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He Does All Things Well!

Tom Pennington Mark 7:31-37

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I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me again to Mark 7; Mark 7 as we continue our journey through this amazing gospel written by Mark, and of course, ultimately directed by the apostle Peter as we learned so long ago when we began our study of this book.

Tonight, we come to Mark 7, an account that begins in verse 31 and runs through the end of the chapter. Before we actually read it, let me just remind you of an obvious reality and that is that we live in a world that is filled with prejudice over things where there shouldn’t be; things that really shouldn’t matter. There is certainly racial prejudice; there’s national prejudice between countries; there’s socioeconomic prejudice; there’s even regional prejudice.

As I learned when I was in California, there are attitudes against the east or versus the south. There’re southerners and there’re northerners and so forth. There’s cultural prejudice. You can live in the same region and in the same area and in the same nation; even be of the same ethnicity, and if you have a different culture there can be prejudice that develops, that divides.

The problem with those inherent biases and prejudices is that they make us want primarily to be among those who are like us, those we think of our own kind, of our own people. But Christ wasn’t like that. It really looked forward to the day when that scene around the throne of God, when you see people from every tribe and tongue and nation and language and people of all different socioeconomic backgrounds and everything different. And yet they have one thing in common, and that is they have a common Lord, a common Savior. Christ’s ministry was like that. He lived across cultures and across regions. He was as comfortable in Jerusalem as He was in Galilee.

In chapter 5, you remember we saw Jesus going with Jairus, the leader of the synagogue in Capernaum, one of the leaders, one of the wealthy influential men in one of the leading cities of Galilee. And, at the same time, He stops and helps a poor nameless outcast woman. That’s how Jesus was. All of those barriers, all of those things that divide us meant absolutely nothing to Him.

Tonight, the passage that we come to, we see Jesus reaching across national and racial boundaries as well. Let me read it for you Mark 7:31.

Again He went out of the region of Tyre and [He] came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee within the region of the Decapolis. They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside, from the crowd by himself, and put his fingers into ears, and after spitting He touched his tongue with the saliva, and looking up to heaven and with a deep sigh He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is “Be opened!”. And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. They were utterly astonished saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf hear and the mute to speak.”

This is the second episode in Jesus’ ministry, His new ministry to the Gentiles. We saw the first last week in the story of the Syrophoenician woman whose daughter had been demon possessed; and whom Jesus healed from a distance from the mere statement of the fact.

In this passage we learn that that encounter was no some sort of anomaly, not something unusual. Instead, as we work our way through this story, we will notice that Jesus really first has an intentional ministry to the Gentiles. That one woman was not an accident. It was an intentional beginning of what Jesus would accomplish among the Gentiles. Look at verse 31. … “Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee within the region of Decapolis.”

One of the exciting things about going to Israel, I know some of you, a number of you were able to go with us, 40 plus of you went a couple of years ago, is the places begin to mean something. The places begin to stand out as you read the biblical text. These things mean something because they tell us something about Jesus’ intention.

Tyre was a Phoenician city. It was a Phoenician city up on the coast. You see where the red arrow is pointing there, about 30 miles west, north west of Capernaum. Today Tyre is in the modern country of Lebanon. Now what’s odd about what this verse says, verse 31, is Jesus is going back down to that yellow area you see marked Decapolis on the southern side of the map there.

But He doesn’t go the straight route. From Tyre up here on the coast Jesus goes north. He goes some 20 miles north, and then He goes, after He goes near and through the city of Sidon, then He goes southeast and directly south, through Caesarea Philippi, back to the Sea of Galilee, but all within the region of Decapolis which is there on the east side of the lake. Now the direct route from Tyre to Decapolis was at most 40 miles. But this circuitous route may have been as many as 120 miles. Why?

Well, there are two primary answers that have been suggested. One of them is Jesus intended to escape the plotting of the Pharisees and the political leaders there in Galilee, and thereby to prevent His premature death. That’s why one reason has been suggested. He wanted to thwart their attempts and thereby make sure His death happened on schedule.

