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When the Lord Makes You Wonder
Mark 7:24-37
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - April 10, 2016
*One of the most memorable things Jesus said on the cross is found in Matthew 27:46: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?''
Well, we know and Jesus knew that He was suffering and dying on the cross for our sins.
But our wonderful Savior was so willing to identify with us that He subjected Himself to the same kind of confusion we go through.
*"Why?" -- Why is this terrible thing happening to me?
-Why did I lose my job?
-Why did I get sick?
-Why is my family member sick?
-Why did that wreck happen?
-Why did they die so soon?
-Why is my family so messed up?
*Once I got an email from a young Christian wife who was going through a tough family problem.
She was frustrated with God, and wondering why things were going wrong.
One thing I told her is that it is okay to ask why?
We know this is true, because Jesus asked why on the cross, and He never did anything wrong.
*The problem with asking why is that many times we won't get an answer in this world.
That's why a wise man once said that a better question is, "What now?" -- "What should I do now, Lord?"
I told the young lady that over time, God will surely show her the answer to this question.
*God will show us what to do.
He will lead us through even the darkest valleys.
And it helps to know that He has been there too.
But sometimes the Lord is going to make us wonder.
1.
So expect some mysteries.
*We will encounter some mysteries in life.
As we live our lives, and as we look into God's Word, there will be some things that make us wonder.
Questions about God will arise in our hearts, and two of the most important questions come up here.
[1] The first one is: "Does God care about me?"
*"Does God really care about me?"
I can see the Greek woman in vs. 24-27 wondering about that:
24.
And 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.
25.
For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.
26.
The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
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).''
*Matthew 15:23 tells us that at first, Jesus wouldn't even answer her at all.
So it's easy to see how that mother could have wondered: "Does the Lord care at all about me?"
*She may have wondered, but her faith found the right answer in vs. 28, where she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.''
Then in vs. 29, Jesus told her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.''
*Matthew 15:28 tells us that Jesus also said: "O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be to you as you desire.''
And then, here in vs. 30: "When she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed."
*That woman found out that God really did care for her, and we should know it more!
We know that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead!
And we know that Jesus will save anyone who turns to Him and receives Him as their Lord and Savior.
*Does God really care about you and me? -- The answer is absolutely yes.
We can see this truth even in the little things of the Lord.
We can see God's care in little things like the sigh down in vs. 34.
There Jesus was about to heal the deaf man, and vs. 34 says: "Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, 'Ephphatha,' that is, 'Be opened.'"
*I never really noticed that sigh before, but Janis did this week, and she sent me something Max Lucado wrote about the Lord's sigh.
Here's a little of what Max said:
*"Jesus sighed.
The word seems out of place.
No doubt you've done your share of sighing.
If you have teenagers, you've probably sighed.
If you've tried to resist temptation, you've probably sighed.
If you've had your motives questioned or your best acts of love rejected, you have been forced to take a deep breath and let escape a painful sigh. . .
*And when Jesus looked into the eyes of Satan's deaf victim, -- the only appropriate thing to do was sigh.
The sadness of it all brought pain to our Master's heart.
But in an indirect way, God's pain is our comfort, because His pain for us reminds us that He cares for us."
(1)
*Does God really care about you and me? -- The answer is absolutely yes.
[2] But a harder question is: "Why does God do the things He does?"
*A great place to raise the "why" question is vs. 31-35:
31.
And again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.
32.
Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.
33.
And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
34.
Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha,'' that is, "Be opened.''
35.
Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.
*This touching story of the Lord's compassion is found only here in Mark's Gospel.
And it's worth noting that this poor, deaf man had the right kind of friends.
He had the kind of friends all of us need to be.
I say that, because in vs. 32, he had friends who brought him to Jesus.
He had friends who pleaded to Jesus on his behalf.
And that's the best kind of friend anyone can ever have, except for Jesus Himself, of course.
*So in vs. 33-35, we see our best Friend of all work a great miracle for that deaf man:
33.
And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.
34.
Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha,'' that is, "Be opened.''
35.
Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.
*That was a wonderful miracle!
-- But why did the Lord do it like that?
Why did Jesus put His fingers in the man's ears?
And why did the Lord apparently spit on His finger and touch the man's tongue?
Some say the Lord was using sign-language to show what He was going to do.
But did Jesus have to do that to heal the man?
The answer is definitely no.
*The daughter with the demon wasn't even there when Jesus delivered her.
Verse 30 tells us she was back at home.
She may have been miles away, and that's not the only long-distance miracle Jesus ever worked.
*So the Lord didn't have to put His fingers in the man's ears.
And what about that spit?
I usually go to Jorie for my medical care, and if I have an infection, they'll give me a shot or two.
That doesn't bother me so much.
But if Jorie ever starts spitting on her fingers, I'm heading for the door!
*Nobody is spitting on their finger, and touching my tongue!
-- Nobody but Jesus, that is.
"Lord, I don't understand it.
But I trust in You."
*Then, there are the other "why" questions.
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