1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,880 Are you bored by Christianity? You might not be opposed to the 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,840 faith. You might not have intellectual 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,840 objections to it. You might just not find it that 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,240 interesting. It's part of the kind of 5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,640 background music of the culture. It's part of the furniture of 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,920 your life. In some way, that could be true 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,240 whether you profess faith in Christ or not. 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,320 Think about some of those phrases we confess near the 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,920 beginning of the service and the Apostles Creed. 10 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,759 That's the oldest and most widely used Christian 11 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,600 confession. In some way or other, some 12 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,080 version of it has been confessed in Christian churches for almost 13 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,040 2000 years. Many of its phrases have been 14 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,720 worn smooth by constant use, like a penny that's just rubbed 15 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:48,360 in somebody's pocket for 50 years, and you can't really make 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,080 out the shape of the designs anymore. 17 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,960 The phrases just kind of wash over you without leaving a mark. 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,680 They have this kind of liturgical ring and rhythm to 19 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,560 it, and they don't really make an impression. 20 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,560 Here's one of the phrases. I mean, right at the end, I 21 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,520 believe in the resurrection of the body and the life 22 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,320 everlasting. OK, sure, Christians believe in 23 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:13,120 resurrection and eternal life. Yep, got it. 24 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,840 It's like what those people are saying when they put John 316 on 25 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,320 a poster at a football game. Whoever believes has eternal 26 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,320 life. OK, Yep, Christians believe in 27 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:24,160 eternal life. Sounds good. 28 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,200 But what is that belief in the resurrection? 29 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,080 It starts with the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, 30 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,560 that his body was put in the tomb and he got back up out of 31 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,720 it bodily. He died and he became not dead. 32 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,200 And that belief in the resurrection of the dead 33 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:51,240 continues. The implication is all those who 34 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:55,280 believe in him will experience resurrection to glory like he 35 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,000 did, and eternal bliss with him. That belief in the resurrection 36 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,080 also continues. It's not just believers, it's 37 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,560 all people who will be resurrected. 38 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,920 Only those who don't believe in Him won't be resurrected to an 39 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,160 eternal life of bliss, but an eternal life of torment, of 40 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:17,040 condemnation, of judgement. I understand Christians have 41 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,000 been saying these things to non Christians for 2000 years. 42 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,320 I understand if you're not a believer in Jesus, maybe 43 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:24,760 Christians in your life have been saying this to you for 44 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,080 years or even decades. But I just got to say, 45 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,720 objectively, looking at the belief itself, belief in the 46 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,880 resurrection of the body and the life everlasting is nothing to 47 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,800 yawn at. One Christian theologian put it 48 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:47,480 belief in the resurrection is a high stakes game in which the 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:54,120 player has bet the bank and if there is no resurrection loses. 50 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,840 The resurrection is everything or it's nothing. 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:04,320 Christianity is everything or it's nothing, and your daily 52 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,720 life faith in Jesus is everything or it's nothing. 53 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,280 Take the idea of God's grace. Another one of these common 54 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,400 Christian beliefs. God doesn't treat us as our sins 55 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,160 deserve, but has mercy on us. There's a song like Amazing 56 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:22,960 Grace. It's become a kind of cultural 57 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:24,600 anthem. You might hear it song in a 58 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,560 sports game or some big cultural event. 59 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,200 Amazing Grace, how sweet. The sound that saves a Wretch 60 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:34,320 like me again washes over you, worn smooth by repetition. 61 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:37,720 You could hear it without registering the words at all. 62 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:47,000 Is God's grace in Jesus amazing? If you asked some of the people 63 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,120 who saw Jesus face to face, they would tell you that amazing 64 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:56,160 doesn't begin to cover it. Amazing doesn't begin to do it 65 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,080 justice. Our passage for this morning is 66 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,560 March 7, verses 24 to 37. If you don't have a Bible, you 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,320 can put up your hand and my teenage assistant will bring you 68 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,200 one. Put up a hand. 69 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:09,800 If you need a Bible. And if you don't have a Bible, 70 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,240 like 1, you can easily read it. Feel free one right up here. 71 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,200 And then Derek 2. If you don't have a Bible that 72 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,360 you can like easily read at home, take it, keep it. 73 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,000 It's our gift to you. Mark 724 to 37. 74 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,720 Before I read the whole passage, I want to draw your attention to 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:25,960 the very end, I guess. Keep your hands up. 76 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:27,920 There's some delay in the supply chain. 77 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,800 Keep those hands high. They're coming soon. 78 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:39,120 Mark 724 to 37 Before I read the passage, look at the very end, 79 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,560 very last verse. And they were all astonished 80 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:49,560 beyond measure, saying he has done all things well. 81 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,080 He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. 82 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,160 There's a crowd responding to something Jesus did. 83 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:58,880 We'll see what he what he did in a minute. 84 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:00,880 I just want you to notice the response. 85 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:06,680 They were astonished beyond measure, like you couldn't 86 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,560 measure it, you couldn't chart it. 87 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,400 If you put a scale of astonishment and then you put it 88 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,000 as high as it could go, this would have broken the speaker. 89 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,800 This would have cranked up the astonishment to 11. 90 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,280 They were astonished beyond measure. 91 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,000 In other words, Jesus saving grace is anything but boring. 92 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,520 It's the opposite of boring. It's astonishing. 93 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,160 Why? Why is Jesus's grace 94 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:38,120 astonishing? Keep that question in mind as I 95 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,720 read the whole passage. Mark 724 to 37. 96 00:05:48,330 --> 00:05:51,490 And from there he rose and went away to the region of Tyre 97 00:05:51,490 --> 00:05:53,890 inside him. And he entered a house, and did 98 00:05:53,890 --> 00:05:57,130 not want anyone to know. Yet he could not be hidden. 99 00:05:57,850 --> 00:06:01,410 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean 100 00:06:01,410 --> 00:06:04,970 spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 101 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,880 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. 