Lesson 91

LESSON 91 Mark 7:31-37

Before we start this lesson, here are a few more thoughts about the Syrophenician woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter.

1. She went to great lengths to find Jesus the Healer. We don't have to hunt Him. He is always available to His family. Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb 13:5 I will never leave you or forsake you.

2. She acknowledged that she had a need that only Jesus could satisfy. Whatever needs you have, Jesus can take care of them, if you'll turn them over to Him, trust Him with them.

3. She was desperate for help and she knew Jesus was the right One to seek. When you need help, turn to the Lord and seek His help first. Matt 6:33

4. She was persistent, not letting fear or discouragement dissuade her.

5. She didn't let the religious disciples keep her from believing that Jesus would help her.

6. She believed in the grace and goodness of God. She did not doubt at all that she would receive help.

7. She received because of her faith. Her faith brought her all that distance. She didn't give up even though confronted with silence at her first request. She didn't give up, even though she knew she didn't qualify as a Jew or fit into the norm.

Mark 7:31Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.

(Matt 15:29-31 Jesus departed from there (Tyre and Sidon), skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. 31So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.)

Mark7:32-37 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. 33And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Decapolis is a ten-city area on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. We heard about it earlier when Jesus healed the maniac of Gadara in chapter 5 of Mark. (8And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. 19However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." 20And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.)

1. Why did Jesus leave the Tyre area?

2. Whom do "they" refer to?

3. Why do you think Jesus moved the deaf man away from the crowd?

4. As far as we know, Jesus usually spoke to the person or touched the needy one, but here He puts His fingers in the deaf man's ears and spits on His finger and touched the mute's tongue. Why?

4b. Jesus said, "Be opened." What was He addressing?

5. In Mark 2:5, 9-12, Jesus first gave the palsied man forgiveness for his sins, then healed him. In John 5:14 Jesus made a similar statement. Yet in this passage in Mark 7 He doesn't mention sins at all. What's the difference?

6. Why didn't Jesus want the crowd to advertise His abilities?

1. The Holy Spirit told Him to leave. Ps 143:8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.

2. A multitude (v33) of those who had heard about His deliverance of the former maniac. That was the only miracle He had done in this area. The healed man told everyone about what Jesus had done, so they knew He was a Healer and they sought Him to heal again, this time for others, including a deaf-mute.

3.Maybe He didn't want the man to be scared when his hearing comes and he hears the noise of the crowd. Remember the crowd was seeing many healed and would be loud in their praising God and rejoicing.

Maybe Jesus was trying to minimize the number of people who would know of the healing. (see v. 36)

4. John 5:19-20 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. I think Jesus was given a vision of how He was supposed to proceed. He simply did what He was shown to do. The Holy Spirit will tell us, impress us, or give us a vision of what we are to do in His work, just as He did Jesus.

In healing this way, Jesus showed us that this was another of many methods of healing, but God was the Source of the power for it.

4b. The man's ears...Jesus told the ears what He wanted them to do. Mk 11:23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. We need to learn to speak out in faith what God has told us we can have.

5. Some illnesses and diseases are caused by sin. Can you name some? To gain the healing, one must get to the cause or root of it and eliminate it. Then healing can occur. Other illnesses are results of damage from fevers, infections, etc. The person's behavior doesn't cause them. See John 9:1-3

6. Jesus knew that the emphasis of His work was on the preaching of the good news of salvation, not healing. He wanted them to know, not just physical healing, but the healing and deliverance that comes to the soul and spirit through salvation.(See Mk 1:43-45, Luke 4:18-19)