A Syrophoenician Woman and A Deaf Man
Text: Mark 7:24-37 | December 15, 2019
Having left Galilee, Jesus and His disciples embark on a circuitous journey into Gentile region (Tyre, Sidon, and Decapolis [7:24, 31]). This is the farthest He would travel outside of Israel during His three-year ministry. In this passage, Mark records two specific miracles: Jesus casting out demons in the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman, and Jesus healing a deaf man with a speech impediment.
The Syrophoenician woman’s daughter was cruelly demon possessed (7:26; Matthew 15:22), and she asked Jesus to cast the demon out of her (7:26). Jesus, however, delayed in answering her, but she was persistent and “kept asking” (7:26). Though Jesus’ response may at first seem odd to us, He did it on purpose. He was showcasing the woman’s genuine faith. When He answered her, he said, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish” (Matt. 15:28). Some aspects of her genuine faith include approaching Jesus humbly (7:25), reverently (7:28), penitently (Matt. 15:22), and persistently (7:26-28).
The second miracle, healing of the deaf man, put on display once again Christ’s power. Every time Jesus heals, it is perfect, and every time He casts out demons, they flee at His command. There is no partial healing, no disease too great for Him, and it is always immediate healing without any sort of recovery period (in this case, the man needed no speech therapy [7:35]). It is no wonder that people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well” (7:37).
For the entirety of the lesson, please see the attached manuscript of the message.
Reflection Questions:
The Jews are God’s chosen people. They were chosen by God to be a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6), who were supposed to be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:3). They were given the salvation message, and it was their duty to bring it to the world; however, they largely failed at doing that. Instead of seeing the Gentiles as those who needed the salvation message, they treated them as enemies. Where they failed, Christ succeeded. In this passage, Jesus travels to Gentile regions, and we looked at the authentic faith of a Gentile woman. Jesus commissioned His disciples to “be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
- Are there times when you harbor resentment against someone (or a group of people), and you would rather that they don’t know Christ? We must confess our sins if we are guilty of viewing our mission field as our enemies.
- The Gentile Syrophoenician woman displayed genuine faith. She approached Jesus humbly (fell at His feet), reverently (called Him Lord and Son of David), penitently (cried out for mercy, as sinners can only appeal to God for mercy), and persistently (she kept asking). Does that characterize your faith in Christ? If not, you need to examine yourself to see if your salvation is genuine (2 Cor. 13:5).