The Distinguishing Features of Great Faith

Transcript

Welcome to this week’s sermon from Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. We hope this message inspires you, roots you down deep into the Lord, into His Word, and may His Spirit be your guide as you enjoy this teaching. Thanks for joining us. Here’s the message. Well, good morning, Trinity Church. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Mark chapter 7, verses 24 through 30.

And from there, he, that is Jesus Christ, arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now, the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s

— Mark 7

(ESV)

bread and throw it to the dogs. But she answered him, yes, Lord. Let even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. And he said to her, for this statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. She went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone

— Mark 7

(ESV)

. This Trinity Church is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Our passage this morning is somewhat of a dramatic contrast to the controversy narrative that we’ve been looking at over the last few weeks. Over the last two Sundays, we’ve watched this conflict unfold between the Pharisees and Jesus over the issues of what is considered clean and what is considered unclean. What is tradition versus what is law? What exactly is it that defiles a person and makes that person clean? Does it come from outside of the body or is it what comes out of the heart?

Well, here in our passage, these issues really get pushed to the limit as Jesus now engages this woman who would be considered by the Pharisees and the scribes as a completely unclean person because she is a Gentile living in a completely Gentile society. We’ll also see in our passage how Jesus pushes on the issue of salvation, that salvation is not relegated to ethnic Jews who, through their religious self-righteousness, attempt to merit salvation by keeping themselves clean or through religious tradition or by avoiding unclean people, but that salvation has somewhat of a ripple effect, that it starts in a certain place and then moves its way out. And Jesus will emphasize that while there is a priority in terms of this salvation, it’s not exclusive to religious people who do religious things. Salvation is in fact for all people, all people who recognize their desperate need to be saved.

Jesus Seeks Rest

So just to give you a bit of perspective concerning our passage this morning, Mark has placed this passage here through divine inspiration. It is where it should belong. But it’s also strategically and creatively placed here. Mark’s brilliance as a storyteller places this narrative here not necessarily because it’s in chronological order, it’s likely not, but because it’s relevance concerning this particular conflict and controversy with the Pharisees. In fact, Mark’s whole aim with this placement here is to accentuate the juxtaposition between what we saw over the last two weeks with the religious Pharisees and what we’ll see today with the Syrophoenician woman. So let’s begin in verse 24, because that will help us set some context for our passage. Verse 24, and from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.

So Jesus has left the city of Galilee again to get away from the crowds. And we know this was intentional because in Matthew’s account, it says that he withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Now the reason for Jesus’ quick departure is likely because Jesus was under immense pressure. If you remember, the religious leaders have turned up the pressure with their most recent accusation against Jesus. Now to fully understand this kind of pressure that Jesus was enduring, you need to understand what was underneath the accusation. It wasn’t that the religious leaders were simply trying to refute Jesus or win a theological debate. They wanted to land a legitimate accusation so that they could secure a legal death sentence. They wanted Jesus dead, because Jesus in every way was the biggest threat to their religious institution. He was a threat to their religious traditions, and so they needed to eliminate the threat

by way of execution. Now this would be exceedingly stressful. We oftentimes forget that in the humanity of Jesus lies the full spectrum of human emotions. In his earthly ministry, he felt fear, sorrow, pain, anger. He also felt the same type of stress you and I would experience if there were people falsely accusing us with the ultimate aim of securing a death sentence. This would be overwhelmingly stressful for you, far too much for you to bear. But it’s not just the stress from the religious leaders. It’s also the overwhelming work related to his public ministry. As we’ve seen through Mark’s gospel, he is constantly pushing himself and constantly giving himself to the unique needs of the people that approach him. And so what we see here with Jesus, after these long stints of public ministry, he oftentimes retreats to get alone to rest and pray. And we should see this again, I’ve said this over and over again, as a pattern for us as

