Mark

By Joyce Webb 2022

Chapter 7       Vs. 24- 37

Verse 24 Jesus went to the edge of the towns Tyre and Sidon.
He did not want anyone to know where he was. He wanted to be alone.
But somehow the people found out where he had gone, and they gathered around the house where he was.

Verse 25-26 There was a woman who had a daughter. The daughter had and evil spirit in her.
The woman heard how Jesus cast out (threw out) evil spirits out of people—so she came to find Jesus.
The woman was a Greek woman from Syrophenia. She asked Jesus to cast out the evil spirit from her daughter.

Verse 27 (Jesus was testing her.) He said, “The children are to be fed first until they are full.” “It is not right to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.”

Wow! Those were hard words!

What Jesus was saying to the woman —were words that shown what the thoughts and attitudes of the Jewish people were to the non-Jewish people.
Jesus did not feel that way about the non-Jewish people.

He was quoting what many of the Jewish people of that day would say.
“The children” that Jesus was talking about were the Jews. They worshipped the true God of heaven. They were God’s children.

Non-Jewish people of that time worshipped idols. They were not God’s children by faith or the way of worship.

Jesus was saying to the woman—you are asking for God’s healing and blessings—but you are not a “child of God”.

Healings and blessings should go to God’s children until they are full.
Many of the Jewish people called the non-Jewish people “dogs”.

Not nice. Jesus did not think of them that way—but at this time—Jesus is speaking to the woman using the words and thoughts of the Jewish people of that time.

The woman’s need was great. She wanted help. She did not care if she was given an insult. She wanted her daughter free of this evil spirit.

So the woman said, That may be true, but the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall on the floor.

Verse 29 Jesus liked what she said. He saw her faith. He saw her great need and that she was not going to give up just because she had been insulted.

He said to her, Go your way, the evil spirit has left your daughter.

Verse 30 When the woman got back home—she saw her daughter —the evil spirit was gone—the daughter was peaceful and lying on the bed.

Verse 31 Jesus left those towns and went to the Sea of Galilee.
The Sea of Galilee is like a big lake.

On the way there, some people brought a man to him that was deaf. He could not speak clearly.

They asked Jesus to touched him and heal him.

Verse 33 Jesus took the man from the crowd and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Jesus spit on his own fingers–and touched the man’s tongue with his fingers.

Verse 34 Jesus looked up into heaven and sighed (took in a deep breath) and said unto the man Ephphatha which means “Be opened”

Verse 35 The man’s ears were opened and he could hear. His tongue was loosed and he could talk clearly.

(Some people have been born with a tongue that the under side of it has skin that holds it down and does not let the tongue move in a normal way—it is called “tongue-tied”. Nowadays, doctors cut that extra skin and fix the problem easily.)

Verse 36-37 Jesus told them that they should not tell other people about what he did.

(Probably because Jesus was very tired and wanted some rest away from the people.)

But the people were so thankful and excited about the healing that they told everyone.

People were surprised at the healing and happy. They said about Jesus –”He has done all things well (good).” “He makes the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

(The word “dumb” here is an old English word meaning “one who can not speak”.

Nowadays, we use the word “dumb” meaning a person who is not very smart.)