“Unique”

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Mark 7:24-37

Introduction: (What?)

When we were kids sometimes we would get upset with our playmates who mimicked us and we would call them “copycats”. Interestingly enough, as we have grown older we often become copycats ourselves. One particular “success coach” tells his audiences that if they want to be successful they should find a successful person and do what they do. Steven Covey wrote a best-selling book entitled “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”. However, Jesus dealt with individuals uniquely. Rarely did He heal persons in the same manner. Your experience with Jesus will be unique to your personality and environment. Don’t be a copycat.

Explanation: (Why?)

1. Don’t give up. (vv 24-30)

We can learn from the experiences of others without necessarily copying exactly what they do. When scripture gives us an example, we must learn how to apply that in our own situation. Let’s examine how Jesus dealt with this Gentile woman and see what we can learn.

“He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, (likely because He wanted to rest from the pressure of the Jewish leaders and an opportunity to further prepare the disciple for His coing crucifixion and their ministry.) but He could not escape notice. Instead, immediately after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophonenician by birth, and she was asking (repeatedly; in Matthew’s account we find that the disciples urged Him to “send her away because she’s crying out after us.”) Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children (Jews) be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. (puppies, pets)’ But she replied to Him, ‘LORD, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then He told her, ‘Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.’ When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.”

Although Jesus had intended this to be a time of privately teaching His disciples and getting them ready for His death, burial and resurrection and their ministry following His ascension, He also recognized a divine appointment when it happened. As in many cases, the miracles of Jesus happen in situations where He is interrupted. In addressing the Gentile woman, Jesus used the terminology used by the Jews regarding Gentiles. They called them dogs (wild, mangy vicious mongrels.) Yet His reference was a bit different. He said “little dogs” which referred to family pets who would hang out under the table so that they could get scraps that people dropped as they ate. On the surface of Mark’s telling of the story, Jesus comes across as harsh while in Matthew 15:26 He appears to be tenderly drawing out her faith. Her response of faith triggers the miracle of deliverance for her daughter. Jesus almost always connected the faith of the one seeking a miracle or the faith of those seeking a miracle for their family member or friend, with the fulfillment of their request. He does so in this case when He responds, “Because of your reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” The religious establishment would have been shocked at Jesus’ reply. In the first place, He was dealing with a WOMAN. On top of that she was a GENTILE and most likely, because of where she was from, she was an idol worshipper. Neither her ethnicity, gender or religion hindered her from coming to Christ by faith and being granted eternal life as well as the freedom of her daughter. Jesus had just sent a message to the Jews that He was sent for ALL mankind, not just the Jews.

The message to you and me today is that regardless of our station in life, we should always approach Jesus in faith, and we should never give up until He addresses our situation. Once we have a word from Jesus, we can go our way, satisfied that He has acted on our behalf. (Johnnie Lord regarding her son)

2. Don’t try to tell God how to do anything. (vv 31-35)

Quite often in our prayers we are prone to tell God what He should do and how He should do it. Many of the Charismatic Faith-healers command God to “heal”. Our best approach is to tell Jesus about our need and trust Him to do what He wants to do about it. In some instances He might ask us, “What do your want me to do?” He did this with a blind man in Mark 10:51, “Then Jesus answered him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?' ‘Rabboni,’ the blind man said to Him, ‘I want to see.’” Even then the man didn’t tell Jesus how He should restore his sight. In the next portion of our passage we find people telling Jesus how He should heal. “Again, leaving the region of Tyre, He went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. (the area that the demoniac of Gadara was from and where he gave his testimony to all who would listen) They brought him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay His hand on him.” They probably made this request because they had seen Jesus heal in this manner or had heard from others that He healed by laying his hands on the one in need. Jesus had already demonstrated many times that He did not fear being “defiled” by touching someone whom the Jewish leaders considered “unclean”. Someone with a hearing and speech problem was considered to be mentally ill by the Jews and they would steer clear of them.