we follow Jesus. If Jesus breaks away from crowds to find relief from pressure, so should we. If Jesus made time to rest from the demands of public ministry, if Jesus had time to get alone and pray from the stress and exhaustion of ministry, then this should be our pattern too. But more often than not, in the busyness of our self-sufficient culture, we do the exact opposite. Rarely do we approach Jesus first. He’s oftentimes the last resort. Jesus makes it a priority to get away, to alleviate the pressures and pray. So Jesus, seeking to find some time away, arrives in the region of Tyre and Sidon, which is basically modern day Lebanon. Now, of all places for Jesus to find rest, why does he go here? Why does he travel some 30 miles to get away? Well, for the very fact that it’s 30 miles away.

It’s far enough from Galilee, which was, if you remember, the epicenter of his public ministry. This is where everybody would approach Jesus, demanding from Jesus. He was constantly under the needs of people. But it’s likely that the main reason why Jesus traveled to Tyre and Sidon was because it was a completely Gentile region. See, these two cities were known for its idolatry and for its extreme paganism, as well as its opposition and hostility towards Israel, the people of God. So it would not be common in this particular region to have an overwhelming presence of Jewish leaders. The way the Pharisees viewed this region was, because it was flooded by Gentiles, it was an unclean territory. And you know how Pharisees would make it a priority to avoid people in places like this. So Jesus’ travel plans take him far away from the pressure of the Pharisees and scribes.

And as he lands in the city, he enters this house, specifically to get out of the public square. He’s attempting to hide in this house, but as we see, it doesn’t work. The reputation that followed Jesus into the various Jewish parts of the region has now followed him into the pagan parts of the region. His reputation of a compassionate healer has made its way even into a completely pagan society. This should also be somewhat of a pattern for us. Jesus’ pattern maintains a good reputation among irreligious people. This is a great pattern for us, living in a completely secular city. To be known as a compassionate people would have huge implications for us and for the world around us. To be a church where people come to find freedom from the bondage of sin, to find a place where they can be reconciled with the God who created them is our ultimate aim for the city of Portland.

A Desperate Faith

And we see a bit of that reality in our text this morning. So the first verse sets the context for this interesting drama that unfolds between Jesus and this Syrophoenician woman. And what’s so interesting about this particular drama is that there seems to be greater faith in this Gentile region with this Gentile woman than there was in the Jewish society with the Jewish religious leaders we looked at a couple weeks ago. And what’s more profound is that Jesus uses not the religious tradition of the scribes and Pharisees to showcase great faith and what it looks like. Instead he uses this irreligious woman in a pagan city of all places to model these three distinguishing features of what Jesus himself will call great faith. And in verses 25 and 26 we’ll see the first of these three features with a desperate faith. Verse 25, but immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him

and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. So as Jesus attempts to hide away in this random house, he’s sought out by this woman whose daughter’s possessed by a demon. Now we don’t really know much from this woman, from the text, other than the fact that ethnically she is Phoenician, which means that she was a Greek-speaking irreligious woman. Other than that, that’s really all we know, except for the fact that she has a desperate need for her daughter, that’s clear. And she’s heard that Jesus can help. And so in this act of desperation, she approaches Jesus and she throws herself down at his feet and begs him, please cast out my daughter’s demon. See the reality is this was a spiritual issue that needed spiritual intervention.

It wasn’t as if her daughter was just sick and needed some medicine. It wasn’t that her daughter’s body was broken and needed a physician. She was possessed by a dark, demonic, spiritual force. She needed someone who can help her with this spiritual problem. And given her pagan upbringing, it’s highly likely that she didn’t understand the nuances of the supernatural realm or the spiritual realities concerning demon possession. So what she does is she appeals to Jesus, who has a reputation of casting out demons, who has a reputation of being willing to cast out demons. In Matthew’s parallel account of this story, it tells us that she was crying out loud, have mercy on me, oh God, son of David. She uses this messianic title, which I find to be so interesting that a Gentile woman uses this Jewish messianic title. And the reason I find it interesting is because I think this actually accentuates the messiness

