Hello, welcome to the podcast, Bible Wisdom Today. My name is Stan Watkins.

The Bible has always been an important foundation for my personal faith, leading me to complete a Bible degree and enter Christian ministry, ultimately going with my wife and family to Europe for 6 years. There I served in the areas of Bible teaching and music. Since returning to the states, I have supported my local church as I have had opportunity, but now I would like a more regular outlet for teaching God’s word.

Understanding the Bible is not simply a matter of belief that it is God’s word. The Bible was written long ago, in a foreign language, within an alien culture, using unfamiliar literary styles. Today’s Bible student must overcome each of these obstacles. This podcast is for those willing to do the hard work to discover God's wisdom for life today.

In our last episode, we discovered what kind of a heart Jesus wants from his followers. It is not the hard heart of the disciples. Even though they had committed themselves to following Jesus, they continued to be insensitive to spiritual things because they had not fully grasped the fact the Jesus was God. Neither does Jesus want the distant heart exhibited by the hypocritical Pharisees. They focused on the outward requirements of their tradition rather than the inward attitudes of the heart that determine a person’s true character. What Jesus wanted was a pure heart. 

Ironically, as we will see today, Jesus did not find such pure-hearted followers among his own Jewish people, but among the non-Jewish residents of the regions surrounding his homeland. In our study of Mark, today, we find Jesus making a trip of at least 120 miles into foreign territories surrounding Galilee. There he finds a woman with a persistent faith and a group of men who request healing for their friend. He also feeds another large crowd of people with only a little bit of bread and a few fish. This crowd of mostly non-Jewish people experience the same abundant provision as their Jewish counterparts when Jesus fed 5000. Jesus was not just a Jewish messiah, but he proclaimed good news without borders, which is the title of this episode. This good news reaches all the way to you and me, today, with a message of hope and renewal.

Jesus honors a Phoenician woman’s faith (7:24-30) 

As we begin our story, today, Mark says simply,

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.
 Mark 7:24

The word that Mark uses here is somewhat stronger than the normal word for “went.” He tends to use it to show a decisive departure.[1] Perhaps Jesus left Galilee due to the opposition from the Pharisees and Herod Antipas. It is not that Jesus could not take the heat, but he knew that their opposition would ultimately end in his death, and it was not yet the right time.

The vicinity of Tyre is modern Lebanon and the historic country of Phoenicia, the home of Jezebel. This territory was northwest of Galilee with a long history of antagonism toward Israel. During the Maccabean Revolt in the second century BC, Tyre had fought against the Jews.

Mark continues his story in 7:24.

He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
 Mark 7:24-30

Why would Jesus enter a house and not want anyone to know? Perhaps to get a respite from the constant demands of the people, but this was not to be.

We read that a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet, begging Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. We are given several descriptions; she was a woman, she was Greek, she was born in Syrian Phoenicia. As far as the Jews of Jesus’ day were concerned, this would read like a catalog of demerits. They had a strong distinction between Jews and Gentiles and all people were divided into these two camps. The Jews were the chosen people of God; the Gentiles were outsiders. 

From the time when God initially made a covenant with Abraham, He intended that the Jewish nation would be a blessing to all nations. He said, “all people on earth will be blessed through you.” The Jewish people, however, had not understood God’s heart for all peoples of the world and saw themselves as the only ones to receive God’s favor. In journeying to Tyre and speaking with a Syrian Phoenician woman, Jesus expands his ministry beyond anything conceivable for the Jewish Messiah. He universalizes the concept of messiah in terms of geography, ethnicity, gender, and religion. The Jewish perspective of Gentiles was not God’s perspective.

In his previous encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus had declared all foods clean. If there are no unclean foods, then there are no unclean people either. This woman, who might seem to have so much against her comes to beg Jesus on behalf of her daughter, and she does not apologize or cower in the corner.

“First,” Jesus says to the begging woman at his feet, “let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

This brief parable seems highly offensive when we first hear it. How should we understand this?

