Never Beyond the Reach of Jesus - Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-37 Never Beyond the Reach of Jesus 2019-11-24 Jesus brings salvation to us in our distance and desperation. Have you ever felt yourself to be an outsider? A place you didn’t really belong? Maybe you traveled to a foreign place and the language and culture didn’t make sense to you. But even more, have you ever felt yourself to be an outsider to God? Foreign to him? That there was too much of a divide, too great a separation, that the distance couldn’t be covered? Scripture Passage: Mark 7:24-37 Do you recall our study last week in the first half of Mark 7? There, Jesus dealt with the idea of clean and unclean, of pure and impure, as acceptable and defiled. The Jews had rules they made up for keeping ritually pure, but Jesus drove to the heart. This morning continues in that same stream as he ministers to people considered unclean, impure, and defiled. But he travels the distance to them, and in their desperation ministers to them. Jesus brings salvation to us in our distance and desperation. A Great Gap Closed (vv.24-30) 1. v.24 “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.” - This is a distance of about 40 miles, and not easy traveling over smooth terrain. We’re not told exactly why Jesus made this voyage, except that he didn’t want anyone to know. Perhaps it was for silence and solitude. Or perhaps it was because he didn’t want the radical ministry about to take place to be too publicly broadcast. 2. v.25 “But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.” - At this point in our study of Mark’s gospel this kind of thing may seem quite ordinary. Someone has a need, comes to Jesus, and he heals them. But don’t tune out. There’s more to this story. 3. v.26 “Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth.” - This woman had all kinds of strikes against her. If there was someone with a reason for not coming to Jesus, this was it. She was an outsider. She was a Gentile. She was a woman. She’s assumed to be far from God. She’s outside of the people of God. She’s been told that she’s separated from the mercy of God. She had a daughter who wasn’t filled with the Holy Spirit of God, but controlled rather by an unclean spirit. What kind of things have you been doing? What influences are in your life? What kind of religion have you been practicing, that your daughter would be controlled by an unclean spirit? 1. Ephesians 2:11-16 says of Gentiles that they were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world… far off… separated by a dividing wall of hostility. 1. This woman wouldn’t have even been familiar with the commandments of God, much less the rules about the rules. All of the hoops that the religionists had setup only served to keep her at a greater distance and alienated her further. But Jesus bridged that gap and came to her place, her territory. 4. v.26b “And she begged him…” - This woman is a wonderful example of humble intercession. She comes to Jesus and falls at his feet. Then she begs him, earnestly asking for the favor she knows she so desperately needs and only he can bestow. There is no power over the unclean spirit except the power of the Spirit of God. He is her only hope. There is nowhere else she can turn. 5. v.27 “Let the children be fed first…” - Isn’t this a shocking statement? If that doesn’t make you squirm a little in your seat you may not be paying close enough attention. Did Jesus just deny her request and refer to her as a dog? 1. I believe this was meant to stir and arouse, to test and provoke her faith. Jesus did come to minister primarily to Jews during his life, but he also knew (and Scripture prophesied) that there would be ministry to the Gentiles, both during his life and especially after his ascension. 2. Also, note that Jesus uses the diminutive of “dogs”. The diminutive conveys something smaller, or can be used for closeness or intimacy or affection (teeny-tiny, or allegretto versus allegro in music). When the woman came to tell Jesus about her daughter, it was the diminutive “daughter” which means little daughter. Here it is the diminutive of “dogs” which would mean little dogs. 6. v.28 “But she answered him…” - Not thwarted or discouraged by the statement of Jesus. This woman was incredibly humble and persistent. She accepted her position in society. Not that she was less human or not made in God’s image, but humble so that she knew she didn’t have the right to demand anything from Jesus. All she could do was ask, and with a dogged determination to continue to ask. 7. vv.29-30 By prayer, through persistent and persevering intercession, this woman had an insurmountable gap closed. Her faith is exemplary. 