of her desperation. Think about it. She’s a Gentile. She doesn’t even know what she’s saying here. She doesn’t understand messianic titles. She’s simply using language that she thinks is necessary to persuade Jesus to help her. And this isn’t uncommon with people. You know, when people first come to Jesus in their desperation and in their need, they don’t always have it figured out. They oftentimes string together words and phrases that they hear from other Christians around them. They simply repeat what they’ve heard from other believers. And some people look at that and they think it’s bogus or superficial, but I actually find it to be quite beautiful, that even though they don’t know much about Christianity, they know enough to follow the pattern of other Christians. And more than that, and we’ll see this next, that just because they don’t quite have it all figured out doesn’t mean that God will not meet their needs.

He does. God meets us in our messiness and in our desperation and even in our lack of comprehensive understanding. Even if we don’t exactly know what it is we’re asking God for, even if we don’t understand theological or biblical language, even if we don’t know precisely how to pray perfectly, Jesus meets us there and he grows us through his spirit and through his word and oftentimes through other Christians, through the mature Christian witness of other people, looking and observing the way other Christians follow Christ. See, what she did is she heard what these other people were saying about Jesus. She heard them use this messianic title, so what she does is she takes the title and she files it into the back of her mind. She approaches Jesus, finds him in the house, and then throws herself at the feet of Jesus. Now, this is first and foremost in this culture a sign of respect and reverence, which I think

this is also why she uses this messianic title, because she’s trying to be respectful to Jesus. But more than anything, falling at the feet of Jesus is a visible expression of complete desperation. To fall at the feet of Jesus is the body’s best language for begging. Now, the last time Mark mentioned someone falling at Jesus’ feet was with Jarius. Remember, we talked about that in chapter five. Jarius also had a desperate need for his daughter. When Jarius, his daughter, was dying, there was a physical need, and there was nothing anyone could do to help Jarius or his daughter, so he desperately appeals to Jesus for help. What we see here is that there is this correlation between the desperate nature of fathers reaching out for their children, help, my children have a need that I can’t meet, and only you can meet it. We see that here with this Phoenician woman’s daughter who was possessed by a demon.

This is a spiritual need that cannot be resolved by anyone else, and so she appeals in desperation for help. She throws herself at the feet of Jesus, who is the only one that can help her with this problem. She knew that Jesus could do it. She’s heard that Jesus could do it. He’s the only one that can help do it, and so she demonstrates a desperate faith, but she also demonstrates a persistent faith. Now, before we move to verse 27 to see what Mark emphasizes with this persistent faith, I want you first to look at Matthew’s account, so if you could turn with me quickly in your Bibles to Matthew 15, verse 23, Matthew 15, verse 23. This actually helps us better understand the depth of her persistence. I’ll start with 21, and then we’ll get to 23. And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. Now listen to this, but he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, send her away, for she is crying out after us. So Mark’s gospel is a bit punchy, and it’s one of the things that I love about it. It’s really short and to the point, so you get a lot of dynamic storytelling, but sometimes Mark passes over these very helpful details. So in Matthew’s account, what we see is shortly after she throws herself at the feet of Jesus and begs for her daughter, Jesus’s response was silence. He says nothing. You kind of get this picture here based on the disciples’ response that she was consistently begging Jesus, please, Jesus, help me, please.

A Persistent Faith

She won’t let up. She keeps asking and asking Jesus for help, but Jesus remains silent. And then the begging gets so bad that finally the disciples tell Jesus, would you just send her away, because she keeps on nagging us. See, where the disciples see someone who was annoying, Jesus sees someone who is persistent, which is why I think Jesus remains silent in the first place. He wants to instruct his disciples about the beauty of persistent faith. Now turn with me to verse 27 in Mark. Here’s where you get Jesus’s final response to this woman. He said to her, let the children be first, for it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Now admittedly, this verse here is a bit strange and somewhat complicated. At first listen, this sounds incredibly demeaning, somewhat offensive, and possibly even chauvinistic. She begs Jesus for help, and after this long and silent pause, he seemingly responds to

