Last Sunday we looked at the passage in Mark where Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy. These religious leaders cleaned the outside of the cup, so to speak, but the inside was full of corruption. They publicly made a great show of following the traditions of men, which presumably had their basis in religious law, but inwardly they broke the commandments of God. And so Jesus taught the disciples that it was necessary to have a clean heart, for out of the heart proceeds all evil.
Now a clean heart or a new heart speaks of a spiritual transformation. A leper cannot change it’s spots. Neither can man change his heart. We sometimes speak of “having a change of heart.” We mean by that a change of mind, or a change of attitude. And it’s possible to do that. My wife says it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. I’m just supposed to accept it and go along with it, I suppose.
But spiritually speaking, to have a change of heart is much more than simply deciding to do wear the blue shirt rather than the red shirt. The Bible uses the word “heart” to denote the will and emotions and intellect of a man. In Biblical terms, you can even use the word soul as a synonym for heart. So when the Bible speaks of the heart, it speaks of the innate desires of man, the intrinsic nature of a man.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it? In that saying, we see that man in his fallen state is sinful, and he is sinful because his heart is sinful, inclined to sin. And he cannot know it, which means comprehend it, or control it. This condition is the result of the fall. When Adam and Eve sinned, they caused their sin nature to be passed on to their children, and to all succeeding generations. So man is born with a sin nature, a sinful heart, which produces a sinful life. So immediately following the fall, it says in Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every intent of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.”
The heart is the source of all evil. As Jesus said in the previous section, vs 20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting [and] wickedness, [as well as] deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride [and] foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
The great problem of the world is not pollution. It’s not poverty. It’s not a lack of education or a lack of health care. The great problem of the world is that the world is held in the bondage of sin. Sin is the snare and condemnation that is brought upon the world through the enemy of God and man, who is Satan. And the only way to be freed from that captivity of sin is through Jesus Christ.
Now Mark is going to use two events in the ministry of Jesus to illustrate this principle of salvation, which is that a change of heart must come through faith in Jesus Christ. There must be a spiritual transformation, and only Jesus has the power to change hearts. That is illustrated here in two episodes following this teaching about the heart.
The first episode is described for us starting in vs 24 “Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know [of it;] yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.”
Now remember Jesus has just finished teaching about the heart being unclean and now Mark records Jesus as going into the Gentile region, a region that the Jews considered unclean. Traditionally, they avoided Gentile regions, and avoided as much contact as possible with Gentile people. But Jesus deliberately travels to Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region and enters a house there, presumably to stay with the occupants. Who they are we are not told, but we might suppose that they were Gentiles, though they might have been Jews living in a Gentile region.
But irregardless of who He was staying with, word gets out that He is there, and a Syrophoenician woman comes to see Him. Now she is undoubtedly a Gentile. And for the most part, Jews did not converse or have fellowship with Gentiles. She knows this. But she is desperate for help. And she knows that only Jesus can help her.
Matthew’s account in Matthew 15 tells us more about this woman’s faith than we see here in Mark. Matthew says that she says to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” Notice she calls Him Lord, Son of David. It’s evident from that appeal that she believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. She has a right understanding of Biblical prophecy, better than the Pharisees by the way. And as this event unfolds she continues to call Him Lord.
The scriptures had been given to the Jews. And the covenants were given to the Jews. Jesus would say in Matthews account in chapter 15: 24 “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus would say to the Samaritan woman, “salvation is of the Jews.” So the gospel is first given to the Jews, even as the old covenant was given to the Jews. But that did not mean that the other nationalities could not obtain salvation. There was such a thing as becoming a proselyte, which was to convert to the Jewish faith and practice. And the scriptures show many examples of Gentiles converting, such as with Rehab the harlot, with Naaman the Syrian, with Ruth the Moabite. So there was a way for a Gentile to become saved. But it was through the Jews. And Jesus had limited His ministry to the Jews. But we have already seen other examples of His ministry reaching beyond that border, such as with the Samaritan woman and the Roman centurion whose servant was healed. But Jesus’s primary ministry at this time is to the Jews.
