MARK LESSON 15

     We will begin this lesson in Mark 7:24.

     Mark 7:24  "And from thence he arose, and went into the borders
of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man
know [it]: but he could not be hid."

     This was immediately after He had explained to the disciples about
the wicked heart. The "He" here is Jesus. He left Galilee for a
short time. Tyre was the capital of Phoenecia near Judaea.  This
appears to be when Jesus had left the Jews and had gone to the
Gentiles.  He possibly went to a friend's home to rest for just a
little bit, and perhaps, He thought the scribes and Pharisees would not
follow Him there. His fame had already spread here as well, and there
would be no way for Him to get away where no one knew Him.

     Mark 7:25 "For a [certain] woman, whose young daughter had an
unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:"

     This woman was not a Jew.  She loved her daughter more than she
feared being run off.  Most mothers would have been terribly concerned
about a daughter with an unclean spirit.  This woman humbled herself
by falling at the feet of Jesus.

     Mark 7:26 "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and
she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her
daughter."

     We see from this, that this was a Gentile; a Syrophenician.  She
knew what she wanted:  Jesus to cast out this devil from her daughter.

     Mark 7:27 "But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be
filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast
[it] unto the dogs."

    Jesus was speaking to her about coming to the Jews first.  He
didn't come out and say no, but He told her that He was to take care
of the Jews first.  Every non-Jew was thought of by the Jews as a dog
at the time of this writing.  He was just saying, "I can't neglect the
chosen children to help those away from God".

     Mark 7:28 "And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the
dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." 

This was a very wise woman. She did not argue with Him, she in fact agreed. 
Then she admitted to being unworthy. She was humble.  She was willing to 
take the crumbs that fell from the table, knowing that even this would be 
the most powerful food she had ever eaten.  She was saying: "Lord, in the 
face of all the wonderful miracles, this is just a crumb compared to that".  Her humbleness and faith won Him over.  In another Scripture He said, "Woman your great faith".  Here, we see Jesus moved by this .

     Mark 7:29 "And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the
devil is gone out of thy daughter."

     This Scripture tells us so much. First, that one person can stand
in for another to be prayed for. The one being prayed for does not
have to be there. We see here, also, that devils dwell within people and
sometimes must be cast out. The Scripture no where says that the
daughter prayed.  You can pray for another's deliverance.  There need
not be any great lapse of time, this was done immediately.

     Mark 7:30 "And when she was come to her house, she found the
devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed."

     The devil had no choice, he had to leave. The daughter was free
but exhausted and resting on the bed. The mother expected a miracle
and got one. It was almost as if Jesus came there to do just this one
miracle.

     Mark 7:31  "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and
Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the
coasts of Decapolis."

     Peter's home was next to the Sea of Galilee.  He went near there
often. Whether to rest or because it was familiar territory, I cannot
say. It seems He didn't go straight back but took a little side trip.

     Mark 7:32 "And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an
impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon
him."

     This person was not totally dumb but, because of the impediment
in his speech, we know that he had been deaf for a long time and had
what we call tonguetied.  Just one touch of Jesus' hand would make him
whole. These people were aware of Jesus' ability to heal.  His fame
had spread throughout the land; and they knew for sure that if the
Lord would touch him, he would be made whole and able to hear and
speak clearly.

     Mark 7:33 "And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his
fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;"

     This was a very dramatic healing.  Jesus, in each instance,
touched the problem area.  This healing was not for the others, this
was for this one individual.  Jesus heals one at a time.  He deals
with us on an individual basis.  In this, Jesus recognized where the
problems were and dealt with the problems one at a time.  This prepared
the man to receive in both these areas.

     Mark 7:34 "And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto
him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened."

     This "looking up to heaven" lets this man know where his help came
from.  Perhaps, the "sigh" was to let the man (and all who read of this
in years to come) know that Jesus truly had compassion for those who
were suffering for any reason.  He suffers with us.  We know that
Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings and that everything in earth
must bow to Him. He commanded these ears and tongue to be opened and
not stammer.

     Mark 7:35 "And straightway his ears were opened, and the string
of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain."

     We see, here, that whatever kept this person deaf and dumb had to
obey the voice of Jesus, and this person was made whole.

     Mark 7:36 "And he charged them that they should tell no man: but
the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published
[it];"

     There was no possible way this man could keep it a secret that he
was made totally whole.  Suddenly he could hear the birds chirp and the
rustling of the leaves when the wind blew.  He could hear a baby cry or
hear a mother sing a lullaby.  His tongue was loosed, as well, and you
know he talked without stopping.  His praises of the God who did these
wonderful things for him had to keep him talking constantly.  Those
who knew him before constantly asked how this all happened; and, of
course, he was so proud that he spread the word.

     Mark 7:37 "And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath
done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to
speak."

     Here, we see the reaction of those who saw and heard of the
wonderful miracle performed in someone they knew.  Possibly, many of
these people had been going to worship regularly, but had never seen
anything like this before.  This one miracle here could cause
thousands to flock to Jesus to bring their sick and deformed to be
healed.  There would certainly be no place for Him to go now where they
had not already heard of Jesus' miracles.

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                          Mark 15 Questions


1.  In verse 24, where did Jesus go?
2.  Why did He go to this house?
3.  What country was this near?
4.  What faith background did these people have?
5.  What was wrong with the woman's daughter that came to Jesus?
6.  When the woman fell at Jesus' feet, what did it show her as?
7.  What was the woman's nationality?
8.  What did the woman want Jesus to do?
9.  What did Jesus answer her at first?
10. What were non-Jews thought of at this time?
11. What humble remark did the woman make to Jesus calling herself a
    dog?
12. What caused Jesus to answer her prayers?
13. What did Jesus tell her that He had done for her daughter?
14. Does the person being delivered have to be there?
15. What condition did the mother find her daughter in?
16. Where did Jesus go by when he went back to the Sea of Galilee?
17. Who lived near the Sea?
18. What was wrong with the man brought to Jesus?
19. What did they want Jesus to do?
20. What two visible things did Jesus do before He prayed for him?
21. What expression did Jesus make when He looked toward heaven?
22. What does Ephphatha mean?
23. How soon was the man healed?
24. What did Jesus tell them not to do?
25. What did they do?
26. Name some things that he could hear that he had not heard before?
27. How was the astonishment of the people described?
28. What effect would all this fame have?

                                 Notes