her by referring to her as a dog. Now let me be clear. This is not a chauvinistic statement, and this is not Jesus demeaning this woman. This is a vivid analogy that fits perfect with the overall context of this conflict with the Pharisees. In fact, the reason Jesus uses this kind of parable or illustration of children and dogs is because it has everything to do with the perception of the religious leaders. Now just to help us here, written words and spoken words can and often do have completely different outcomes. They can have a totally different effect. It can be interpreted in a variety of different ways, and we know this. This isn’t strange to us. This is the world we live in. I mean, someone writes a post in all caps on Twitter or Facebook, and at first it sounds aggressive like, why are you yelling at me?

It can sound confrontational, judgmental, or maybe even demeaning, when in reality that might not be at all what was intended to be communicated. Maybe the caps lock key was broken. Maybe they typed with this quick excitement. Maybe they were using their smartphone and didn’t want to delete everything and retype it. Or maybe they’re just teenagers who tend to type in all caps with no punctuation like Rachel Nagel does all the time. Whatever the reason, if you take those same words that were written in all caps and you speak them to someone over a cup of coffee, would certainly be a better understanding of what the person’s trying to communicate because of tone, because of facial expressions, because of context and nuance. You could say something that sounds so serious, but in actuality it’s meant to be humorous and witty. Ryan is really good at doing that.

The deep sigh or the slight smirk can make a world of difference in that kind of communication. Imagine saying something facetious or using sarcastic wordplay without the wink at the close of that statement. It would be very confusing and could be considered condescending. And really that’s what we see here. Jesus uses the words children and dogs kind of tongue in cheek. This sort of wordplay concerning God’s chosen people and the priority of his promise. In his parable, it’s Israel that are considered the children and the Gentiles that are considered the dogs. This is Jesus using a bit of hyperbole because this is how the religious leaders always referred to the Gentiles, as dogs. People who were so unclean, people like animals not worthy of salvation. So it’s as if Jesus is saying there is a priority of salvation that comes first to Israel, but salvation is also for the Gentiles, which is going to make Jews very upset because they

do consider Gentiles to be dogs. Jesus is saying salvation is first and foremost for the Jews. It was God’s promise to the Jews, but it’s also for everyone else. We see that in Romans 1 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And so Jesus throws down this parable about the priority of salvation and check it out, this woman gets it. She totally understands, which is fascinating if you really think about it. Jesus speaks often in these types of parables and the Jewish crowds don’t understand. The religious leaders don’t understand and even his disciples, those on the inside can’t quite figure it out. But this Gentile woman, this pagan that the Pharisees would have referred to as a dog, she totally understands.

In fact, she’s more so like a child who understands their father than the Jews who are seemingly like dogs who don’t understand. And not only does she get it, but look at, she responds back in parable and we see that in verse 28. We also see her faith as a humble faith in verse 28, but she answered him, yes, Lord, you’re right. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. So despite Jesus’s provocative parable, this woman is not offended. She doesn’t perceive Jesus in any way to be demeaning or chauvinistic. Instead her persistence pushed her to respond back to Jesus in a way that is respectful, but also humble. She says, even dogs that sit under the table of the king’s children will feast. She’s essentially saying, even if you give me the least of mercy, it will be sufficient. I’ll take whatever you give me, Jesus.

I’m desperate for mercy. Give me the scraps. See what she speaks back to Jesus in parable is so profound and even in some ways prophetic. She recognizes that this is not a rejection of Gentiles, but an explicit promise that all can eventually eat at the banquet table of grace. It’s here in her witty response to this priority of salvation where we get a glimpse of the already but not yet. The already but not yet kingdom of God, that God’s salvation has broken into the world and continues to spread throughout his broken world. She gets it. She didn’t study with rabbis. She doesn’t have formal theological training, but she understands it. She understands salvation is available to everyone who trusts and believe. It’s not just for the religious Jews. It’s not just for ethnic Jews. It’s for all who humbly approach the mercy seat of Jesus and ask.

