Mark 7:24–8:10

Bringing the sermon home:

In Mark 7:24–8:10, Jesus takes His disciples on a journey through Gentile territory. Upon entering a house, a Syrophoenician woman comes to Him, begging Him to heal her demonized daughter. The question is thus raised: For whom did Jesus come? Or, using the language of Matthew’s account: Who are “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24)? As the event unfolds, we see the answer: All those who hear of Him, believe in Him, and come to Him, falling at His feet with the same kind of persistent, humble faith exemplified by this woman.

Continuing their journey, Jesus then heals a man of his inability to hear and speak. Given the broader context, especially the pattern of six events from 6:30–7:37 that gets repeated in 8:1-30, building to Peter’s confession that “You are the Christ”, we see the primary significance of this healing: the man’s tongue was loosed so that he might “zealously proclaim” to others that Jesus is the Christ who “does all things well”. This is true of all of us who have been saved by the healing touch of Jesus.

This Gentile mission concludes with another miraculous feeding of thousands. While the feeding of the 5,000 was of a predominantly (if not entirely) Jewish crowd, the feeding of the 4,000 seems to be of a predominantly (if not entirely) Gentile crowd. He is offering to the Gentiles what He has already offered to the Jews. What every person you meet needs more than anything else you might offer them is Jesus. Seek to give them Jesus and He will use you to satisfy the spiritual needs of others.

(See a related follow-up article here.)