First, in Jesus’ day, calling someone a “dog” was certainly not a compliment. Not that all references to dogs in the ancient world were 100% negative, but they nearly always were in the Old Testament. Further, in rabbinic teaching, dogs were seen as miserable creatures, which is why they described Gentiles this way. But Jesus may have had another idea in mind. If he taught that the cleanliness of a person was based only on what was in their heart, then this argument would have no weight if Jesus viewed this Gentile woman as inherently unclean.

The Greek word for “dog” that Jesus uses here does not mean an unkempt street dog, but it is a diminutive word referring to a small animal kept as a household pet. With this term, Jesus emptied the word of all negative associations, and the woman willingly accepted the term for herself without hesitation.

Notice that Jesus says, “first” let the children eat. He is not setting an order of favoritism but an order of mission. He would be the Messiah to the Jewish people before ministry to the Gentiles. Now that he has been ministering to the Jews for some time, he makes a mission tour of surrounding peoples. He will not exclude any hungry mouths, however. Jesus will feed both the children and the house pets.

This spread of God’s good news from the Jewish nation to all nations had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah in  chapter 49 verse 6. Speaking of the future messiah, God says, 

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant 
 to restore the tribes of Jacob
 and bring back those of Israel I have kept. 
 I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, 
 that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
 Isaiah 49:6

This same movement from Jews to non-Jews was also experienced by the early church. At first, the great majority of Christ-followers were Jews, but as more non-Jewish people began to believe, the church struggled with the question, “How Jewish do these new believers have to become in order to follow Jesus?” They finally concluded that anyone could follow Jesus without embracing Jewish culture. The apostle Peter was particularly influential in this change of mind after God confronted him over his restrictive attitude toward a Roman centurion, Cornelius.[2] By the time Mark recorded Peter’s memoirs in this gospel, Peter knew very well that God shows no favoritism based on ethnicity.

Now, the desperate mother standing before Jesus responded in faith, the same prevailing faith that animated the Jewish woman earlier who had the issue of blood. “Yes, Lord,” she replied. “Even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

With this reply, this dear woman became the first person in Mark to hear and understand a parable. She understood it, not by examining it as some aloof observer, but by entering into it, identifying with its truth, and responding to Jesus in his terms. Within this parable, she contended with Jesus. Like the Jewish patriarch Jacob, she has wrestled with God and prevailed.

“For such a reply,” Jesus told her, “you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” Jesus did not offer her a separate revelation or another means to righteousness apart from Israel. She accepted the uniqueness of God’s revelation to the family of Israel and trusted God’s superabundance to include her and others like her. 

Here is a deep irony. Jesus desperately wanted to teach spiritual lessons to His disciples, but they were dull and slow to understand. But now, this woman receives only a one sentence parable from Jesus, yet she hears and understands immediately. Because of her faith, Israel fulfills its own vocation to be a blessing to the nations.

Jesus heals a deaf/mute man in Decapolis (7:31-37)

This woman would not be the only Gentile to come to Jesus with pure-hearted faith. Mark tells us 

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. 
 Mark 7:31-32

From the region of Tyre on the coast of Phoenicia, Jesus traveled north to Sidon, then inland to the east, south again to Galilee then to the region of Decapolis, which was a large region, mostly on the east side of the Jordan river and the east shore of Galilee. This circuitous journey was at least 120 miles long, mostly on foot, but the last portion to Decapolis may have been by boat. The other gospels omit it, but Mark includes it as a way of demonstrating that Jesus willfully included Gentiles in his ministry. 

The story of the deaf and mute man is one of only three stories in Mark with no parallel in the other gospels, although Matthew does appear to include a summary. Matthew also speaks of great crowds with many healed, so the healing of the deaf and mute man was probably part of a much larger healing ministry.

