God of wisdom, as we listen to the scriptures read and interpreted, send us your Spirit so that we may hear your Word with new understanding. Move within us so that we respond in faithfulness for the sake of Christ, our Living Lord. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Mark 7:24-37
This morning we’re going to hear about a remarkable encounter between Jesus and a woman who, by all cultural standards of her time, had no business approaching him. Yet her faith, persistence, and modesty opened a door not just for her, but for all of us who have ever felt like outsiders.
Then we’re going to meet a man who was deaf and unable to speak clearly, he was isolated in ways many of us can only imagine. It’s about a man who couldn’t hear the world around him and could barely speak—but it’s also about a Saviour who sees, touches, and restores him in the most compassionate and personal way.
And, as we’ll see, Jesus doesn’t just heal—he restores, touches, and transforms with deep compassion. And it’s not just about a healing—it’s about how Jesus heals, who he heals, and what that healing means for all of us.
To begin with, we find Jesus in the region of Tyre, a city which still exists today and is located in southern Lebanon. As it’s about 100 miles north of Jerusalem, Jesus has spent some time travelling there, preaching and healing people along the way. And of course, all the way the crowds have followed him; either wanting to be cured, fed, or witness his next miracle. Very few of them have come to recognise Jesus for who he really is, the Messiah, but rather see him as a miracle worker who has appeared solely to solve their earthly problems.
And now he is exhausted and is looking for some time to rest. The Apostle Mark tells us, “From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.” But that wasn’t going to happen, for, as Mark says, “Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.”
But the problem for this woman was that, as Mark writes, she was, “a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin”. So, not only was she not of the Jewish faith, she also was from Syria, a country who through time had constantly been at war with Israel. Therefore, she already had two strikes against her. Added to this is the fact that Jesus earlier had said this to his disciples, “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus had been sent, first of all, to minister to God’s covenant people, the Israelites, and not those outside the Jewish faith. This woman was a Gentile, so that was the third strike against her.
But her daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, so she wasn’t going to be discouraged that easily. Mark says, “a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet…she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.” The disciple Matthew includes this same story in his Gospel and in his version the mother is even more insistent, he writes, “Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” She was determined to have her daughter made well by Jesus. Her persistent request for help demonstrated her faith in Jesus. She believed Jesus could heal her daughter if he wanted to.
Perhaps her courage comes from the fact that she is approaching Jesus, not for her own sake, but for the sake of her child. So when we approach Jesus, whether in petition or intercession, is the good of others in our minds and on our hearts?
But Jesus reply to her wasn’t encouraging, he said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Not only did he tell her that his first concern was the people of Israel, but he also addressed her in that slang term which the Jewish people of that era used for those outside their faith, being “dogs.” And in Matthew’s version of the incident Jesus adds, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”, thereby repeating what he had earlier said to his disciples, his first concern were the Israelites. So, things weren’t looking good for her.
But she wasn’t going to let a temporary setback stop her from helping her daughter. She replied, ‘“Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’”, choosing to ignore the insult of being called a dog for the sake of her daughter’s health. She implied that the Gentiles didn’t need to wait to receive Jesus’ blessings until a later time. They could feed when “the children” did, namely, during Jesus’ ministry while he was here on earth.
She continued to press Jesus for a miracle. “But sir, even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs that fall from the children’s table.” Here, the woman is saying two things; first, that she understands the way things are, the Jews are God’s chosen ones. They sit at the table. They receive God’s rich blessing. The woman understood all this. But she also says that just the leftover blessings were enough to heal her daughter. Her faith was such that even the crumbs of Jesus’ grace were sufficient.
Her words reveal great faith and spiritual wisdom. She didn’t ask for help because her case made her an exception, or because she believed she had a right to Jesus’ help. She didn’t argue about Jesus’ unfairness in looking to offer salvation to the Jews first. She simply threw herself on Jesus’ mercy without pleading any special merit.
And this was the response Jesus was looking for, he said, “‘For saying that you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’” And sure enough, Mark ends the story with these words, “So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.” The woman’s faith and her persistence had made her daughter well.