A Humble Faith

They will receive it by faith. Her words unknowingly point forward to the other side of the cross, even all the way to Acts chapter 13. If you don’t know that story of Acts chapter 13, I’m going to essentially break it down really quickly. Here you have Paul and Barnabas who have been these traveling ministers. They travel to the city of Antioch and Pisidia. When they get there, the first thing they do is they follow the pattern of Jesus. They hit the synagogue and they begin to preach. Paul begins his sermon by looking at the Old Testament and pulling out, giving the audience, the Jewish audience, a brief history of God’s faithful promise keeping to Israel, God’s chosen people. He preached how God kept his promise to Israel, how he fulfilled everything, how he brought them out of Egypt, how he gave them the promised land, how he gave them judges and kings, how

he raised up King David, and that through this line of King David would come the promised Messiah. Then Paul pivots a bit and points us to what we saw in Mark chapter 1. He said, and this Messiah is the one that John the Baptist proclaimed. Then he turns up a bit. He says, this promised Messiah is the one condemned by the religious leaders, the ones sent to Pilate who was crucified but raised from the grave. And then he closes this sermon like any faithful preacher should close it, by proclaiming the promised Messiah is Jesus Christ, the one who died to forgive sins of everyone who would trust and believe. Paul in his sermon is saying God has fulfilled his promise to Israel in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And when the Jews in the synagogue heard this sermon, they were so shocked. They begged Paul to come back and preach it again the next week.

We don’t know if it’s because they were upset or if they were just curious as to what he had to say. But when he comes back to preach, all these people come in the region, the Jews and Gentiles come to hear this powerful preaching. And when the Jews saw the crowd of Gentiles, these dogs coming to hear what he had to say, they became jealous. And Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly to the Jews saying, because of God’s promise, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. But since you threw it away, since you’ve rejected this preaching, you consider yourself too good for the promise, we’re now turning our attention to the Gentiles. And when the Jews heard this, they forced Paul and Barnabas out of the city. But listen, when the Gentiles heard this, they began to glorify God and many were brought

to faith in Jesus. All these so-called dogs came to faith in Jesus. That’s Acts 13 in a nutshell. That’s exactly what this Gentile woman was prophetically pointing forward to when salvation that was promised first to the Jews would freely be offered to everyone who calls upon Jesus no matter their ethnicity, no matter their religious background, no matter their gender, their political affiliation or their childhood upbringing to all people. Romans 10, 12 says, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him. Galatians 3, 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Do you see the humility in this woman’s response to Jesus? Can you sense it? She understands the Jewish privilege of priority and somehow understands the promise to God’s

chosen people first. She gets it, but it doesn’t affect her. It doesn’t bother her. She’s so desperate for mercy, she’ll take the crumbs of mercy from Jesus. This woman has demonstrated desperate, persistent, and humble faith. Contrary to the Pharisees’ professed faith and their pseudo-self-righteousness, this woman had great faith. Great faith. And we see that in verses 29 and 30 where Jesus affirms her great faith. And he said to her, for this statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. And she went home and found the child lying in a bed and the demon gone. She came to Jesus messy, but full of faith. Jesus saw her great faith and answered her request. He sent her home to a daughter who was healed and set free. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says to this woman, oh woman, great is your faith. This captured Jesus’ attention.

