Mercy for the Marginalized

Intro

How many came into church this morning and no one noticed you or spoke to you? I think we have a very friendly and inviting church. If you want to slip in unnoticed and avoid people, it’s going to be pretty difficult. We want everyone to feel welcome and wanted here.

Have you ever had that experience somewhere else? Maybe at another church, maybe at a school assembly or a party where the one or two people you know haven’t shown up yet. Maybe you feel unimportant in your own family - everyone else gets the attention and you feel invisible. It is not a very good feeling is it?

In 32 or 33 AD, women were often ignored in public. Gentiles were totally avoided by Jews for fear of contamination. And someone who was deaf, couldn’t speak or had another disability was usually begging on the side of the road. They were also avoided by most people. They were unimportant, unwanted. Cut off from society.

They were marginalized. If that word is new to you, think about the margins of a book. They’re empty. We read the contents and ignore the margins. Marginalized people are ignored; have no voice or power; they are not valued.

Maybe you feel that way today. Does God see you? Does He even think about you? Does He really care? We will learn about God’s character as we watch Jesus respond to two marginalized people in Mark 7.

Series

We are continuing our series: The Crown & The Cross sermon. Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus as a man of decisive action with a clear message and mission, and the reader is called to actively response to the message.

Mark divides Jesus’ life into two parts: his identity as Messiah and King over all things in the first 8 chapters (the crown) and then in the last 8 chapters we see Him fulfilling His life’s purpose in suffering and dying on the cross.

Two weeks ago, in chapter 7, a group of religious leaders came to Jesus looking to discredit Him and his teaching by accusing his disciples of breaking the traditions of the elders. Jesus responded showing that people can't make themselves clean by outward actions, now matter how hard they try. God’s Word reveals that only Jesus can clean our hearts.

This morning, as we finish chapter 7, we will see Jesus interacting with two marginalized people. Spoiler Alert! - Jesus responded with loving mercy and healing, showing that God cares for everyone. The Gospel is not for the rich and famous, or the bright and beautiful - it is for the humble and needy.

PRAY

READ Mark 7:24-30

Map

After feeding the 5,000, Jesus was last in the Genneserrat region on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee. Today we find him quite a bit farther north. To the very edge of Israel. A place with fewer Jews and a lot more Gentiles.

Map

Tyre and Sidon were seaports on the Mediterranean sea at the northern border of the Promised Land. Designated for the Tribe of Asher.

Phoenicians were known for sailing and an extensive merchant trade empire. As you can see they had colonies throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The first alphabet is attributed to the Phoenician Empire and our word phonics is clearly related.

Netchev, Simeon. "The Phoenician Expansion c. 11th to 6th centuries BCE." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 09 Nov 2021. Web. 05 Apr 2022.

v. 24 Jesus entered a house but didn’t want everyone to know he was there. Maybe again looking for a brief rest from ministry and the crowds.

But it didn’t take long - This amazing man from Nazareth who spoke with authority from God and healed all kinds of people could not be hidden!

This incident follows the teaching about what makes a person holy and acceptable to God. It is nothing they can do for themselves. This passage answers the question: So what about Gentiles? Does God love them?

Woman begged for help

v. 25 Immediately a woman came and fell at his feet begging for help for her daughter who was possessed by a demon.

v. 26 Mark makes a point of identifying her as a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. She is from the Phoenician empire now controlled by Syria. Mark is writing to a mostly Gentile audience in Rome - so he identifies her as a fellow Gentile.

In the parallel passage in Matthew 15 written to a Jewish audience, she is called a Canaanite woman. Those were the people Joshua was commanded to drive out of the Promised Land.

This woman already had three strikes against her.

She was a woman. A Rabbi was not supposed to approached or to be touched by women.

She was a Gentile and was not welcomed by the Jews.

Her daughter was demon possessed. This was commonly blamed on the parents. She wasn’t welcome in her own community let alone at the weekly play groups.

She was marginalized by her own people and definitely by the Jews. And yet, she still came to Jesus. Her only hope!

Jesus' response

Before we get to v. 27, lets look at the parallel passage in Matt 15.

Matthew 15:23 ESV

But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

This is hard to believe. Jesus ignored her! How could our loving Savior do that? But she kept crying out for help long enough for the disciples to be annoyed and asked Jesus to do something about her. Don’t you love their compassion? These passages (including feeding 5,000) contrast Jesus love and compassion with the disciples’ annoyance. They also compare the Jewish religious leaders and the disciples’ lack of understanding with the faith of gentiles.

Woman's faith

Jesus didn’t ignore her because He didn’t care. He was testing her resolve and her faith. Would she quickly give up, or keep trying? God tells us to be persistent in prayer. To pray believing he will answer.

v. 27 So Jesus finally spoke to her in parable about bread, kids and puppies. “Let the children be fed first...”

