Mark 7:24
She Wouldn’t Quit
Mark 7:24 And from thence he arose, and went
into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered
into an house, and would have no man know it:
but he could not be hid.
Notice that last line. It is speaking of Jesus! Why was Jesus
hiding? Let’s follow His itinerary to see if we can find out.
Mark recorded Jesus crossing the Dead Sea and getting off the ship at
Gennesaret \\#Mark 6:53\\. Gennesaret is around 80 miles northwest of
Jerusalem—much more to the north than west. \\#Mark 7:24\\ tells us
that He went from Gennesaret to Tyre and Sidon which were almost due
north of Jerusalem by 125 miles. To my knowledge, that is the only
trip Jesus, as an adult, took outside of Israel. It does not look
like He stayed long, but it does look like He may have had a reason
to go there—to rest.
That may sound strange with our concept of Jesus, but remember it was
Jesus’ idea to get away with the disciples for a rest when they went
to the desert in Mark 6.
Mr 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye
yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a
while: for there were many coming and going, and
they had no leisure so much as to eat.
However, that did not turn out too well. The people found out where
Jesus was going and followed Him on foot \\#Mk 6:33\\. Jesus spent
that day teaching, preaching, and feeding the multitude. Then He put
the disciples back on the boat while He walked across the sea to
Gennesaret in a raging storm. Needless to say, on the day Jesus
wanted Himself and the disciples to rest, they didn’t even get to
sleep that night. While in Gennesaret, He healed, taught, and dealt
with the Pharisees until, at some point, He moved north and out of
Israel altogether, up to Tyre and Sidon. It is not beyond belief to
suppose that He still wanted His disciples and Himself to rest when
He headed to Tyre and Sidon.
Why would Jesus want to be hid? The only reason I can think of is
that He was tired and needed to rest. I suppose we forget that while
Jesus was 100% God, He was also 100% man; and as a Man, Jesus needed
rest.
This weariness has been building for a while. Mark actually hinted at
it several times.
Mr 1:45 But he went out, and began to publish
it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch
that Jesus could no more openly enter into the
city, but was without in desert places: and they
came to him from every quarter.
Mr 3:7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his
disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from
Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
Mr 3:20 And the multitude cometh together again,
so that they could not so much as eat bread.
It might be that the God who made these bodies understood that His
body needed rest and was seeking it. It might also be that the only
thing Jesus ever failed to do was to find that rest for every time
He sought it, the crowds ran Him down—including in Tyre and Sidon.
There are two other things that Mark recorded Jesus doing at this
point in His ministry.
1. Mark recorded Jesus telling those He healed to keep quiet about
it.
a. Mark has recorded this once all ready. After healing a leper
in \\#Mark 1:40\\, Jesus told him:
Mk 1:44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing
to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the
priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things
which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
b. But Mark went on to record three more incidents of Jesus doing
this is within the next three chapters.
Mr 7:36 And he charged them that they should
tell no man: but the more he charged them, so
much the more a great deal they published it;
Mr 8:30 And he charged them that they should
tell no man of him.
Mr 9:9 And as they came down from the mountain,
he charged them that they should tell no man what
things they had seen, till the Son of man were
risen from the dead.
(1) Many wonder why Jesus did this, and to be honest, I don’t
know.
(2) Regardless of why Jesus gave these commands, the Bible
does not record a time when it worked. It only records
when it did not.
(3) The best explanation for the command to me is that Jesus
wanted to slow the spread of His fame, perhaps to give
Him a bit longer to move among the people anonymously.
(4) However, noting what is going on here, I wonder if at
least some of the times Jesus gave this command it was
to see if He and His disciples might find a few moments
of peace and quiet to rest.
2. Mark recorded that a second behavior that Jesus began at this time
was to sigh.
Mr 7:34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed,
and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be
opened.
Mr 8:12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit,
and saith, Why doth this generation seek after
a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no
sign be given unto this generation.
a. Mark is the only gospel writer to tell us this about Jesus.
b. Strong says to sigh is to express grief or to groan.
c. In Definitions of Oxford Language, it says the word means to
emit a long, deep, audible breath expressing sadness, relief,
tiredness, or a similar feeling.
d. Perhaps that is also a sign that Jesus was becoming increasing
weary in the flesh.
In the text, I see three people.
I. A child who was not just sick but who was possessed.
Mark 7:25 For a certain woman, whose young
daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him,
and came and fell at his feet:
A. No details are given of the daughter except that she was
"vexed with a devil." \\#Matt 7:22\\
B. I don’t suppose anyone could have a demon in them and not be
vexed.