102 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:13,560 And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 103 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:19,760 And he said to her, Let the children be fed first, for it is 104 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,040 not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 105 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,640 But she answered him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the 106 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,640 table eat the children's crumbs. And he said to her, For this 107 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:38,640 statement you may go your way, the demon has left your 108 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,520 daughter. And she went home and found the 109 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:44,760 child lying in bed, and the demon gone. 110 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,240 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon 111 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,520 to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. 112 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,600 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech 113 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,760 impediment, And they begged him to lay his hand on him, and 114 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,520 taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers 115 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,680 into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 116 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:13,040 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Afafa, 117 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:19,320 that is be opened. And his ears were opened, his 118 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:24,200 tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 119 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,560 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. 120 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,800 But the more he charged them, the more zealously they 121 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:37,560 proclaimed it, and they were astonished beyond measure, 122 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,760 saying He has done all things well. 123 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:48,080 He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak. 124 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,680 The question our whole passage poses to us is Why is Jesus's 125 00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:00,160 grace astonishing? We'll consider 4 answers from 126 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,400 the passage now. Our passage has two brief 127 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:05,600 narratives. Jesus encounter with the 128 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,120 Syrophoenician woman and his healing of the deaf mute man. 129 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,920 And the sermon will mainly walk through the text with a couple 130 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,800 of twists .1 will cover the first half of the passage, .2 131 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,480 will cover the second-half .3 We'll look at the very beginning 132 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:25,040 and end, and .4 will help us see something in the whole passage 133 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:31,560 .1 first half .2 second-half .3 beginning and end .4 whole 134 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,559 thing. Why is the grace of Jesus 135 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:41,400 astonishing .1 It calls forth bold faith. 136 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:47,720 It calls forth bold faith. We see this in Jesus 137 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,120 interactions with the Gentile woman in verses 24 and 25. 138 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,360 Look at the sorry. We see it in verses 24 to 30. 139 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,680 Look first with me at verses 24 and 25. 140 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,680 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre 141 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,400 inside him. And he entered a house, and did 142 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,600 not want anyone to know. Yet he could not be hidden. 143 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,880 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean 144 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,520 spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 145 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,720 The cities of Tyre and Sidon are in Gentile territory, 146 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,480 neighboring Israel to the north. In the Old Testament, the city 147 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,400 of Tyre often opposed and oppressed God's people, Israel. 148 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,600 Now Mark doesn't tell us why Jesus took this detour into 149 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,480 Gentile territory. I think the most likely reasons 150 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,000 are either that he was seeking rest and refreshment for himself 151 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,440 and his disciples, or that he was seeking to let controversy 152 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,440 with the Pharisees kind of cool off, or some combination of 153 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,360 both. But it just doesn't tell us 154 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,880 explicitly. What it does say is that as 155 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,680 we've seen throughout the Gospel of Mark, wherever Jesus goes, 156 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,360 even when he's trying to get quiet time to himself, people 157 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:57,960 find him. They come to him. 158 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,520 People are drawn to him like a magnet. 159 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,360 So here comes a woman whose daughter is demon possessed. 160 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,400 She hears about him, comes to where she is, somehow gets 161 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:08,360 access to this house that he doesn't want people to know 162 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,920 where it is, and she falls down at his feet. 163 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,760 This is a posture of humble pleading. 164 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,480 It's of respectful begging. She's desperate. 165 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,200 That's why she comes to him. Look at verse 26. 166 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,160 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she 167 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,040 begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 168 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,520 This woman is a solid Pagan. She has no ounce of Jewish 169 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,920 blood, no shred of Jewish heritage. 170 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:43,160 All she knows, somehow, is that Jesus can rescue her daughter, 171 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:48,000 so she begs him to. As Tim Keller observes, there 172 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:53,720 are cowards, there are regular people, there are heroes, and 173 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,760 then there are parents. Parents are not really on the 174 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,760 spectrum from cowardice to courage because if your child is 175 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,640 in jeopardy, you simply do what it takes to save her. 176 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,120 That's the woman coming to Jesus, desperate and insistent 177 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,360 as only a parent of a child in trouble can be. 178 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:15,160 So how does Jesus respond? Verse 27? 179 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,480 And he said to her, let the children be fed first, for it is 180 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,280 not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 181 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,840 This is not what we expect from Jesus. 182 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:32,240 Why doesn't he just heal her daughter? 183 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,240 More than that, many people have taken this passage to be 184 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:44,720 insulting, racist, misogynist, or abusive in some other way. 185 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,960 What's going on here? We need to start with one 186 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,280 crucial clue from the text, something we have to notice 187 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,280 right away. Look at the beginning of Jesus 188 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,760 response. Let the children be fed first. 189 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,120 So right off the bat we have to see Jesus response not as a 190 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:12,160 denial, but a deferral. He's not saying no, he's saying 191 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,720 wait. But wait for what? 192 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,160 Wait why and what? What on earth does he mean by 193 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,000 seemingly calling some people children and other people dogs? 194 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,200 I think another key to Jesus response is that he doesn't 195 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,520 actually call the woman a dog. It's easy to make that 196 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,840 association, It's easy to see why people think that, but I 197 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:34,200 don't think that's what's going on. 198 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:38,120 Jesus uses an analogy. This is a little mini parable 199 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:40,480 like Jesus so often teaches in parables. 