Jesus then leaves Tyre and goes to the region of the Decapolis, which was a group of ten Greek cities which bordered on the region of Judea. When he arrived there, this is what took place, “They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into 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.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly”
Like the Syrophoenician woman, this man too is an outsider. He is cut off from the world by his inability to hear and communicate with others. This man has two afflictions: he’s deaf, unable to hear the world, and he can hardly speak, probably because he’s never heard words spoken.
This time Jesus doesn’t hesitate to respond to a desperate request. Jesus puts his fingers in the man’s ears, and touches the man’s tongue, and then says “Ephphatha!” which in Aramaic means, “Be opened!” Mark tells us, “And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly”. Suddenly this man is able to hear and communicate with those around him. Not only is he physically healed, but he is also restored to his community.
What’s worth noting about this healing is that the man doesn’t come on his own. His friends bring him. This man is isolated, likely misunderstood, and completely dependent on others to help him find healing. Although Mark doesn’t state it directly, he simply says “They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech.”, it’s quite likely it was his friends or acquaintances who brought him to Jesus. Being both deaf and dumb he wouldn’t have been able to communicate with Jesus himself.
And that was the same thing with the Syrophoenician woman. Her daughter was sick and at home in bed and so she came on her own to ask Jesus for her to be healed. She took the initiative to go and beg Jesus for the healing of her daughter.
And back in chapter 2 of Mark’s Gospel we read about another example of friends helping friends. Mark writes, “Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.” (Mark 2:3-4) So, not only did the four of them carry the man to the house where Jesus was staying, but once they saw they couldn’t get in the door because of the crowds blocking the way, they carried him up to the roof and lowered him down to Jesus through a hole they had made. And what’s important is that these weren’t just people passing by. They were friends—people who cared enough to carry this man when he couldn’t move himself.
That brings us to the question for today, who around you needs to be brought to Jesus, like the man’s friends did? Who is in need of help, mentally, like the Syrophoenician woman’s demon possessed daughter, or physically, like the deaf and dumb man from the Decapolis. Who in your life needs to be brought to Jesus? Not who needs better behavior. Not who needs advice. But who needs to encounter Jesus?
We live in a world where people are emotionally, spiritually, and even relationally paralyzed, stuck in addictions, anxiety, hopelessness, or apathy. They can’t get to Jesus on their own. So, the question is: are we willing to carry them? Sometimes it’s not just about bringing someone to Jesus once. Sometimes it means persistence—inviting them again, praying for them again, loving them, even when it’s not convenient.
Who is someone you’ve given up on too quickly? Whose salvation have you stopped praying for? Carrying someone takes time. It takes energy. It takes patience. These friends literally lifted their friend. Who do you need to lift today?
Yes, Jesus cares about our circumstances, but he came to heal souls. Your friends, your family, your coworkers—they need healing, but more than that, they need salvation. Never stop short at trying to make people’s lives better—strive to bring them to the One who can make them new.
As we close, I want you to reflect on a few simple, powerful questions: who around you is paralyzed? Who is stuck and can’t get to Jesus on their own? It might be a relative, a friend, a neighbor, a coworker, or even someone you’ve stopped believing could ever change. But what if your faith is what God wants to use?
Be the kind of friend who tears through roofs. Let’s be a church that carries people to Jesus. Let’s be friends who fight through the crowd, climb the roof, and dig until someone meets Christ. Because we believe what those friends believed: if we can just get them to Jesus, everything can change.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, you are the source of truth, love, and eternal life. We come before you with a humble heart, asking for the grace to be a light in this world, a vessel of your love and truth.
Lord, open our eyes to see those around us who are searching, hurting, and lost. Give us compassion to love them, courage to speak truth, and wisdom to know when and how to share your gospel.
Let our words reflect your kindness, and our actions show the power of your grace. We pray for those who do not yet know you. Break through the walls of doubt and fear in their hearts. Soften them with your love and draw them by your Spirit into the arms of Christ. Amen