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Teaching podcast from the Eagle Community Church of Christ in Mont Belvieu, TX.
To our study of the gospel of Mark, and I I hope you're enjoying it. I love, traversing Scripture together. I grew up in a church that held that in high esteem, and I have kept that love. The only thing that I I wish we would have done more I I any of you grow up with with sermons that had a lot of verses, but a lot of times, they were all over the place? Yeah.
John Gunter:Some sometimes, that was great. Sometimes, it was a little proof texty, but, we still use Scripture, but some of the things we missed, we are going to experience today. Because when we introduced the book of Mark, we talked to you about how Mark tells you more about what Jesus did than what Jesus said. And so there's not a lot of the teachings or long speeches of Jesus, but there is a lot about what Jesus did. Now, what you need to understand is sometimes that's what the gospel writer, the way the gospel writer wants to teach you things is by how he puts stories together.
John Gunter:Did you know that? Once you know that, as you read through, the gospels, you start to catch things. Oh, okay. So Mark, as he puts so we talked to you about the Markan sandwich. And so Mark will tell you a story or another one, and then right in between, there'll be something that seems unrelated.
John Gunter:Like, Mark, you told us this, and then you told us this unrelated thing, then you kind of went back to the same theme. And by doing that, Mark is wanting to point something out to you, and we're going to see that today, as we read scripture together. So we're in Mark chapter 7, and we're gonna start in verse 24 this morning. And from there, he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon, And he entered a house and did not want want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet.
John Gunter:Now the woman was a Gentile, Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, 'Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Oh. Is your picture of Jesus warm and cuddly at this point? We're gonna talk about that more in just a second.
John Gunter:But she answered him, yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. And he said to her, for this statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
John Gunter:What a a great story. Again, this gentile woman who has the faith to fall down at Jesus' feet in her time of need and say, I know you can do it. Please heal my daughter. And how many of us, if our kids had something today, whether it be demonic possession or some kind of serious illness, would not do everything in our power to try and and get that fixed. Right?
John Gunter:And that is exactly what she does, again, showing this faith to come and fall down at Jesus' feet, but Jesus doesn't really hit her with all the warm and fuzzies. I'm so glad that you're here and thank you for believing in me. He says, alright. Well, let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Well, there's a couple of options for how to interpret this.
John Gunter:Number 1, and maybe the way that we interpret it most, I don't think is necessarily right because if if we see this as as Jesus just kind of degrading her, I think we've missed it. Okay. I think for her to understand this as some kind of deeply theological thing, I think would be kind of above her pay grade at this point. What I think is happening is is Jesus is presenting what what would have been the common meal scene. Okay?
John Gunter:Parents, extended family, kids, all around the table. How many of you have animals at home? Yeah? Any of you have animals that kind of get close to the table once it's time? We have Logan in our family, so our chocolate lab knows exactly who to go stand by.
John Gunter:Logan is going to drop food everywhere. We actually had to move him away from our our kitchen table because he sat near the wall. His back was against the wall and every time he got up, everything on his hand went right on that wall. And now it's discolored because of that. So we had to move him away from everything.
John Gunter:But the dogs know where to get. And so what I think Jesus is doing is presenting a common meal scene and really saying, okay, now is my time to be with my my people, my disciples, and it wouldn't be right to interrupt that. Alright? They it was a big thing in this culture to be, alright, honored and and not bring shame. Right?
John Gunter:And so the honor would be bestowed upon, alright, this this time that we have together, this precious time we have. And we don't want to interrupt that. They they would have understood that, right, as a, a common practice. But what she says, and this is why I think this is she understood it this way, is she said, yes, Lord. Yet, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
John Gunter:And so what she's saying here is, we don't have to interrupt anything. Like, even as it's going on, nothing is interrupted. My 80 pound chocolate lab is standing there waiting. Right? And I think that's how she she sees this and hears it.
John Gunter:That nothing has to be interrupted right now. We can just I believe in you, so much that nothing's going to be taken away. Your undivided attention is not necessary that she has a faith that says, Jesus, if you want it to be done, nothing's going to be interrupted, you're not gonna run out of power, nothing like that's gonna happen, and she can still be healed. And that's the faith that she showed. And Jesus' response then, for this statement, you may go your way, the demon has left your daughter.
John Gunter:What a wonderful day. Right? So we have a couple of more, couple more stories to to go through here. Then he returned from the region of Tyre and and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
John Gunter:And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephatha, that is, be open. And his ears were open. His tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one.