200 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,800 Specifically, it's a metaphor involving animals, but that 201 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,600 doesn't necessarily identify her with the animal or all its 202 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,920 associations. If a university can't make 203 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,040 payroll, and someone said that the university's employees were 204 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,240 fleeing like rats off a sinking ship, that's not necessarily an 205 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,040 insult to those employees leaving an institution that's 206 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,200 going underwater. Sure, rat is often an insult. 207 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,320 You could use rat as an insult, but what's the point of 208 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,200 comparison? The point of comparison is 209 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,760 simply escape. They're just getting out while 210 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,840 the gettin's good. So you can use a metaphor with 211 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,600 animals without importing all the associations of that animal 212 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:26,120 to that person. To understand the force of 213 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,040 Jesus's mini parable, you have to ask what's the point of 214 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,000 connection? No analogy or metaphor perfectly 215 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,040 maps on to the sort of two things it's comparing. 216 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,440 So what's what's the point of contact? 217 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,800 And I think it has to do with that word first. 218 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,680 We'll come back to that. But still, many scholars and lay 219 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,760 readers take Jesus's use of the word dog to be an insult. 220 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,640 They argue that Jewish sources often use dog as a derogatory 221 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,400 term for Gentiles. And they say that the 222 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:02,320 associations of dog are not lovable domestic pets, but a 223 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,840 wild, unruly, mangy St. dogs, you know, not cute and cuddly, 224 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:08,680 but like, don't want to have anything to do with them because 225 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,240 they'll bite you and you'll get rabies. 226 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,520 And so they would see Jesus as using an ethnic slur. 227 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,760 Here again, I think that's over reading and misreading the 228 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,440 metaphor in the 1st place. But there's one more detail in 229 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,040 the passage that argues against it. 230 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,320 It's hard to see in in most English translations, though it 231 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,160 does come out in many translations today in many 232 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,480 modern languages. And that's this. 233 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:36,800 There are two Greek words for dog, kuon and Kunariyan. 234 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,720 The one used here is Kunariyan, which is actually a diminutive 235 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:42,600 term. It's kind of like our English 236 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,680 doggy or puppy. And I think that in our passage 237 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,800 it does have that kind of diminutive or affectionate 238 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,920 force, right? You can, you can refer to a 239 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,480 child as a kid or you can say kiddo, you're adding a little 240 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:57,520 bit of affection when you do that. 241 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,400 Use that diminutive term. I think it has that force here 242 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:07,120 again, remember Jesus says let the children be fed first. 243 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:13,000 So that implies that the dogs in this metaphor get to eat after. 244 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,080 What kind of dog gets to eat household food after children 245 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,400 are done with it? A pet. 246 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:25,880 So I think Jesus's mini parable implies that the dog is a pet. 247 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,560 Both the logic of saying 1st and also using a diminutive word. 248 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,720 But what does this parable mean? Here it is in a nutshell. 249 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,200 Matthew's parallel to this passage makes it explicit. 250 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,200 It records another saying of Jesus in this same incident. 251 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:46,000 Jesus says in Matthew 1524, I was sent only to the lost sheep 252 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,720 of the House of Israel. The focus of Jesus earthly 253 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,400 ministry was to bring salvation to Israel in fulfillment of 254 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,720 God's promises to Israel. As we've seen, he made very rare 255 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,160 exceptions by going to Gentile territory. 256 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,400 But the focus of his earthly mission was narrow. 257 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,480 It was restricted. His job was to proclaim the 258 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,280 fulfillment of God's promises to Israel and to back that up by 259 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:14,080 the miracles he performed. As Paul proclaims in Romans 116, 260 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,200 the gospel is God's power of salvation to the Jew 1st and 261 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,840 also to the Greek. As Jesus says in John 424, 262 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:27,720 salvation is from the Jews. Jesus point here in this parable 263 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,960 in verse 27. It's about historical sequence, 264 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,480 It's about priority in redemptive history, and it's 265 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,880 therefore about the priority in His ministry. 266 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,480 He is not here to become a full time traveling medical 267 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:46,160 missionary clinic for everyone everywhere. 268 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:52,720 He's here to fulfill God's promises to Israel so that once 269 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,120 those promises are fulfilled, they can overflow to all 270 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,640 nations. Here's how Paul put that exact 271 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,200 same point in Romans 15, verses 8 to 9. 272 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,359 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the 273 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:12,280 circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to 274 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:17,839 confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order 275 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,400 that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. 276 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,160 So Jesus is saying, that's not why I came, not yet. 277 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:29,320 The children of Israel have to be fed first. 278 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,200 But then the woman responds in verse 28. 279 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,600 But she answered him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the 280 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,720 table eat the children's crumbs. The woman does not respond to 281 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:49,360 Jesus statement as if it is a racist or sexist insult. 282 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:55,640 Instead she picks up on the key point of Jesus parable, timing. 283 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:01,200 Who gets to eat when? When do the pets get to eat? 284 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:08,160 Jesus says after the children, but she says they also eat what 285 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:13,160 falls from the table. Now, if you have a pet dog, you 286 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:17,520 recognize how photo realistic the woman's response is. 287 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,320 When Kristen and I are cooking dinner, our beloved mutt Rusty 288 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,560 will in advance go take up his post under our dining table. 289 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,040 He will lie down right in the middle of the table between 290 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,000 where all our feet are going to go and he will wait patiently. 291 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,320 You'll even notice his head will face the side of the table where 292 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:43,040 our youngest child sits. He he is ready to eat the crumbs 293 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,080 that fall from the children's table. 294 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:51,720 He knows that we will not give him food from the table. 295 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,880 He also knows that he can nevertheless get food from the 296 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:00,360 table, especially by sitting next to Margaret. 