Another suggestion is that He wanted to have a concerted intentional ministry to the Gentiles, and I think that is the suggestion that really hits on the real reason. Because after Jesus leaves Tyre, He takes His disciples, and He spends His time in largely Gentile areas. Although Jews lived in these areas, they were primarily Gentile. In verse 24 Jesus leaves Israel, you go back to verse 24 you remember. That’s when Jesus leaves Capernaum, leaves Israel and goes to Tyre.

For the next several months of Jesus’ ministry, out of His three and a half year ministry, He ministers directly to the Gentiles, to crowds in Gentile cities and countries. So, what we see here in verse 31 is the beginning of a real intentional ministry, on Jesus’ part, over the next several months to Gentiles.

Now, that helps interpret last week. You remember I told you that encounter with the Syrophoenician woman that seems at first to be sort of harsh and uncaring, very ethnocentric, was in fact Jesus simply testing her heart because this is what He intended to do all along. For the next several months He’s going to have this ministry.

But it wasn’t just to the Gentiles, to some nameless, faceless crowd that Jesus ministered. The second thing I want you to see in this text is Jesus’ personal ministry to one desperate man, to one desperate Gentile.

Now, before we look at Mark’s text, let me tell you what Matthew says about His ministry in this period of time. In Matthew 15:29, Matthew writes,

Departing from there, Jesus went along by the Sea of Galilee, [on the eastern side as I showed you] and having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, [and] crippled, [and] blind, [and] mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and [and notice we know these are Gentiles because look at the response Matthew includes here] they glorified the God of Israel.

That last phrase points out clearly that the vast majority of these crowds, to whom Jesus is ministering were not Jewish but Gentile. The question is how did these Gentile crowds know about Jesus? Well, there are a couple of clues earlier in the book. In 3:8 we learn that the crowds were coming from various areas, and Mark lists them, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, from Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard all that He was doing and came to Him. Beyond the Jordan is an expression for that area on the east side of the Sea of Galilee down in the Decapolis. And so, there were people who had heard about Jesus and were coming into Galilee in order to encounter Him and to see His miracles, hear His teaching. In addition to that, Jesus has been briefly to this region once before.

Do you remember it back in chapter 5, the demoniac of Gedera as he is often called, the Gerasenes. Chapter 5:19, Jesus did not allow that healed demoniac to go with them. You remember, he wanted to accompany Jesus and the disciples, and Jesus said no.

…but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And … [the demoniac of Gedera] went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

So, Jesus had already sent a missionary into this region. Decapolis, the word simply means ten cities, it was a confederation of ten cities, ten major cities. And so, Jesus had already sent into that region a missionary, and it appears that the first missionary for Jesus had had quite some success, because when Jesus shows up in the Decapolis, when He shows up on that side of the Jordan, great crowds of Gentiles arrive.

Now, from those many miracles that were listed back in Matthew’s gospel, remember He said there were many great crowds who came, and Jesus was healing left and right. They were bringing people who had all of these disabilities. From those many miracles, Mark choses to relate just one. And by the way, Mark is the only gospel writer to record this account. This is one of only three stories that Mark tells that aren’t in the other three gospels. So obviously, this story is very important to Mark and to his purpose. Now, file it away. This will come back later. Remember to whom Mark writes. He’s writing to Romans, to Roman believers who are Gentiles.

Now, with that in mind, look at verse 32. Let’s look at this ministry Jesus has, very intensely personal ministry, to one desperate Gentile sinner. Verse 32, “They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him.” Again there were many people who came to Jesus that day as He sat there on the hillside. Great crowds gathered, and many sick people came, but Mark focuses on this one, he singles out this one to tell us the story.

Here we find a man who, just like the paralyzed man, we met back in chapter 2. This man’s friends had some measure of faith in Jesus, and so they brought their friend. Now, their friend had two serious disabilities. First of all, he was deaf. The Greek word translated “deaf” here means “dull or blunt”. It means a particular organ has been dulled or has lost its sensitivity. It can refer to speech, it can refer to hearing, even to sight, but it becomes very clear in the context here that it’s this man’s hearing that has become dulled, that has lost its sensitivity, its ability to function. He is deaf.