John Gunter:But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. Can you imagine? Yeah. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
John Gunter:A couple of things I want to point out to you. A, the faith of the people that brought this man. They knew that Jesus had the power to heal. Right? Another thing you need to notice, there were multiple parts to this healing.
John Gunter:Now we understand that Jesus is healed in many ways. Right? You remember even a woman comes up and touches him in a crowd, and he feels, oh, the power is gone for me. And she is healed of her issue. But in this moment, Jesus heals in multiple ways.
John Gunter:Now why didn't he just say, hey, you're done. You know, everything's good. Well, okay. There may be a reason for that. Well, I should have our antennas up.
John Gunter:Okay. Why did Jesus heal in multiple ways? So at first, okay, he he he does something with his ears and all of a sudden touches in his tongue in some way and both issues. His ears were opened and his speech impediment, probably probably because of his deafness, all of a sudden is fixed, and he can speak plainly. Alright.
John Gunter:Hold with me here. One more story. And they came came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. Sound familiar to you? Yeah.
John Gunter:People with faith bringing someone begged him to touch him, and he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you say anything? And he looked up and said, I see people. You almost see this playing out. Right?
John Gunter:I see people, but they look like trees walking. Interesting description. Right? Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.
John Gunter:And he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village.' So it's kind of like, again, saying kind of keep this quiet. Notice again, you have people with faith bringing someone to Jesus, knowing Jesus can fix this. And number 2, you have multiple parts of this, this restoration. So at first, he touches him. And kinda see it looks like people people kinda look like trees walking around.
John Gunter:I can't really something's something's off. Right? You've been in a swimming pool and had too much chlorine? Yeah. Maybe that's what it's like.
John Gunter:I don't know. But then Jesus lays his, hands on him again. All of a sudden, his sight is restored. And so we should be asking ourselves the question, why didn't Jesus heal him the first time? Is Jesus not good at this?
John Gunter:Has he not been practicing enough, you know, in his spare time? You're healed. Right? Touch you on the forehead, you fall out or something. I don't know.
John Gunter:Is Jesus just out of practice, or is there more to this story that that Jesus does multiple things, that there's this partial restoration, there's this partial healing, and then all of a sudden, there is a full healing. There's a story between these stories. And I think it gives us some insight into what Mark is trying to tell us. Notice as we start in Mark 8 verses 1 through 9, In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now 3 days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from far away.
John Gunter:His disciples answered him, how can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? That sound kind of familiar to you? Should. Now, how can someone, how can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? And he asked them, how many loaves do you have?
John Gunter:Now, it should really pick up. Right? I've heard this before. They said, 7. Well, that's different.
John Gunter:And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground and he took the 7 loaves and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people and they set them, before the crowd. And they had a few small fish and having blessed them, he said, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied and they took up the broken pieces left over, 7 baskets full. And there were about 4,000 people and he sent them away. Now, it's real familiar to you, isn't it?
John Gunter:The numbers are off though, aren't they? What happened to 5,000? Well, there's 4,000 people. What happened to the number of baskets? Alright.
John Gunter:Something is different. Now, our antennas are up. We know the story. We know how Jesus fed the 5,000, a very similar circumstance where the disciples are thinking very logically, right, in their terms, like, how do we feed so many people when there's nothing around? There's no easy mark to run through.
John Gunter:I'm from a small town, so most of your food is picked up in the gas station anyway, So if I say, Easy Mart, that's what you should see. There's no way to get food. There's no HEB on the side of the road to go grab, right? You're thinking very logically. Well, Jesus has already healed or not healed, but created this miracle to where He could feed 5,000 people.
John Gunter:And guess what? When the 4,000 need fed, the disciples still haven't understood. They still don't realize what Jesus can do. They're still thinking the same way. He's already given them a chance.
John Gunter:He's already showed them. Do you remember in the feeding of the 5,000, they had just returned that Jesus had given them the power to cast out demons, to heal people of infirmities, and they came back, I'm sure, really excited telling Jesus about all that they did. And then it comes to a time where people need to eat and they forget all this power stuff and start thinking, okay. How do we feed so many people? And Jesus said, well, you you do it.
John Gunter:Well, send them, well, you feed them. But then Jesus feeds them with the 5,000. Well, it comes up again, and again, they don't understand. How do we do this? How do we feed 4,000?