297 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:03,360 You know, maybe the youngest child might perhaps drop 298 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:10,160 something in his direction, perhaps accidentally, perhaps on 299 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:15,240 purpose. This Gentile woman's response 300 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,680 demonstrates many spiritual strengths. 301 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,840 First of all, she has faith that God's provision for his people, 302 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,960 Israel, is enough to include her. 303 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,360 It's enough to overflow to her. God's table is set so full that 304 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:38,840 she's confident that the leftovers will be enough for 305 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,120 what she needs. She also beats Jesus in a battle 306 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:46,920 of wits. Jesus parable is a challenge. 307 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,560 It's a test. He's deferring his reply to draw 308 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,640 out and deepen her faith. And the woman passes the test. 309 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,960 She wins the battle of wits. She gets the better of Jesus in 310 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:03,440 the exchange. It's fascinating to know that 311 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,320 she, a Gentile woman, is the only character in Mark's gospel 312 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,240 to call Jesus Lord. Now, we don't know if that's 313 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,280 just a respectful form of address or if she's seeing even 314 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,040 more than that, but still, she's the only character in Mark's 315 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:20,720 gospel to call Jesus Lord. She's also the only character to 316 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,400 instantly grasp a parable of Jesus. 317 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,040 She understood it so well right off the bat that she could flip 318 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:28,960 it on its head and throw it back at him. 319 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,680 OK Jesus, sure you say that the children eat 1st and then the 320 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,720 dogs, but what about the food that the dogs can eat at the 321 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,440 same time without taking anything away from the children? 322 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:45,160 How about that? Jesus says wait your turn. 323 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:50,360 She says no I don't have to wait. 324 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:59,320 That is bold faith, and I think we have to see in the 325 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:04,800 interaction that Jesus is deliberately drawing it out of 326 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,240 her. Jesus response was not a 327 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,160 rejection but a delay. Jesus's initial refusal meant 328 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:16,080 she had to dig deeper and exercise more faith. 329 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,600 Jesus was doing what God so often does when He doesn't 330 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,840 answer our prayers right away, when God seems to be distracted 331 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:29,040 or distant, when he seems to be saying to us, wait, not yet. 332 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,320 What is God doing when you come to him with a request and He 333 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:37,160 seems to rebuff you? One of the things He's doing is 334 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,160 inviting you to wrestle with Him in prayer. 335 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,120 Abraham wrestled with God in prayer in Genesis 18 over the 336 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:48,120 fate of the city of Sodom. Jacob wrestled with the Angel of 337 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:52,640 the Lord all night, saying, I will not let you go until you 338 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:58,040 bless me. What did I do in reply Genesis 339 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:01,040 3228? For you have striven with God 340 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,320 and with men, and have prevailed. 341 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:09,960 That's why he named him Israel. We see the psalmist constantly 342 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,360 wrestling with God in prayer, asking questions of God like 343 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:21,560 Psalm 88140. Lord, why do you cast my soul 344 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,080 away? That question is a wrestling 345 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,160 move. That question is responding to 346 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,680 God's seeming absence, seeming indifference, seeming denial. 347 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,960 What do you do with that? You throw it back at God in 348 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,640 prayer when God seems to reject you. 349 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:47,600 What he wants is for you to not take no for an answer. 350 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,120 Wrestle with Him in prayer. When God invites you to wrestle 351 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:54,040 with him in prayer, he's like a parent wrestling with their kid. 352 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,400 When dad wrestles with a kid who wins, it's not dad, it's the 353 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,800 kid. That's the whole point. 354 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:10,640 When you're tempted to think God doesn't care about you, don't 355 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:17,080 drift away from him. Instead, dig deeper and wrestle 356 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,200 with God in prayer. Parents, wrestle with God in 357 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,640 prayer on your kids behalf. There may be times when your 358 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,920 children don't want to talk to you about spiritual things. 359 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,360 Those times might be times of day or might be stretches that 360 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,680 are years long, But your kids refusing to talk to you about 361 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:41,320 spiritual things can't stop you from talking to God about them 362 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:46,360 and for them. Kids, your parents pray for you 363 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,040 all the time. Do you pray for yourself? 364 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,040 If you're a professing believer in Jesus, do you make time to 365 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,120 pray? Do you take initiative to pray? 366 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,720 Do you know how to pray? If not, ask your parents or talk 367 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,520 to another member of the church. Talk to them about what it looks 368 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,520 like to wrestle with God in prayer in verses 27 and 28. 369 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,360 This woman is being strikingly assertive, but she's not 370 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:17,200 asserting her rights. Instead, the basis of her 371 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,520 assertiveness is God's grace. She's not saying it's wrong for 372 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,080 the Jews to be Jesus priority. She's just saying God's mercy is 373 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,480 big enough for her too. God's grace is enough for her 374 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,320 too. There's more than enough to go 375 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,560 around. And she's right. 376 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,240 This is a picture of what all of our spiritual posture should be. 377 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,680 Draw near to God with boldness. Come to Him for all you need, 378 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,640 and make the basis of your appeal. 379 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:47,400 Not your deserving because you don't have any, but God's mercy 380 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:52,640 because it's infinite, as Thomas Cranmer put it in a prayer in 381 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,160 the Church of England's classic Lord's Supper liturgy. 382 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:01,720 We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, 383 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,480 trusting in our own righteousness, but in your 384 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:11,920 manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to 385 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:21,160 gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord 386 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:26,160 whose property is always to have mercy. 387 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,600 The woman wrestles with Jesus and wins. 388 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:38,800 What happens then verses 29 and 30 and he said to her, for this 389 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:43,440 statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter 390 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,120 and she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon 391 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,760 gone. Jesus cast out the demon at a 392 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,360 distance. This is a remote exorcism. 393 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:03,360 Jesus could effectively work remotely, no Internet connection 394 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,320 required. He can do this with the text. 395 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,240 Doesn't even tell us how, Doesn't tell us he did anything. 