head bowed
and every
eye closed,
I want you
to hear
me today.
The person
who's been
in church
all their
life,
the person
who's been
led in
church
for years,
is not
worthy.
If you
think that
will cover
you,
you're
wrong.
Hopefully
that
church
loyalty
and that
church
leadership
has
had a
beginning
that had
a lot
to do
with a
broken
and
contrite
heart
before
the
Lord.
we
surrender
our
lives
to
Christ
and
allow
him
to
make
us
work.
I want
to be
clear
today,
none of
us are
worthy,
but all
of us
have
opportunity.
And if
you've
never
given
your
heart
and
life
to
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
I want
you to
know
receive
you as
you are.
Any
function
within
you
to
come
to
him
didn't
come
from
you
and
came
to
him.
It's a
divine
appointment.
You
need not
leave here
without
giving your
life
a
throne.
We'll
stand and
we'll
sing in
just a
moment.
And
when we
do,
I
encourage
you to
step out
immediately
and
come
and
pass
right
in
the
seat.
Maybe
you're
here
this
morning
and
you
are
but
you
haven't
it's
just
been
a
private
faith.
It's
been
a
non-biblical
faith.
You
need to
make
that
public.
Like
those
that
we
baptized
last
Sunday,
you
need to
make
money.
Maybe
you're
here
and
it's
just
a
point
of
obedience
for
you.
You
just
need
to
do
what
God
tells
you
to
do
God
may
be
!
telling
you
to
because
of
what
Christ
did
for
us
on
the
cross.
A
humble
broken
spirit
can be
healed
by
such
mouth.
We
bring
your
brokenness
to you.
Heavenly
Father,
I love
you.
And I
thank you
for the
hard
lessons
that you
teach
us.
Sometimes
not
exactly
the way
we
wish
you would.
Help
us
on
God.
Take
you
.
Take
you.