John Gunter:Well, a few verses later, Jesus, you kind of get some clarity on what Jesus is thinking. It says, now they had forgotten to bring bread and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. So they have pushed away from the shore. They have left the scene of where they were. And they only have one, part of bread.
John Gunter:And he cautioned them saying, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. Alright. The leaven, so they must be talking about bread. You see where they're going in their mind?
John Gunter:And Jesus was aware of this and said to them, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Why are you talking about this? I've got 2 kids and I asked this question a lot. Why are you talking about that? Or daddy, daddy, daddy, I need to tell you this.
John Gunter:And once they tell it, it's the worst story I've ever heard. Right? Okay. Sorry. Like, it has nothing to do with anything.
John Gunter:Right? It's daddy, daddy, daddy. It's it's not, oh, it's a it's a beautiful story. It's daddy, daddy, daddy. Let me tell you about what mister Beast did on YouTube.
John Gunter:Okay. That's great. Okay? That's wonderful. Why are you talking about this?
John Gunter:Why are you discussing about the fact you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear?
John Gunter:And do you not remember when I broke the 5 loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets of full broken pieces did you take up? They said to him, 12. And the 7 for the 4,000, how many baskets of broken pieces did you take up? And he, they said to him, 7. And he said to them, do you not yet understand?
John Gunter:How many of you in here are hard headed? Elbow somebody if you know they're they're hard headed and they're not raising their hand right now. It's it's real easy to see that they weren't getting it. Right? That's what Jesus says, actually.
John Gunter:Do you not yet see? Do you not yet understand? There there seems to to be this thing where things keep happening. I keep showing you, and maybe you get it a little bit. This scripture this morning that we ended with, is is followed by Peter being asked, who do people say that I am?
John Gunter:And he answers. And Jesus asked him again, he says, well, who do you think that I am? And he says, Christ the Messiah. Now, it sounds wonderful because most of the time, it's the outsider that kind of understands who Jesus is, not the insider. We know from the life of Peter and what's to happen next that Peter kind of knows this in in some sense intellectually, but he doesn't fully know what that means for Jesus to be Christ, the Messiah.
John Gunter:And I believe that's Mark's point. Is that often, it takes us multiple times. It takes us over and over to be able to see with clarity like the blind man, to be able to hear and speak like we need to. And so with these stories, Mark shows you, okay, yeah, Jesus could have healed immediately. He could have healed without any kind of touch or without any kind of saying or anything like that, but there is a lesson in this that sometimes it's gonna take a while.
John Gunter:Sometimes it's gonna take multiple times for us to get it. Amen? How many of you have lived long enough to see god is faithful and he has worked in your life? Yeah. But if you're struggling with something right now, you may easily forget that.
John Gunter:That I forget that god is faithful, that he is all powerful. Now, the disciples have experienced this. They have seen it firsthand. They have actually done it themselves. They have healed and cast out demons and all of these things, and still in the moment of trial, in the moment where something needs to happen that's bigger than their mind, they forget, unlike the people healed or the people that brought them, they forget that Jesus is all they need.
John Gunter:That's the lesson for you this morning. No matter what you are going through, no matter what your battle is, Jesus is all you need. Amen, church? Do you believe that? Because once you believe it, that changes your trajectory in life.
John Gunter:That changes the way you pray, that changes the things that you think about. I have confessed to you a number of times that I'm a fixer. When something goes wrong, I say, Well, can I fix it? How do I do it? And I realize way too late that I haven't even prayed about it, right?
John Gunter:I'm like the disciples. I've seen Jesus work in my life, and then the next thing comes up and I forget all about that, and I put myself into it and think, Well, there's no way I can do that. How do I do that? Well, I bring it to him. Sometimes I'm not very clear, and sometimes I don't get it, first off.
John Gunter:And sometimes it's like people walking around like trees. And Jesus needs to do something again for me to get clarity. Maybe I need to be reminded that of that in some other way, and I hope this morning, this is your reminder that Christ is all you need, and we need to take that message to all the world. That the fix for everything that ails you, everything that's wrong in our culture, in our society, or even this church is Jesus Christ. God so loved you.
John Gunter:He so loved the world that He sent His son for you to take care of everything. Will you live with Him one day? Draw near to Him. Draw near to each other. If you have any need this morning, we'd love to, pray with you.
John Gunter:Tyler has an invitation song picked out. Would you come as we stand and as we sing?