396 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:10,680 Doesn't tell us he said anything. 397 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,800 He just declared it done and that was the case. 398 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,160 It was a proof of his divinity. He could intervene in power 399 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,120 without being there physically. It's a proof of his divine 400 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:24,200 nature that he fills all things as God. 401 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,360 He cast out the demon secretly and now tells Mom the good news. 402 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,200 Jesus grace is astonishing because it calls forth bold 403 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,080 faith. Because Jesus delays in order to 404 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:42,040 draw our souls closer to him, He stays silent to provoke us to 405 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:46,520 speak. He seems indifferent to get us 406 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,000 to care. He denies us to provoke us to 407 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,280 wrestle with him. And then in response, he hears 408 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,520 and answers our prayers as only God can. 409 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:06,840 What does that look like .2 It restores all that sin ruined. 410 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,040 Why is Jesus's grace astonishing? 411 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:16,240 It restores all that sin ruined. That's the main point we should 412 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,000 take away from the passages. Second-half verses 31 to 37, 413 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,960 verse 31. Then he returned from the region 414 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:28,320 of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the 415 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,240 region of the Decapolis. Now the text doesn't say why, 416 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,280 but Jesus travels in a circuit through this Gentile region. 417 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,600 He kind of goes up and around before coming back toward 418 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,880 Israelite territory. He winds up back in the 419 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,920 Decapolis. That's where he healed the man 420 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,560 who had the legion of demons back in chapter 5. 421 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,680 Do you remember what Jesus made the guy do after he healed him? 422 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,720 Instead of getting to come with Jesus, he made him go back and 423 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,880 proclaim what Jesus had done throughout the Decapolis. 424 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,520 Now Jesus returns, and apparently that man's 425 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,760 evangelistic work had at least some impact because now that 426 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,200 Jesus is back in the Decapolis, people bring him someone to be 427 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:07,760 healed. They know who he is. 428 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:13,040 They know what he can do. Verse 32 And they brought to him 429 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,160 a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they 430 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,080 begged him to lay his hand on him. 431 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,760 When it says speech impediment, we shouldn't think of someone 432 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:26,000 who has like a mild stutter. But the text tells us he's deaf, 433 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,240 so this means he can hardly speak at all. 434 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:36,720 Jesus acts right away. Verses 33 to 35 and taking him 435 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,280 aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears 436 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,800 and after spitting touched his tongue, and looking up to 437 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,760 heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephatha, that is be opened, 438 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,000 and his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he 439 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:56,360 spoke plainly. We know that Jesus can heal 440 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:00,080 simply by speaking a word. So why does he take all these 441 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,120 elaborate steps? What's Jesus doing? 442 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:07,280 I think there are two reasons for these actions Jesus takes. 443 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:12,480 First, Jesus is communicating kindly to the man that he's 444 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,880 healing. The man can't hear, but he can 445 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:21,840 see, he can feel. And so Jesus touches his ears to 446 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,440 indicate he's going to heal him. He touches the man's tongue to 447 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,120 show he's going to enable him to speak. 448 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:32,880 He sighs because all creation groans under the weight of God's 449 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:37,200 curse, and he looks up to heaven to show the man from where his 450 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,520 help is going to come. Jesus is acting here like a 451 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,240 Doctor Who tells you each step they're going to take before 452 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,840 they take it, so nothing catches you by surprise. 453 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:52,920 What's Jesus doing? He's entering into this man's 454 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,040 world. He's speaking the language this 455 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,240 man can understand. And that's actually what Jesus's 456 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,280 entire incarnation is about. It's an act of loving 457 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,800 accommodation. It's an act of loving 458 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,360 condescension. Jesus entered into our world. 459 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,760 He became flesh and blood. He spoke the only language we 460 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,400 could understand. His whole human life is a kind 461 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,160 of sign language pointing to his divine nature and power and 462 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,960 purposes. But I think there's another 463 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,280 reason Jesus goes through all of these particular steps to heal 464 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,840 the man. I think he's showing us that 465 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,000 this man's condition is a picture of all of our condition. 466 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:39,000 What do we all need Jesus to do? We need him to touch our ears so 467 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,840 that we can receive spiritual truths. 468 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:47,240 We need Him to touch our tongues so that we can speak rightly of 469 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:52,400 God and His ways. Each of us, by nature, is 470 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:58,600 spiritually deaf and dumb. None of us understands our true 471 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,680 condition. None of us understands the 472 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,960 things of God. Sin not only effects our 473 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:09,640 actions, it destroys our faculties of spiritual 474 00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:15,080 perception. Sin doesn't just condemn us, it 475 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,720 also ruins us. And the saving work that Jesus 476 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,440 came to accomplish came to deal with both. 477 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,360 He lived a perfect life. He died on the cross. 478 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,640 He suffered the penalty due to all the sins of all those who 479 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,240 had turned from sin and trust in Him. 480 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,680 He freed us from sins, condemnation that way, And he 481 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:37,000 rose from the dead, proving the validity of his offering, his 482 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:41,640 sacrifice. He also came to transform us, to 483 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,360 renew us, to heal us spiritually, to make us whole. 484 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:47,360 And he holds out all those benefits. 485 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,240 He holds out all those blessings to everyone who turns from sin 486 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,040 and trusts in Him. The only way to get right with 487 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,560 God through Jesus is to repent and believe. 488 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,720 And if you do repent and believe, He will deal not only 489 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:04,280 with the debt of your sin, but with its effects on you. 490 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:09,000 That's the two fold hope of the gospel in this life, that you 491 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,720 can be not only forgiven, but even transformed. 492 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,520 If you're not a believer in Jesus, what in your life is most 493 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,840 broken, most ruined, most miserable? 