1. What needs have you brought to Jesus? Maybe you’ve neglected bringing them to Jesus so far, but what needs should you be bringing to Jesus. Do you fail to bring them, thinking he won’t listen to you? That you’re really an alien and outsider, or that God’s love and listening ear wouldn’t be extended to you? I hope the encounter Jesus has with this woman sinks in and teaches you otherwise. Or have you brought a need to Jesus and it wasn’t answered the way you wanted? Have you considered that the delay, or the answer in the negative, is intended to stir, to test and provoke your faith, to cause you to press in and persist further? More than a trophy case of answered prayers, God wants relationship with you. Perhaps, in his delay to answer, he is intending to grow you in relationship with him? A Great Instrument Opened (v.31-37) 1. v.31 “Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.” - Jesus takes this interesting route back south by beginning his travel going north. He then comes to the region of the Decapolis, which is a region of ten cities south and east of the Sea of Galilee. This was an area that was primarily occupied by Gentiles, not Jews. His ministry to the demoniac among the pigs in Mark 5 would have been around this region. In fact, in Mark 5:20 “And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” 2. v.32 “And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment…” - The people of this area, these Gentile people, know the power of Jesus to heal, so they bring this man to Jesus who couldn’t hear or speak. 1. Commentators have spent a great deal of effort trying to discern the extent of the man’s speech impediment. Was he completely mute, unable to speak? Was he able to speak, but unintelligibly? It seems this was more than a lisp or something a little speech therapy would take care of. Part of the difficulty of understanding the extent of the speech impediment is the rare word used by Mark to describe it. He uses the word mogilalos. It simply means to speak with difficulty. Interestingly, though, for all its rarity, it’s used in the Greek translation of the OT in Isaiah 35:6. 2. But before we look at Isaiah 35, I first need to turn your attention to Isaiah 34. This chapter contains the judgment of God upon the nations of the earth for their disobedience and rebellion. 1. Isaiah 34:1–2 “Draw near, O nations, to hear, and give attention, O peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that fills it; the world, and all that comes from it. For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter.” 2. But then comes Isaiah 35. It’s worth reading in its entirety. Everlasting joy, gladness, and singing for those ransomed by the Lord. Verse 6 “then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” 3. vv.33-35 Jesus pulls the man aside privately. His healing involved few words, communicating to this deaf man more through touch and action. He looks up to heaven and sighs, no doubt a groaning over the effect of sin on this world. Jesus speaks, and the man is instantly healed, able to hear and able to clearly speak. 4. vv.36-37 They can’t keep it bottled up. Their utter astonishment bursts forth in praise and proclamation. They proclaimed the power of Jesus to heal, and lifted their voices to God in praise. He has done all things well! 1. Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” 2. Ephesians 2 continues. 19–22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Conclusion: Remember Mark’s audience with this gospel? It’s not to Jews. Why does he translate Ephphatha into Greek? Because many in his audience wouldn’t have understood the Aramaic. Mark is writing to Gentiles. He was writing to those who were considered out of bounds, beyond the reach of Jesus. Here’s the remarkable thing - Jesus came to us in our distance and desperation, and he saved us. He crossed a divide impassable and impossible by us. He came from heaven to earth, lived a sinless life, and died for us. One we were enemies of God, but now we are sons and daughters, friends of God, and fellow heirs with Christ. Jesus brings salvation to us in our distance and desperation y l i m Fa Table Talk November 24, 2019 GOD’S TRUTH Jesus brings salvation to us in our distance and desperation! Family Discussion & Bible Searching Key Verse “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” 1. Over and over again, we see the grace and mercy of Jesus in His ministry as He carried out His purpose on earth- to save sinners and glorify His Father in heaven. Read the following Scriptures: Luke 19:10; John 6:38-40; John 17:4 2. The outcast, the shunned, the weak, the proud, the deaf, the mute, the sick, the lame, the opposed…whoever it was, Jesus came to save the lost sinner. And He continues through the work of His Spirit to save the lost sinner. This is you! This is me! Who has placed our belief in Jesus Christ, confessed our sin, and walk in keeping with repentance. Have you ever told someone your testimony? Who you were before Christ and who you are now? Have you been able to share how Jesus was specifically gracious and merciful to you in bringing you to faith in Him? Read these Scriptures together. Then share with one another your testimony to the glory of God!! 1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-13 Ephesians 2:13 Scripture Memory: Exodus 20:12 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)