Scripture: Mark 7 (Part Three)
Mark 7: 20-28
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy,[i] slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
24 He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre.[j] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile,[k] a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she replied to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
An evil action begins with a single thought.
Jesus traveled to Tyre and Sidon. The city of Tyre was an evil, wicked place. Its king even claimed to be God.
Tyre rejoiced when Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 B.C. It is here that Jesus brought His message. A Greek woman whose daughter was possessed by evil spirits asked Jesus to heal her. Many Jews would lose God’s spiritual healing because they rejected Jesus. On the other hand, many Gentiles, whom the Jews rejected, would find salvation because they recognized Jesus.
Mark 7: 29-37
Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through[l] the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 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. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!”[m] (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.
37 They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Don’t miss the real message.
This miracle shows that Jesus’s power over demons is so great that He doesn’t need to be present physically to free someone. His power transcends any distance.
Jesus asked the people not to talk about this healing. He didn’t want to be seen only as a miracle worker. He didn’t want the people to miss His real message.
We must not be so concerned about what Jesus can do for us that we forget to listen to His message!
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Other Commentary from the Book of Mark