Some people brought Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. This sounds so much like the group of friends in chapter 2 who brought a paralytic man to Jesus and let him down through the roof. Just like those men who insisted on getting their friend to Jesus, even if they had to tear open the roof, these friends begged Jesus to heal their friend. He was not only deaf, but he could hardly talk. This probably means he could grunt and cry out but not form actual words.

Mark emphasizes Jesus’ empathy throughout his narration. Beginning in verse 33,

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 
 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
 Mark 7:33-37

Did you see Jesus heart of compassion? First, he took the man aside, away from the crowd. He probably had been the butt of many jokes and ridicule from his neighbors. Jesus avoided a public spectacle and gave him a private audience. Secondly, he explained, as best he could, what he was going to do. He put his fingers into the man’s ears to let him know he was going to unstop them, then he spit and touched the man’s tongue, apparently with the spit. This seems strange to us, but some in Jesus’ day believed that spit had healing powers. Decapolis was a Greek region, and Greek healers often used various balms and ointments in attempting their cures. Jesus seems to have adopted this approach, not as a means of curing, but as a way of communicating what he intended to do. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and sighed deeply. The man could not hear the sigh, but he could see Jesus’ heaving chest, which communicated again the deep emotion Jesus felt for him.

Finally, Jesus said, “Ephphatha,” apparently Jesus actual word reported by Peter, which means “Be opened!” Perhaps the deaf man could read Jesus’ lips. The miracle was not accomplished by physical cures or magical powers, but by Jesus intimate compassion and the authority of his word.

The man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. The original Greek is even more vivid: “the chain of his tongue was broken.” Chains normally were used to bind a prisoner. This is true liberation. He began to speak plainly. All his speech difficulties and impediments were removed in a moment.

This was a miracle worth shouting about, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. This is the only instance of Jesus commanding silence from Gentiles in Mark. Knowing Jesus by his miracles alone is inadequate knowledge. True understanding of Jesus can only come by his suffering and death.

Despite their differences, the response of Jews and Gentiles is similar. They break his command of silence. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

Earlier in Mark 7:14, Jesus had called for the people to listen and understand. Now, through the touch of Jesus this man can listen. He also can understand that Jesus did not come for the Jews only, but for all who come to him in faith.

So far on Jesus’ mission to the surrounding nations, we have seen a mother seek release from a demon for her little daughter. She demonstrates the same desperate faith as the earlier woman with an issue of blood. We then saw a group of friends bring a deaf and mute man to Jesus for healing. They exhibited the same persistence as the earlier group of friends who let down the paralytic man through the roof. As we come to the third story that Mark includes on this tour of nations, we again feel like we have heard this story before.

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand (8:1-10)

Mark 8:1,

​ During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”
    His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
 “Seven,” they replied.
 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. 
Mark 8:1-10 

This story sounds so much like the feeding of the 5000 we saw earlier, and there are many common elements. Both events take place in a deserted place, and both show Jesus’ compassion on the crowd. Both times, Jesus asks “How many loaves do you have? Each time Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and broke them. The organization of the distribution was also the same, the crowd sat down, the disciples distributed the food and gathered the remnants. All the people ate and were satisfied, then Jesus dismissed the crowd, and the disciples left by boat.

There are so many commonalities, that most modern scholars assume that the feeding of the 4000 is simply a repeat of the feeding of the 5000, not a separate event. One might suggest that Mark created a doublet of the feeding miracle to show that Jesus satisfies Gentiles as well as Jews, and this is the main point of this story, but there are good reasons to believe that these are two separate events. Later in this same chapter, Jesus will ask his disciples to reflect on what they had learned from the two feedings they had witnessed. There also are many differences in detail between the two stories.

The first obvious difference is in the numbers. The first miracle involved 5000 men, a gender specific word, plus women and children and the second met the needs of 4000 people. This is not a gender specific word and represents the total number. Also, the first feeding started with 5 loaves and 2 fish, while the second began with 7 loaves and a few small fish. This is also a different word for fish, describing the sardines that were a staple in the diet in that region. After they had eaten, the first feeding produced 12 baskets of remnants and the second 7. These baskets were described with different words, however. The first baskets were small, individual sized baskets made of stiff wicker, the second were large baskets made of flexible material, big enough that the apostle Paul was once hidden in one and lowered down from the city wall of Damascus.