But this woman has come to Jesus believing in who He was, as prophesied in scripture, and she is seeking His help in the deliverance of her daughter from demonic possession. We have been talking about demonic influences or demonic control or demonic possession for a couple of weeks now in our Bible studies. And I think it is a matter of concern for our times as well. As we become more and more a pagan society, as we reject good and embrace evil, we open up our hearts to demonic control. And I believe we are seeing more and more evidence of demonic control, and even demon possession occurring in our society today. In fact, demon worship and Satanic practices are not only becoming more common, but are more acceptable today and even trendy. I heard a popular female movie star the other day refer to herself as a witch. And she seemed proud of that title.
Scripture tells us in the last days men will worship demons and sorcery will become more and more commonplace. Rev. 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” It’s interesting to note that the word sorceries comes from the Greek word “pharmakia” which is where we get the word pharmacy from. The scripture shows that sorcery and drugs are closely connected. No wonder our society is manifesting more and more demonic influence.
I’m afraid that we tend to try to explain away a lot of what is really demonic control over a person’s life by trying to attribute it to other factors, such as an emotional or psychiatric disorder, or a drug or alcohol problem. And I will agree that sometimes unnatural behavior is a psychiatric or emotional disorder and we it’s not always easy to be able to discern the difference. But I also believe that a lot of behavior is demonic in origin and we don’t recognize it as such.
I don’t know what the specific characteristics of demonic possession was with this girl. But we know that she was a young girl. Mark says she had an unclean spirit. Matthew says she was cruelly demon possessed. I would suspect from other accounts of demon possessed people that one manifestation of being demon possessed was that she was hurting herself. Another mother came to Jesus on another occasion about her demon possessed son who threw himself in the fire and tried to harm himself. And we recently studied the story of the demoniac in the tombs who cut himself and constantly was screaming. So in the case of this young girl there was probably some very evident manifestation of demonic possession which her mother knew was of the devil.
But I will tell you that there are varying degrees of demonic control, and not all of them show signs that we might attribute to that. For instance, there is an event that happens not long after this, where Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind Me Satan.” Peter showed no outward signs of demonic influence. He was a disciple. He had just made a great statement about Jesus Christ being the Son of God. And yet Jesus sees enough of the devil in him at that moment to call him Satan. And I don’t think Jesus was joking when he said that. I don’t think he was exaggerating either. So we must believe that Jesus meant what He said.
So not all demonic control manifests itself in someone by having a demonic look about them. They don’t always have horns on their head or fangs or some evil look about them. And yet we need to be discerning. In Peter’s case, the evidence was simply according to Jesus, “you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” God sees the heart, and He knows our thoughts. And He could see that Peter’s thoughts were influenced by Satan.
But while Jesus can read the heart, I don’t think we have the ability to read minds. My wife thinks she can read my mind. And maybe she is the exception and can actually do that. But most of us mere mortals can’t read minds. But nevertheless I think we can be more discerning sometimes when it comes to demonic behavior. I had an experience recently where someone I encountered I believe was being demonically controlled. And one of the primary reasons I believe that was that their mouth was spewing the most vile curse words and profanity that you have ever heard. I’ve had a few encounters like that over the years in ministry and I believe that when you have that kind of the vilest profanity being used, being screamed at you in a unreasoning manner, you can be sure that the person at that time is being controlled by a demon. They may not even be aware of it, such as Peter wasn’t aware of it Im sure, but nevertheless, it’s a manifestation of evil that has it’s source in demons. It may not be a permanent condition, but it may come on for a while and then it’s influence may seem to wane. In the case of this young girl, it seems to have metastasized to a permanent condition.
Well, Jesus responds in a way to the request of the woman that may seem atypical. Vs27 But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw [it] to the little dogs.” There are a couple of things that seem inappropriate with Jesus’s answer. For one, it would seem that Jesus was calling this woman a dog. A dog was a euphemism that the Jews used to refer to Gentiles. It showed the disdain that they had towards Gentiles.
But Jesus actually uses a different phrase to describe the position of the woman. He says “little dogs” or some translations have it, “house dogs.” The derogative word dogs that the Jews used indicated that Gentiles were like mangy dogs that ran the streets, practically wild and ravenous. But the dogs that Jesus speaks of is a house pet. Being called a house pet is not quite as bad as being called a mangy wild dog. But we might suppose that Jesus is not making a derogatory statement to this woman about being of an inferior race, but rather to show her relationship and position in the kingdom of God.
An even better understanding of His intent is shown in His mention of “first,” ie, “let the children be filled first…” A first obviously precedes and acknowledges that there will be a “second.” So Jesus is indicating that there will be a time or opportunity for the Gentiles, which will come after the gospel is preached to the Jews.