John McArthur notes that Jesus first dealt with the deaf man through the use of sign language. “So He took him away from the crowd in private. After putting His fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, He touched his tongue.” By putting His fingers in the man’s ears, Jesus communicated that He understood the man’s problem, and it wasn’t mental. Jesus spat in His hand and then touched the man’s tongue with the saliva. Ancient people believed that saliva had healing properties, thus the deaf man understood that Jesus intended to heal him. What Jesus did next though told the man that this was no ordinary “healing”. “Looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (that is ‘Be opened!’) By looking up to heaven Jesus showed that any healing power He possessed came from His Father in heaven. The “deep sigh” was an indication that Jesus was sympathetic with the man and the years he had been in bondage to the deafness and speech impediment. Then Jesus spoke the healing words, “Be opened”. “Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly.” Just as God spoke the universe into being, Jesus spoke and the miracle of hearing and speech happened. Not only was the man given new hearing organs, but he was also immediately able to speak clearly without having to spend months or years with a speech therapist. If you have ever been around a gathering of hearing impaired people, you know that it is anything but quiet. They make all kinds of sounds, but not in words. This man immediately spoke words that made sense and were clearly understood by those who heard him.

We should never tell Jesus how He must do something. While He healed many people of the same malady (sight, hearing, lameness) He did it uniquely with each person.

3. Expect to be astonished. (vv 36-37)

In vv 36-37 we find the reaction of those who saw what Jesus had done.

“He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He ordered them, the more they proclaimed it. They were extremely astonished and said, ‘He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”

When we experience Jesus’ ministry first hand, whether directly in our lives or when we see it in the lives of others, we will be astounded. The result of that astonishment is that we want to tell someone about it. Years ago Christian artist Don Francisco wrote a song based on the story of Jesus raising a child from the dead. The song is entitled, “I’ve Gotta Tell Somebody” and that phrase is repeated throughout the song. What we must realize is that the greatest miracle of Jesus is the miracle of New Birth…salvation. When we have been born again, we should shout it from the roof tops. Somehow the Enemy has duped us into thinking that physical healing is a greater miracle than being born again and having the promise of Eternal life. If someone in our service today experienced healing of some sort, by tonight the news would be all over town. However, if someone got saved, few would know of it outside of those who are present right now. There is something wrong with that picture. But, you might say, Jesus Himself told them not to tell anyone about the healing of the deaf and dumb man. That seems to be a bit of a problem from two standpoints. One is that Jesus would not want word to get out and two that people would not honor His commands. One commentator sums it up this way. “Although Jesus ministered to Gentiles as the need arose His intention was not to have a public ministry among them.” His primary work, the redemption of mankind, required that He die on the cross, be buried and then rise from the grave and ascend to the Father. This was His work as Messiah. The people who were caught up in His healing power only saw Him as miracle worker, not as Messiah. His admonition to even the twelve was that they were to keep quiet until after His redeeming work was done. Nothing, even giving hearing to a deaf man, should interfere in His primary assignment from the Father. Jesus never wanted to be known as the man who walked on water or who fed 20,000 people with 5 dinner rolls and 2 small fish or as the one who made the lame to walk, gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He always wanted, and still wants to be known as Messiah; the One who paid the price that mankind could never pay. The prophet Isaiah wrote about the Millennial reign of Jesus when He comes to rule for 1000 years on the earth before that final Day of the Lord. (Read Isa. 35)

Application: (How does this impact my life today?)

These stories remind me of an old gospel song entitled “Do you know my Jesus?” Listen to these words;

“Have you a heart that's weary Tending a load of care? Are you a soul that's seeking Rest from the burden you bear?

Do you know (Do you know) my Jesus? Do you know (Do you know) my Friend? Have you heard He loves you? And that He will abide 'til the end?

Who knows your disappointments? Who hears each time you cry? Who understands your heartaches? Who dries the tears from your eyes?

Do you know (Do you know) my Jesus? Do you know (Do you know) my Friend? Have you heard He loves you? And that He will abide 'til the end?

That is my question to you today. Do you know my Jesus? If you do, tell somebody about Him this week. If you don’t have first hand knowledge of Jesus, I urge you to surrender your life to Him right now. Just pray, “Jesus, I give you my life.”