Mark 7:23-37
"Never Beyond God's Grace"

In V.14-23 Jesus communicated that all foods were clean because it’s not what goes in a man that makes him unclean but what comes out; evil thoughts, theft, murder, adultery...

He now goes into ‘unclean’ territory to do the miracles He does.

V.24-30

•Tyre is located in modern day Lebanon,
•The Jewish historian Josephus called the people of Tyre Israel’s most bitter enemies (Against Appion 1.13).
•It was from Tyre that Queen Jezebel had come, Israel’s most notorious enemy during the years of the divided kingdom.
•Biblical commentator Edwards, “Tyre represented the most extreme kind of paganism that a Jewish person of Jesus’ day could expect to encounter in his or her lifetime.”

V.24 “He entered a house and didn’t want anyone to know it”

And to be most effective He needed away time with the LORD.
However, He was always prepared for Divine Appointments.

V.27
Children=Israelites
Bread=Blessings of Christ
Dogs=Gentiles (Which this woman was)

Two words for dog in the Bible
1. Wandering, vicious pack dog. A mongrel.
2. A household pet.

Gen.12:3, “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”.

Jesus is saying that His ministry is first for the Jew and later the door will be opened for the Gentile

V.27 “First let the children eat all they want”-
Romans 1:16

In the early church this would have been an important point.
In Acts the mission to the Gentiles was a source of resistence and conflict.

Her persistency proved her seriousness and it proved her faith.

Notice how her faith was rewarded
V.29-30

V.31-37

**The book of Isaiah describes difficult days for the Jewish people. They faced war, political oppression, and God’s judgment for their spiritual demise.

•See Isaiah 35

The promises of Isaiah are fulfilled by Jesus in an unexpected way, as the Messiah comes not just to save the Jewish nation, but to offer God’s salvation to all people.

Application

1.There are many things about God that I don’t understand. Some of which are in these passages...

•How had the little girl been possessed in the first place?
•Why did He put His fingers in the man’s ears?
•Why did He spit and then touch the man’s tongue?

I have learned that God’s ways are not always my ways.
I have learned to trust in God and allow Him to be God.

2. No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.

In the mind of a Jew, if anyone was outside the grace of God it was a Gentile woman

“Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond God’s grace;
Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”

3. The importance and place of intercessory prayer

Biblical Commentator, J.C. Ryle, “Hopeless and desperate as her case appeared, she had a praying mother. And where there is a praying mother there is always hope.”

James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (Let us pray more for others especially our children.)

3. Persistency in prayer
V.26 “She begged”

When deterred she didn’t quit

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming ' 6 And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

Persistency in prayer proves our faith

4. They all knew they had a need.
They believed only Jesus could meet that need.
They came humbly by faith.