And the other disability he has is that he spoke with difficulty. Those three words “spoke with difficulty” translates one rare Greek word. It’s used only two times in the entire Bible, and I’ll take you to the other in a few minutes. This man had lost all ability to speak plainly because probably of his loss of hearing. The implication is that early in life, perhaps as a child, he lost his hearing, either through some accident as unfortunately we see happen in our world today. And this loss of hearing, his deafness, had significantly affected his ability to speak. So, he is essentially deaf and mute.

Now, we live in a day, thanks to God’s grace thanks to even to the work of instrumental Christians like Joni Erickson Tada, we live in a day when people with disabilities of various kinds, there are ways to reach them, there are ways to communicate. There are blessings in their lives which sort of lessen the impact of the result of those disabilities, but not in the first century. The results of this man’s disability would have been profound. First of all, he would have been ostracized from others. There’s no question about that. Because some would have thought that he was just, frankly, not smart, but he was stupid because he didn’t understand, he didn’t speak. They didn’t understand all that was involved.

Others in the first century would have considered him to even possibly to be demon possessed. There were those who weren’t able to speak and who couldn’t hear because of demon possession, but there’s no hint in this man’s case that that’s true. But because of that stigma, he would have been ostracized.

Another result is that his knowledge of the world and of everything would have been severely limited. He couldn’t ask questions. He couldn’t hear the answers. He couldn’t hear teachers. And without any kind of communication like modern sign language, he wouldn’t have understood enough of the language even to read their lips accurately. So, he would not have been able to read. He was essentially living in his own silent world cut off from the world around him, ostracized by others, unable to learn much of what we pick up simply by overhearing conversations.

But perhaps most profoundly, that meant he was unable to read the Jewish scriptures at all, unable to hear them taught. He was cut off effectively from His Creator. He would have lived in an extreme state of isolation with a very simple understanding of the world and of life. And because of these severe disabilities, he probably would have known very little, if anything, about Jesus at all.

So, when this man’s friends hear that Jesus is going to be nearby, they bring him to Jesus. We don’t know how they heard. Perhaps it was through the healed demoniac. Perhaps it was through some friends who went over into Galilee and heard Jesus’ teaching. Perhaps they simply heard about Him when He arrived and the miracles He was doing. But they hear, they believe enough, they have hope enough to bring their friend to Christ.

Since the man could not speak for himself and be understood, they ask Jesus, these friends do, to lay his hand on the man. Either they had heard that Jesus did this, or perhaps they had actually seen it done. That’s their request. Now notice Jesus’ response to them in verse 33.

Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

Now, you don’t see quite as clearly in the English text as you do in the Greek text. There are six verbs in those two verses that are verbals that describe Jesus’ interaction with this man. And each one of them is very important.

First of all, notice that Jesus took him aside from the crowd by himself. Certainly, secrecy was involved. Jesus is going to tell them not to spread this miracle. So that’s part of what’s going on here. But I think it is also out of a sincere concern for this individual. As you‘ll see in a moment He’s going to treat this man differently than He has ever treated anyone else. I love what William Hendrickson, great commentator says, Jesus loves people not just enmasse, but also individually. His heart goes out not only to the multitude but also to a man, this particular man whom He treats differently than He would treat anyone else.

Did you notice, Jesus doesn’t do here exactly what his friends ask Him to do. Instead, He dealt with this man in His own unique way. By the way, there’s a reminder here, isn’t it, that with all of us, He sees us as individuals and He ministers to us each in the unique individual way that we need that.

Now notice the second thing Jesus does, verse 33, and He put, literally the word is stronger than “put”, it has the idea of ‘thrust.” He thrust His fingers into this man’s ears.

And the next thing He does also in verse 33, after spitting, He touched his tongue, “with the saliva” is added. The idea here is probably that Jesus spit on His own finger and then touched the man’s tongue. What you need to see is this isn’t some kind of magic. These actions did not heal this man. He is not yet able to speak. He is not yet able to hear. That’s going to happen in a moment.