II. A mother who was not just seeking but who was stubborn.
Mark 7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician
by nation; and she besought him that he would
cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
A. The mother was not a Jewess but from Phoenicia in Syria.
Tyre and Sidon were coastal cities within that region.
B. The mother requested Jesus’ help, but Jesus refused.
Mark 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the
children first be filled: for it is not meet to
take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto
the dogs.
1. Some might wonder that Jesus refused her.
a. They might be somewhat astonished because we know
Jesus is love, mercy, and grace, and—in many of our
minds—He would never let a child suffer.
b. But Jesus refuses many requests.
(1) Christians get sick, die, lose their jobs, suffer
droughts, famines, disease, and pestilences.
(2) Jesus even lets sinners that are being prayed
for go to hell!
(3) These are the wages of sin that the human race
chose.
(4) God does not take them all away, even if we ask
Him to do so.
2. Jesus bluntly told the mother why He was refusing her
request.
a. He had come to the "children first."
b. The children were the Jews.
c. God never made any pretense that the Jewish Messiah
came to and for the Jewish people FIRST.
d. Mark did not record the words that Jesus gave the
disciples when He sent them out 2x2, but Matthew did.
Mt 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and
commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of
the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not:
C. But this woman would not take NO for an answer.
1. Matthew gives us a bit more detail.
a. At the very first, Jesus had ignored her.
Matt 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And
his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send
her away; for she crieth after us.
b. When Jesus finally answer her with a refusal, she
asked again. This time with an act of worship.
Matt 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, help me.
26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to
take the children’s bread, and to cast it to
dogs.
c. And after Jesus refused her that time, she humbly
asked yet again.
Mark 7:28 And she answered and said unto him,
Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of
the children’s crumbs.
(1) What a gracious answer to Jesus’ rather insulting
statement.
(2) \\#Mark 7:27\\, Jesus had referred to this woman
and all Gentiles as "dogs."
(3) Dogs were not considered pets or good animals in
Israel.
(4) They were strays and scavengers, eating the most
unclean things.
(5) In our culture, we might compare them to rats.
(6) But this woman was not offended.
(7) She simply asked for the crumbs to which the dogs
were entitled.
(8) I would rather be the dog at Jesus’ table than
sit on the right hand of the devil at his.
2. Let me introduce you to an importunate mother.
Luke 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not
rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity he will rise and give
him as many as he needeth.
a. Importunate means to pester.
b. This woman was not going to quit until she had help
for her daughter or was convinced that Jesus was a
fraud for where else could she go?
III. A Savior Who was not just tired but Who was testing.
A. But the most difficult part of this miracle is understanding
what is NOT written; namely, why was Jesus so hard on this
woman?
1. Jesus seemed rough on her, even rude.
a. \\#Matt 15:23\\ He just ignored the woman.
b. \\#Matt 15:24\\ After the disciples, right in front of
her, demanded that Jesus sent her away, the only
answer He gave was that He was sent to Israel.
c. \\#Matt 15:26\\ When she insisted, Jesus referred to
her as a dog, "You don’t take what is the children’s
and cast it to the dogs."
2. That seems harsh, especially for a woman who was pleading
for her child.
B. Since the Bible does not tell us why Jesus was somewhat harsh,
we do not know the reason.
1. Obviously the most likely reason was because she was not a
Jew, but Jesus had helped non-Jews before.
2. Perhaps another reason—although I don’t think so—was
because Jesus was there to rest. (I think that might
have been the reason the disciples were rude to the
woman but not Jesus.)
3. Perhaps it was because Jesus was really tired—although I
don’t think so.
C. I don’t think Jesus was just tired. I think He was testing
her.
1. Matthew not only recorded the extra details of what
happened to the woman but of what Jesus told her.
Matt 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made
whole from that very hour.
a. He was looking at her faith.
b. I think He was looking at her faith all along.
c. The woman could have been offended at the treatment
she received.
(1) She had been ignored, refused, and insulted.
(2) She had a right to be offended.
(3) She could have left and told bad things about
Jesus for the rest of her life, but then her
daughter would not have been helped.
(4) This woman was not leaving until Jesus either
cast the demon out or until she knew He was a
fraud.
(5) It was a test of her faith.
2. \\#Luke 18:1-8\\ Jesus told the story of the widow who
kept coming to the unjust judge, pestering him for
justice against an enemy. Although he tried to ignore
her, he could not.
Luke 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I
will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she
weary me.
3. I don’t know who may have prayed hard for a thing you
desired before and God still denied you your request.
a. If so, I can’t tell you why.
b. There are some reasons the Bible gives, but they may
or may not be why He denied you.
c. But when you have run out of options, who else is
there to go to?
d. And instead of waiting to run out of options, why not
go to Him first?
This woman got her daughter back because she is the woman who
wouldn’t quit.
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