Notice, he didn’t say the food was not for the gentiles or dogs, but it was first for the children - God’s chosen people the Jews. Jesus used the symbol of bread as God’s blessing just as he had fed the 5,000 and preached to them about the Kingdom of God. But the blessing was not only to his own people - following on from this incident, among the Gentiles too. Just as Jesus had declared all food clean in the previous passage, he is now declaring all people (even Gentiles) are clean and welcome to come to God.

Dogs in Jesus day were either junkyard scavengers like hyenas or guard dogs that helped shepherds herd the flock. They were not typically household pets. But Jesus used the word for little dog or puppy - that might be allowed in a house.

v. 28 Again, this woman doesn’t give up. She stands up to a Rabbi and uses his own parable to argue her case. She really heard and understood the parable and saw herself in it. Unlike the disciples and religious leaders who did not have ears to hear. She was not looking for physical food, but spiritual blessings and her daughter’s spiritual freedom from the demon.

And she properly addressed him as Lord (God and Messiah).

This gentile woman from the great Phoenician empire humbled herself, in hopes that a crumb of God’s mercy might fall on her and her daughter.

Healing

v. 29 Jesus said, because of your humble answer, because you recognize me as Lord and Savior, because of your faith and persistence - you can go now - your daughter has been saved from the demon.

Matt 15:28 “Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.”

Her faith saved her and her daughter. And Jesus did not even need to see the girl or call out the demon. His declaration was enough. That shows his power and authority.

READ Mark 7:31-37

Map

We don’t know how long Jesus stayed in this northern area of Tyre, but traveled back down to the Sea of Galilee and went to the Gentile area called Decapolis meaning ten cities southeast of Galilee. This is where Jesus cast the legion of demons out of the mad man.

Friends begged for help

A man who was unable to hear and had trouble speaking was brought to him for healing. This man was unable to speak for himself, so like the mother we just heard about, his friends begged on his behalf. They apparently heard of Jesus and his miraculous power to heal the sick. They came looking for a miracle and believed Jesus could do it.

The Gospel of Mark is the only place this miracle is recorded. The other gospels mention that Jesus made the deaf hear and the mute speak, but they did not give the details of this event. Remember, Mark is building the case for Jesus as the healing Messiah and King with God’s authority and power.

Jesus' Mercy

v. 33 Jesus took the man away from the crowd into a private place. He was not looking for fame or recognition from the crowds. He did not make a spectacle or an example out of this man. And as I said earlier, without hearing or speech, the community would assume he or his parents sinned to deserve such a difficult life. He probably had to sit on the roadside begging with a sign or motions to get daily food.

Healing

v. 33 Because the man could not hear what Jesus was saying, the Savior put his fingers in the man’s ears to show him he was healing him. Jesus then spit on his fingers and touched the man’s tongue.

v. 34 Jesus looked to heaven, sighed. The “sigh” was an inward groan, our Lord’s compassionate response to the pain and sorrow sin has brought into the world. It was also a prayer to the Father on behalf of the handicapped man.

Jesus said Ephphatha which means “be opened.”

v. 35 The man could hear and his tongue was loosened so he could clearly speak. He was probably tongue-tied which means he could make sounds with his vocal chords, but could not form words with his tongue and mouth.

He was healed! And the man spoke clearly to them all.

Isaiah 35:5-6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 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;”

Again, Mark reveals Jesus as the Messiah who healed people just as promised in the Old Testament prophecies.

Glory to God

In looking to heaven, Jesus recognized that all His authority and power to heal came from His heavenly father. His sigh, like before showed his compassion for those burdened by the effects of sin and lost without a shepherd.

v. 37 tells us the people were astonished beyond measure. Like they really couldn’t believe it! He has done all things well. They recognized he was fulfilling the prophecies of healing.

This reminds of the Genesis creation account where everything God did was pronounced: “And it was good.” Jesus, the Son of God, did all things well.

Summary

Both were Gentiles

Both were marginalized in society

Both needed someone to beg or plead for them

Both were shown mercy by Jesus

Both were healed - one from a distance and the other by compassionate touch

God was glorified

There are many marginalized people today.

Jesus still welcomes all and offers mercy forgiveness, healing, and life to the humble

Take Homes

Humbly come to God - God welcomes all who humbly come to Him. Even if you feel like no cares about you, Jesus does. Everyone must recognize and admit their sin before a Holy God. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection God offers you forgiveness, healing and eternal life.

Show mercy to the marginalized as Jesus did. Do you love those ignored by society? God’s compassion reaches to everyone who feels lost and alone. Pray for His eyes and heart to serve and love those the world is ignoring.

Glorify God in everything you do - Just as Jesus gave his heavenly Father credit for His miracles, we should always point people to God. Don’t look for people to notice and thank you. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Benediction

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you all from God the Father and from Jesus Christ His Son in all truth and love. I pray in the loving merciful compassionate name of Jesus. Amen.