Great Faith Rewarded

This Gentile woman, Jesus looks at and says, woman, great is your faith. This is the kind of faith that pleases God, desperate, persistent, and humble. Is this the kind of faith that you have? Do you come to Jesus desperate, persistent, and humble? Imagine if our prayer life was marked by this kind of faith. If we approached Jesus desperate to save our children, desperate to save our families, our co-workers, our neighbors, and the people in this city. Not just a one and done kind of prayer like, oh, we prayed for our neighborhood three months ago, or we prayed for our kids last year, but persistent praying and praying until God answers our request. Do you have that kind of persistent faith? The kind of faith that is humble, that no matter how Jesus responds, we are okay with it. Whatever the will of God might be, we’ll take it because what God has for us is ultimately

far better than we could comprehend or understand. This pattern of the Gentile woman should be our pattern. This is how we ought to pray because this is the kind of faith that pleases God. It’s totally different from the posture of what we saw with the Pharisees and scribes. The irony of Mark’s account here is incredible. Here you have these so-called religious men who claim to have such great faith. They parade it around for people to see. The first in line to receive salvation, they are the ones who in their self-righteous pride and self-sufficiency reject Jesus. They want nothing to do with him. The promised Messiah they do away with, and as a result, they receive only judgment and condemnation from Jesus because of their vain worship and their empty faith. It’s all empty at the bottom of it. It’s all empty. Here in this passage, you have this irreligious pagan woman who demonstrates great faith,

incredible faith, simple faith through her desperation, through her persistence, and through humility. This woman who is willing to eat the crumbs at the master’s table becomes the first to taste of God’s great mercy. This pagan woman from a pagan city begs God and receives mercy. See this is what Christianity is really about. It’s not about living a moral life. It’s not about living according to religious tradition. It’s not about being a better person. It’s not about being a spiritual person or a religious person. It’s all about Jesus who is the object of your faith. Jesus is the one who faithfully persisted to the cross. Jesus is the one who met us in our desperate need. He is the one who humbly laid down his life to give us everlasting life and bring us back into the relationship with the God who made us. When we see this, this should motivate you for mission.

This should motivate you for evangelism that God extends mercy to all types of people from the most pagan to the most polished of people. From all types of religious and irreligious backgrounds, men and women and all kinds of children, God is in the business of saving these people. All those who trust and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins are made children of God. They’re made children of God. God is in the business of turning dogs to children. That’s what we see so plainly here in our text. Through his life, death, and resurrection, we are grafted into the family of God. We inherit all the promises of God. Listen, not as second-class citizens who eat the scraps from the table, but as adopted children of God who are seated with him in the heavenly places. This is the merciful and kind God that we serve.

Are you a child of God this morning? Do you know him? I’m not asking if you know about Jesus. I’m asking, do you know him personally and intimately? Do you know him as your Lord and Savior? Have you trusted in him? Kids, do you know this Jesus? Do you believe that he is who he says he is? If you want to know him, if you are desperate for mercy, you can come to him this morning with this simple kind of faith. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t have it all figured out. It was messy, but it pleased God. She was desperate, persistent, and humble. You can meet him this morning. Ask him to save you, and he will meet you. Ask him to make you a child of God, and he will do it, I promise you. If you want it, it’s yours.

Ask Jesus to meet you. Approach him with a faith that is desperate, persistent, and humble, and receive from God the mercy that he extends so freely. Let’s pray. Thank you for this passage, Father. In this passage, we see so clearly the kindness and the mercy of God. I pray, God, that you would help us to have faith that pleases you, the kind of faith that takes you aback. I pray, God, that we would be deeply dependent on you, persistent even, and humble. I pray, God, that you would grow us in this posture. May we never graduate from being beggars of mercy. I pray, God, that we would consistently find ourselves saying, God, we’ll take whatever you give us. The very least of your mercy is sufficient for us. Help us to never lose sight of that, God, because when we hold that, when we understand

that, we are compelled to give you the praise and glory that you so rightly deserve, because we were nothing. We were not worthy. But you met us in our desperate need, and you gave us new life. May that compel us this week. May we be in awe of you. May you increase our affections. We pray all these things in the mighty, powerful, and merciful name of Jesus. Thanks for joining us for this week’s sermon from Trinity Church in Portland, Oregon. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can visit our website at www.trinityportland.com.