So, what was Jesus doing? I love this because these actions reveal the amazing compassionate heart of Jesus Christ and of our God. He gets him away from the crowd. And by itself frankly, Jesus’ touching this man showed His compassion and care. Jesus is completely unconcerned that this man is a Gentile, that He might be rendered, ceremonially be rendered unclean. But there’s more here than that. The way Jesus touches this man makes it clear that He is actually communicating with him through a sort of primitive kind of sign language. By putting His fingers in the man’s ears and removing His fingers, He’s telling this man that He intends to unstop his ears. By spitting, probably on His own finger, and touching the man’s tongue, Jesus is telling this man that He intends to heal his ability to speak. And both of those actions have the clear implication that the power would come from Jesus to heal him.

But the Lord isn’t done with this sort of tender, His own sort of sign language to this man. Notice verse 34, a fourth verb, “and looking up to heaven”. This too is a kind of sign language to this man. He’s now put His fingers in his ears, He’s touched his tongue, He’s made it clear that He understands his problems, and then He looks up to heaven. It was to tell this man that only God could heal his ears and his tongue. It was to point him to the source of the healing. It’s like when we point up. So, the power would be directly from Jesus flowing through Him from God as the ultimate source.

The fifth thing Jesus does here is in verse 34 is, with a deep sigh. That too is actually a verb from. Literally, it’s “and having looked up into heaven, He groaned.” That’s what the text says. “having looked up into heaven, He groaned.” Although the man would not have been able to hear the sound of the groan that Jesus made, certainly the facial expression, the painful sigh, the look of it would have made it clear to this man that Jesus really cared about him; that His own heart was troubled by what this man was encountering. This groan from Jesus showed that He had a strong emotional empathy for this man. As John Calvin said, writing on this passage, Jesus was taking this man’s condition to heart. He was sorrowing with those who sorrowed.

And then His sixth action, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” “Ephphatha!” is Aramaic which is the primary language that Jesus spoke. Since Mark isn’t writing to Jews, but to Gentiles, to Romans, He translates it, that is “Be opened!” That’s what it means He says. These were the first words this man had heard in many years, probably since his childhood. What I want you to see here is that this man is healed by one thing, and one thing only, and that is the Word of Jesus Christ, a divine fiat. Let it be so. Be opened, through the authority and power of His own command. And look at verse 35, “And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly.” And literally the bond or the chain of his tongue was loosed.

Whatever had restricted his speech was now completely gone, and he began speaking plainly or distinctly. What amazing compassion Jesus shows this sinful Gentile man. He pulls him aside, quietly by himself and then tenderly communicates through His own sort of sign language that he understands the problem this man has his ears and in his mouth. And then He looks up to heaven to show this man that He intends to heal him through the power of God, and He does it with a heart of compassion, with a deep groan, a sigh, the effects of sin in this man’s life, and then He says, “Be opened.” And it’s so.

That brings us to the third part of this story, and that’s Jesus’ initial reception among the Gentiles. How did the people, the Gentile crowds that were gathered there, respond to all of this? Verse 36, And He gave them orders not to tell anyone…. Them here probably refers primarily to the crowd that was gathered around. And while He pulled the man aside, the crowd certainly is going to be aware of what happened, and Jesus tells them not to talk about this. The question is why? Why would Jesus tell them not to spread this?

Remember, with the demoniac He told him to go, tell everyone, and now He tells them not to tell. Why? Probably because Jesus is now ministering for several months in Gentile areas, and His primary work was not, never was healing, that wasn’t what Jesus’ primary ministry ever was. In fact, go back to Mark 1. I just want to remind you, Mark 1:14. Here’s Jesus’ ministry.

Now after John [the Baptist] had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching [that was His primary ministry, preaching and teaching] the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe … the gospel.”

The thrust of Jesus’s ministry was always teaching and preaching. The miracles were simply pictures of His power and confirmation of who He was. We looked at all that in detail when we went through those initial miracles. But preaching is what Jesus was about, and He didn’t want His ministry in these Gentile areas to become interrupted in the way that it would if His miracle working power became widespread.