494 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:25,920 Do you have a good explanation for why that is? 495 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,000 Do you have an explanation that gets down to the roots of 496 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,240 things? I want to encourage you to 497 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,240 consider the Bible's explanation of where all of our deepest 498 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,440 problems come from. God created us good, and the 499 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,360 very first human beings sinned, and in response to that sin, God 500 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:46,120 put a curse on all of creation. That is why this life is a 501 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:52,280 strange mix of glory and groaning, of beauty and 502 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,280 brokenness. As CS Lewis put it, nature has 503 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:59,240 all the air of a good thing spoiled. 504 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:04,760 Both the blessings in your life and all the problems can be 505 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,880 explained most fully and only explained completely by 506 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,800 recognizing this whole world was created by God. 507 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:18,360 Good and sin ruined it. So Jesus heals this man of his 508 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,960 deafness and dumbness, just like he heals all of us who trust in 509 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:23,880 him. The people responded with 510 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,880 amazement, astonishment, verses 36 and 37, And Jesus charged 511 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,360 them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, 512 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,280 the more zealously they proclaimed it. 513 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:38,440 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying he has done all 514 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,280 things well. He even makes the deaf hear and 515 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:44,520 the mute speak. Now Jesus wanted to keep this 516 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,680 quiet because the more people swamped him with healing 517 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,400 requests like this, the harder it would be for him to fulfill 518 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:54,160 his primary mission. But the people disobey, and they 519 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:56,320 tell everybody. We'll come back to that in a 520 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,520 moment, but for now our focus is on their astonishment. 521 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:03,280 They're astonished beyond measure because, as they say, he 522 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,320 has done all things well. That statement, He has done all 523 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:14,280 things well, echoes creation and implies new creation. 524 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,120 After God finished his work of creating the universe and 525 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:23,800 forming and filling this world, Genesis 131 tells us, and God 526 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:31,080 saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good in 527 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:35,120 creation. God created everything and He 528 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:39,159 made everything good. He did all things well. 529 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,920 Now in his saving work of new creation, Jesus does all things 530 00:34:44,320 --> 00:34:47,080 well. He shows power over creation by 531 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:52,400 restoring ruined faculties. He gives people a new beginning 532 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:58,320 by granting them to hear truly and speak rightly. 533 00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:01,120 He does what only the Creator can. 534 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:07,360 He restores all that sin ruined. This is astonishing grace. 535 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:10,160 This is miraculous grace. This is grace that deals with 536 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,120 our problems not externally but internally, not superficially 537 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:20,040 but completely, and best of all, not temporarily but permanently. 538 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:26,680 If you want to be amazed by Jesus grace, then remember there 539 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:34,240 is no problem in your life that He cannot fix perfectly and 540 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:38,640 permanently. When we gather as a church, why 541 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:45,120 do we worship God together? It's because we're astonished at 542 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,400 His grace. That's where worship comes from. 543 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:50,720 It comes from being astonished at God's grace. 544 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,840 Corporate worship is a response to who God is and what He's done 545 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,400 for us in Christ. So in our corporate gatherings 546 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:01,480 we come again to take in what God has done for us. 547 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,240 In our corporate gatherings we do that in order that we would 548 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:08,400 be newly astonished by God's grace, and having taken it in 549 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:13,240 again, we would send it back out to him as astonished praise. 550 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:22,160 Take in astonishing grace, send up astonished praise. 551 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:23,880 That's the rhythm of corporate worship. 552 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,440 In corporate worship, we breathe in God's grace as we hear his 553 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,560 word, as we hear it read and preach, and as we sing and pray 554 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,920 and we breathe out awestruck adoration. 555 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:40,840 Jesus grace is astonishing because he restores all that sin 556 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,600 ruined in this passage. This man's deafness and dumbness 557 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,280 were not necessarily a result of his own sin. 558 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:51,000 The text doesn't tell us enough to say one way or another, but 559 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,720 these conditions were downstream from sin's original act of 560 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:58,280 plunging the whole world into ruin and misery. 561 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:03,560 Adam and Eve's sin in the garden shipwrecked humanity, and we've 562 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,560 been floating, grabbing whatever pieces to hang on to that we can 563 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,200 ever since. But Jesus came to begin the work 564 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:15,400 of rescuing, renewing, and redeeming. 565 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,320 He came to remake all that sin unmade. 566 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:27,320 That is the farthest thing from boring, which means when you 567 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:34,400 know it, you want to tell it .3 It can't be kept quiet. 568 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:40,360 Why is Jesus grace astonishing? Because it can't be kept quiet. 569 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,360 This is what we see in the very beginning and very end of the 570 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,480 passage. Verses 24 and 25. 571 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,840 Verses 36 and 37, Just to briefly revisit those verses. 572 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:54,600 In verse 24, Jesus entered a house and did not want anyone to 573 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,880 know, yet He could not be hidden. 574 00:37:56,880 --> 00:38:02,120 And in verse 25, the woman heard of him and came to him. 575 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,680 Then at the end, verses 36 and 37, Jesus charged them to tell 576 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,560 no one. But the more he charged them, 577 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:11,840 the more zealously they proclaimed it. 578 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,880 And in verse 37, as we've seen, they proclaimed some pretty 579 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:18,000 profound truths about who Jesus is and what He's done. 580 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,160 Now, we've seen again and again throughout Mark's gospel that 581 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,760 Jesus wanted to keep things quiet during his earthly 582 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:29,080 ministry for a few reasons. He wanted to limit the amount 583 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,520 that he would just get swamped and flooded by requests for 584 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,560 healing. He wanted to limit the ways in 585 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,480 which people who had a very weak and imperfect understanding of 586 00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,760 his Messiahship would go out and kind of perhaps unintentionally 587 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,480 spread disinformation about who this Messiah is. 588 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:51,080 So Jesus priority is on secrecy now, but that's limited to his 589 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,560 earthly ministry. After his death and 590 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:58,200 resurrection, that switch flips from secret to proclaim it 591 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,280 everywhere. And there's a parallel here. 592 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:03,960 What's also limited to his earthly ministry is his focus on 593 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,040 the lost sheep of the House of Israel. 