A significant distinction in the second feeding is that Jesus plays a more prominent role.   We read “I have compassion for these people,” rather than the earlier third person report, and Mark expresses this compassion as a gut-wrenching emotion. It is Jesus himself who tells the crowd of 4000 to be seated, whereas he instructed the disciples to seat the 5000.

  The crowd of 5000 sit in groups on green grass, indicating that it is Springtime; the crowd of 4000 sit ungrouped on the ground. The bread and fish are mentioned together in the first occurrence, but the bread and fish are mentioned separately and blessed separately in the second occurrence.

The most significant difference, however, is that the first story concerned a Jewish crowd, while the second crowd was Gentile. Mark ties this narrative to the ministry in Decapolis with the opening clause, “during those days.” Some in the large crowd had come a long distance and they might collapse on the way if he sent them home hungry. This fits the austere rugged geography of Decapolis where there were fewer towns and settlements than the west side of Galilee. 

The crowd had already been with him for three days, in contrast with one day in the story of the 5000. This description uses an intensified form of the word “remain” which indicates a special adherence and commitment. This crowd did not just happen to be present; they were intentionally with him. This is an unusually positive description of a crowd in Mark. Jesus’ reception among the Gentiles has been greater than among the Jews. The makeup of the crowd is also reflected in the way Jesus blessed the food. Among the Jewish crowd, Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks, which was the Jewish custom. In the instance with the Gentile crowd, he simply gave thanks using the Gentile Christian word for thanks, eucharist.

In both stories, the disciples were perplexed as to how they could feed so many in a desolate location. In fact, their perplexity is one of the main reasons some assume that this is not a second historical event. Surely the disciples could not have forgotten the feeding of the 5000, could they? But let me ask you, does Mark present a picture of disciples who are quick to learn? No, they were totally capable of missing the spiritual significance of what they had witnessed.

Finally, in both miracles, the people ate and were satisfied. This presents the primary theological point. The disciples had asked where they could get enough bread to feed the crowd, “to satisfy” them? The answer to their question was simple, only Jesus could satisfy! This phrase, “to satisfy,” is used only two other times in Mark. Once in the earlier feeding of the five thousand; the other in Jesus’ statement to the Syrian Phoenician woman, “First let the children eat all they want.” This is the spiritual bridge between Jews and Gentiles. Both could be truly satisfied.

This was a significant point to Mark and to his gentile readers. Both Jews and Gentiles could come to Jesus with desperate faith. Both Jews and Gentiles could bring their needs to Jesus with their insistent request, “Please, heal our friend.” And when they came, both were met by the same Jesus, who offered them the same abundant provision.

Closing comments

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with you, today. This episode has been uniquely meaningful to me, and perhaps to you as well. If Jesus preached good news without borders, then that good news reaches all the way to me and you. We also can receive Jesus abundant blessings when we come to him in faith.

In our next episode, we will see that the disciples continue to be confused about who Jesus is. He presses them to open their eyes by asking the probing question, “Who do you say the I am?” At this, Peter blurts out his understanding that Jesus is the Messiah from God. This is a watershed moment in the gospel of Mark as Jesus now begins his final journey toward Jerusalem.

If you have found this podcast helpful, I would appreciate your help in expanding its reach. One of the best ways to assist is by leaving a review on the podcast app where you listen. This demonstrates that you appreciate this podcast and will cause it to be listed higher where others can find it. While you are in your podcast app, be sure also to subscribe or follow the podcast so that you will be notified whenever new episodes are released. You also can follow this program at the podcast website, biblewisdomtoday.com. I look forward to spending time with you again, soon. Thank you for your help in growing this Bible Wisdom Today family.

[1] Edwards, James R. The gospel according to Mark. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
[2] Acts chapter 10