But this woman, percieving that Jesus has opened the door slightly, is bold enough to try to push it open even wider. Vs 28 And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.” She recognized that her position was that of the house dogs, but also knew that even they receive some of the scraps from the table. She had faith that God could still help her and deliver her daughter, though the Gentiles were not the primary object of Christ’s ministry.
And Matthew says in 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great [is] your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Mark’s account has in vs 29 Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter." And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.” Even by her leaving Jesus to go back to her house was an act of faith, as she had no evidence that Jesus had delivered her from the demon until she arrived and saw her daughter. But she believed in Him and in His word.
But let’s make sure we understand Jesus’s commendation of her faith. It was faith in Jesus Christ, in who He is. Not faith in herself, or faith in the power of faith. She believed in who Jesus was, and in HIs word. And Jesus rewarded her faith in Him by delivering her little daughter from demonic possession.
The second event that illustrates the power of Christ to change our hearts, is found in the next episode that Mark selects for us. Vs 31 “Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.” Now the geography described here is a little confusing for me, but Decapolis was ten cities that were primarily inhabited by the Greeks. So again there is this idea of Jesus visiting these unclean regions, or unclean people. The principle being taught of course is that only Jesus can make the unclean, clean.
Vs 32 “Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.’”
In every case of Jesus healing or delivering someone, He seems to use a different method. We just read about Jesus delivering the demon possessed daughter and yet He didn’t touch her or even visit her personally. He delivered her from a distance. But in this case, Jesus not only touches this man, but he puts His fingers in the man’s ears, and spat on his finger and touched the man’s tongue. In chapter 8, in another healing of a blind man, Jesus will spit on a man’s eyes, in the process of healing him.
Now trying to understand why Jesus did some things some times, and other things other times, and sometimes did nothing at all, is beyond our pay grade. Except to show us that there is no secret formula for healing. And I don’t think that there is some medicinal value in spittle. I don’t think that there was some special holiness in Christ’s spit which had healing properties. I really don’t know why He did it that way though, when He could easily heal someone without doing anything at all, as we have clearly seen.
But what is evident is that as He puts His fingers in his ears, and touches his spittle to his tongue, He shows that He is changing those specific impediments by the power which comes from Him. The elements of Jesus’s body enters this mute and deaf man’s body which then changes him. Isn’t that what is represented by taking the Lord’s supper? When we eat of the elements which represent Christ’s body, we symbolically show the means by which we are saved through His sacrifice on the cross. We receive the Spirit of God who gives us life, who changes our heart, so that we might have life more abundantly.
The fact that Mark says that Jesus sighed as He looked up to heaven, indicates that Jesus took the man’s condition upon Himself. He sympathized with this man’s condition. I am reminded of Isaiah 53 which says, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [He was] bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace [was] upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ... Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put [Him] to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see [His] seed, He shall prolong [His] days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, [and] be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.”
Jesus came to save sinners. That was His purpose. To offer Himself as our substitute, to offer Himself as a sacrifice to atone for our sins, that we might be given life. Jesus did not come to earth just to heal as many people as possible and miraculously feed tens of thousands of people. But He came to fulfill the prophecy of One who would crush Satan’s head, who would set the captives free, and who would rule over the kingdom of God.
And so Mark tells us in vs 36 “Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed [it]. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’”
Jesus told them not to tell anyone because He did not want to be overwhelmed by people wanting to be healed, to the point that He was not able to preach the gospel. But nevertheless, His healings did provide evidence that He was the Son of God. If they would have believed that, then they could have been saved. But though HIs healing astonished them, most of them stopped short of believing unto salvation.
Believing in Jesus as Lord is believing first and foremost in who He is, the Son of God, in what He has done, which is to provide atonement for our sins through His death on the cross, and believing in what He has promised, which is eternal life. When Jesus was preaching in a house and they opened up the ceiling to drop a paralytic man in front of Him, Jesus said to him, “Son your sins are forgiven you.” And the Pharisees became indignant because they said no one has the power to forgive sins but God alone. So Jesus said, "But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"--then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
That’s the reason Jesus healed and casts out demons, so that men might know that He has the power and authority to forgive sins, to create in them a clean heart and renew a right spirit within them, and give them everlasting life. I hope that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, that you might be given a new heart and a new life through Him.
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