594 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:11,640 That also is for now, not later. Those two things go hand in 595 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:16,840 hand, as as Jesus declared in Mark 1310 in the context of 596 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:22,040 prophesying his own return, he says, and the gospel must first 597 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:29,400 be proclaimed to all nations. So on the one hand, these people 598 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,920 in verse 36 who spread around what Jesus has done are 599 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,760 disobeying his orders. They're frustrating his purpose 600 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,400 for secrecy. But on the other hand, they also 601 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:45,920 illustrate the inherent power of Christ's grace, and they preview 602 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:49,520 our work of proclaiming it. Once you've experienced Jesus 603 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,320 grace, you can't keep quiet about it. 604 00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:56,240 It's a little bit like trying to keep a kid from spreading good 605 00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:00,120 news. Maybe a younger sibling learns 606 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,760 what a certain older sibling is going to get for their birthday 607 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:06,760 or for Christmas. Maybe Big Brother or sister 608 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,720 learns that mom is going to have a baby. 609 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,280 You might become Privy to that news without even asking. 610 00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:17,080 Because the kid was just excited. 611 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,640 They're so happy about it. You don't blame them. 612 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:22,120 You don't get mad at them. It's hard for kids to keep 613 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:25,840 secrets. They're just too excited. 614 00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:31,280 Brothers and sisters, I know that's not always our experience 615 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,200 of the gospel, but when you are freshly reminded of the power of 616 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:40,480 Christ's grace, it does inflamed excitement. 617 00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,440 It leads to a childlike joy in Jesus. 618 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:48,600 It makes it hard for you to keep it to yourself so that it starts 619 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:52,000 to just spill out of you like the good news that mom's going 620 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,120 to have another baby. That kind of childlike joy comes 621 00:40:56,120 --> 00:41:01,160 from being astonished at Jesus's grace. 622 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,120 The more excited you are about God's grace in Christ, the more 623 00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:12,240 that news will spill out of you and the more boundaries it will 624 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:18,280 cross. As it does .4 it breaks through 625 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,720 every boundary. Why is Jesus's grace 626 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:26,080 astonishing? It breaks through every 627 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,680 boundary. As I mentioned at the beginning, 628 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:31,960 this point comes from the whole passage. 629 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,520 It's one of the themes that emerges in the whole thing. 630 00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:37,600 So in this section of Mark's gospel from kind of the middle 631 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,840 of chapter 6, the beginning of chapter 8, Jesus is going 632 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,560 through Gentile territory and he's doing some of the same 633 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:45,880 stuff in Gentile territory that he did when he was in Israel, 634 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:48,720 including, as we'll see next week, a miraculous feeding. 635 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:51,040 Why is there this whole other miraculous feeding that's so 636 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:55,480 similar to the one before? Well, one of the key reasons is 637 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,040 that it is a whole different people group receiving it. 638 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:03,240 But we also see some more details in this passage. 639 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:08,080 In the In the first half, the first narrative, Jesus grace 640 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:11,560 breaks through barriers or boundaries of ethnicity, 641 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:18,240 culture, historic animosity, and religion. 642 00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:22,240 In the second-half of the passage, Jesus again heals a 643 00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:24,800 Gentile breaking through those same boundaries. 644 00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:28,720 And in addition, his healing breaks through the boundary of 645 00:42:28,720 --> 00:42:32,160 the man's natural inability and incapacity. 646 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:37,160 Jesus's grace breaks through every boundary. 647 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:42,400 We can see this in a whole other way by recognizing that our 648 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,520 entire passage has deliberate links with Isaiah 35, which 649 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:49,280 Barbara read to us earlier. If you have a Bible, go ahead 650 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,440 and turn there. I don't usually do this, don't 651 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,920 usually do like a mini exposition on another passage, 652 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,760 but I think you're going to see close connections. 653 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,880 Here's some context for Isaiah 35, which I think is going to 654 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:10,600 sort of backlight our passage in this chapter. 655 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:14,520 God is promising through Isaiah to end his people's exile. 656 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:16,640 He's going to gather them back to himself. 657 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,400 He is going to breakthrough every barrier that separates 658 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,360 them from him and separates them from true flourishing. 659 00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:30,640 Not only that, but he promises to come to them in person and to 660 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:34,920 renew creation. I'll read the whole chapter 661 00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:38,200 again. The wilderness and the dry land 662 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:40,560 shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and 663 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,440 blossom like the crocus. It shall blossom abundantly, and 664 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,680 rejoice with joy in singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be 665 00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:49,400 given to it. The majesty of Carmel and 666 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,360 Sharon. They shall see the glory of the 667 00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:56,800 Lord, The majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and 668 00:43:56,800 --> 00:44:00,520 make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious 669 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:05,920 heart, Be strong, Fear not, Behold, your God will come with 670 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:08,880 vengeance. With the recompense of God, He 671 00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:14,760 will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall 672 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,200 be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 673 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:24,040 Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of 674 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:28,640 the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the 675 00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:31,160 wilderness, and streams in the desert. 676 00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:34,520 The burning sand shall become a pool in the thirsty ground, 677 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,320 springs of water in the haunt of jackals where they lie down. 678 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:41,080 The grass shall become reeds and rushes, and a highway shall be 679 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:44,960 there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. 680 00:44:45,720 --> 00:44:47,600 The unclean shall not Passover it. 681 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:50,080 It shall belong to those who walk on the way. 682 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:52,400 Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 683 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:55,840 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up 684 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:57,920 on it. They shall not be found there, 685 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:08,520 but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the 686 00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:18,160 Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. 687 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:23,560 Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. 688 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:32,000 They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow, and sighing 689 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:37,000 shall flee away. Look again at verses 5 and 6. 690 00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:41,880 The ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 691 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:46,400 The tongue of the mute will sing for joy. 692 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:51,480 In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word for mute 693 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:57,360 is used in exactly one place. In the New Testament, the word 694 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:02,360 for mute is used in exactly one place, here in Isaiah 35. 695 00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,000 And then in our chapter and Mark, what's the point? 696 00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:10,680 Jesus is fulfilling this promise, and by fulfilling this 697 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,600 promise, he's bringing a grace that breaks through every 698 00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:16,800 boundary. Why does Jesus's grace 699 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:18,920 breakthrough every boundary? How can we see this at work? 700 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:23,520 3 reasons that we get from this passage as background to our 701 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:27,800 passage. First, because it's been God's 702 00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:33,920 plan all along to include the nations in His saving purposes. 703 00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,480 So Jesus sent first to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, 704 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:39,880 but this is going to go to all nations. 705 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:41,640 We see that even here in our passage. 706 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:46,040 Look at verse 2. The glory of Lebanon shall be 707 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:47,800 given to it. What's the Lord saying? 708 00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:51,640 The neighboring Gentile people of Lebanon will be included in 709 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:53,720 this act of salvation and restoration. 710 00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:57,520 Tyre, a city that has opposed God's people, will be included. 711 00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:01,840 Tyre is a city in Lebanon. When Jesus meets this 712 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:04,760 Syrophoenician woman, he's in Lebanon. 713 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:08,840 He's fulfilling this promise to the letter. 714 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:13,440 God has intended to include the nation's in his saving purposes 715 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:17,480 all along, which means that our purposes as a local church need 716 00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:22,080 to include helping the gospel get to and take root among all 717 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:24,760 nations. As a church, we should 718 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:26,840 preferably consider what boundaries we need to 719 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:30,720 breakthrough in order to fulfill the Great Commission, both at 720 00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:34,880 home and abroad. What barriers stand in the way 721 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:36,200 of fulfilling the Great Commission? 722 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:45,720 Geography, language, culture, and especially here at home, 723 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:51,680 class, socio economic status. That's especially relevant to 724 00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:55,080 local evangelism. Sometimes the firmest barriers 725 00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:58,680 can be the least visible and the least acknowledged. 726 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:01,560 Whether you're a well off person interacting with someone who's 727 00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:05,920 worse off or the other way around, those barriers can often 728 00:48:05,920 --> 00:48:10,280 be maintained from both sides. The gospel does bring them down. 729 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:14,400 The gospel must bring them down. How can God use us in the 730 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,000 process of breaking down those barriers by the gospel. 731 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:23,320 A second reason why Jesus grace breaks through every barrier is 732 00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:28,200 because he is God himself come to restore his people in person. 733 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:30,800 We've seen the evidence of that in our passage. 734 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,120 Isaiah 35 also proclaims it. Look at the very end of verse 735 00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:38,280 four. He will come and save you. 736 00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:43,560 That's God himself coming and how he did it initially is 737 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:46,480 through the Incarnate mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. 738 00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:50,680 So this verse shows us what Jesus is doing is not just 739 00:48:50,680 --> 00:48:53,360 fulfilling expectations for what the Messiah would do when he 740 00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:56,200 came. Jesus is filling fulfilling 741 00:48:56,200 --> 00:49:01,080 God's promises of what God himself would do when he came to 742 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:04,280 restore his people. Nothing can stand in the way of 743 00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:12,400 Jesus grace because Jesus is Incarnate omnipotence. 3rd and 744 00:49:12,400 --> 00:49:15,720 finally, how does this grace breakthrough every barrier? 745 00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:19,600 Why? Because of the work is new 746 00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:24,240 creation, and it won't stop till it remakes everything. 747 00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:30,440 Jesus came to inaugurate the new creation, and at his return he 748 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:34,280 will consummate it. That's what all the imagery in 749 00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:38,040 verses 6 and seven of Isaiah 35 about nature being transformed 750 00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:40,640 is about. Nature hasn't been transformed 751 00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:44,480 yet, but when Christ returns, it will be. 752 00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:51,240 When we receive our glorified bodies, nature itself will 753 00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:54,920 become a glorified paradise fit for them. 754 00:49:56,400 --> 00:50:02,200 Which brings us back to the resurrection of the body and the 755 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:08,520 life everlasting. Does that sound boring to you? 756 00:50:10,840 --> 00:50:16,360 Does the grace that promises it sound uninteresting, dull, 757 00:50:17,720 --> 00:50:22,520 lifeless? I got to say after being a 758 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:27,720 Christian for almost for 27 years, almost to the day, that 759 00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:34,920 the basics of the faith, those time worn simple truths do not 760 00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:38,800 get older. They get fresher. 761 00:50:39,600 --> 00:50:44,480 They grow richer and deeper with the passing months and years of 762 00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:48,680 following the Lord. They grow more real, more 763 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:51,600 precious. The phrases you might be tempted 764 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:53,520 to pass over because they're so familiar. 765 00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:57,600 The longer you walk with Jesus, the deeper you go into them and 766 00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:06,360 the more riches you find. Either Jesus is astonishing or 767 00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:12,360 he's nothing. Resurrection of the body and the 768 00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,800 life everlasting. That's just another way of 769 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:19,760 saying what Isaiah 35 verse 10 promises. 770 00:51:23,200 --> 00:51:29,520 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion 771 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:39,200 with singing, astonishing grace. Astonished praise, everlasting 772 00:51:39,200 --> 00:51:44,880 joy shall be upon their heads. They shall attain gladness and 773 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:51,880 joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 774 00:51:53,680 --> 00:52:00,360 In our passage, right before Jesus healed the man, he sighed. 775 00:52:02,240 --> 00:52:11,000 Jesus's sighs will one day take away all of yours forever. 776 00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:18,880 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 777 00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:25,480 for these demonstrations of your faithfulness to promise in these 778 00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:29,360 incidents of Jesus healing and casting out a demon. 779 00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:33,600 Father, We thank You that what looks on the surface like just 780 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,920 more good stuff Jesus goes around doing. 781 00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:42,200 Here's a clue to the deep meaning of what you are doing 782 00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:45,960 for all of your people and what you will do for the whole 783 00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:48,400 creation. Father, we pray that we would 784 00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:53,040 hope in your promises and be astonished by your grace in 785 00:52:53,120 --> 00:52:55,240 Jesus name, Amen.