In addition, as the time for His death draws nearer, Jesus begins to put an even greater emphasis on His redeeming work. What’s the result? Look at verse 36 again, But the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. Clearly in their enthusiasm, in their excitement about what they’ve just witnessed, they disobeyed Christ. And the verb tense implies that He kept ordering them not to do it, and they kept on proclaiming it. The Greek word for “proclaim” is the word for public proclamation. They’re preaching this, they’re proclaiming this. Verse 37, they were utterly astonished saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

Matthew puts this conclusion on it. “So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking and the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.” In other words, they glorified the God of Israel who had not been their God. Obviously, some in the crowd, probably including the man that was healed and his friends I think may have come to genuine faith. We’re not told that, but others certainly recognized the true God, the God of Israel was intervening in some miraculous way. This is Jesus’ initial reception among the Gentile crowds as he began this phase of His ministry.

Now, what are the implications from this story that we need to embrace? There are several profound ones. The first is that Jesus is genuinely concerned for all who are not Jewish. In this story He is completely unconcerned that being in the presence of Gentiles might render Him ceremonially unclean as so many of the Jewish people worried. Remember, when they came back from the marketplace, as we discovered earlier in Mark 7, they took a bath just in case they were contaminated by contact with some Gentile. Jesus was unconcerned.

William Hendrickson again writes, the two events, the Syrophoenician woman we saw last week and this man’s healing. The two events herald the wide opening of the kingdom’s door to the Gentiles. Thus, the Lord, who according to Mark 7:1-23, was erasing the line between the clean and unclean foods, soon afterward started to remove the barrier between the clean, excuse me the unclean and supposedly clean people.

Just as Peter learned in Acts 10 with that vision of the unclean animals, Jesus here is demonstrating by His ministry as He goes into these areas and reaches out to the Gentiles. He seems to be preparing His disciples for future ministry among the Gentiles. In fact, we could say that this incident is an affirmation of the early church’s outreach to Gentiles.

Remember what Jesus told His disciples, that 500 who gathered in Galilee after His resurrection, He said I want you to take this good news, this gospel into the nations. And in Acts certainly that is affirmed again and again and again. This was the responsibility, to reach out to the Gentiles. And You see in Jesus’ life and ministry, this is already happening. This wasn’t something the disciples made up. This was the divine intention. Jesus lived like this, and He commanded them to, as well. Look at Acts 1:8. He told the disciples just before His ascension, “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea … [in] Samaria [that was a shocker], and even to the remotest part of the earth.” This was always the plan. Look over in chapter 8, chapter 8 of Acts, verse 4,

Therefore, those who had been scattered [because of the persecution of Saul, eventually Paul had brought] those who had been scattered went about teaching or preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.

Remember, that’s what Jesus said ought to happen, and here it is unfolding. Pushed out of Jerusalem by persecution, they go to do what Jesus said needed to be done. Verse 25 of that same chapter.

So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. But [verse 26] an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south….

And you remember the story how he encounters a north African, an Ethiopian, and he shares the gospel with him, and the gospel begins to spread to the nations. Over in 9:15, Saul is saved on the Damascus Road by a divine act of sovereign grace. And notice how he’s commissioned in Acts 9:15 the Lord said to him go [this is the Lord commanding Ananias to go to Saul.] “Go, for he [that is Saul] is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”

So, the mission begins to be fulfilled that Jesus initiated. Look in Acts 10:45, “All the circumcised believers who came with Peter [to Cornelius’ house] were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.” Chapter 11:1, “… the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles … had received the word of God.” Verse 18 of chapter 11, “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles … the repentance that leads to life.’” And then finally look over in chapter 13:46. Here on the first missionary journey,

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us,

‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”

This was the plan, and it was initiated by our Lord while He was still here on the earth. Remember, Mark is writing his gospel to Gentiles, to Roman Christians. It’s not by accident that Mark is the only one to record this individual miracle toward a Gentile. So, this outreach of Jesus to a Gentile was a precursor to what was to come. It was also a call to the church for world missions; a call for us as individuals to pray, to support, to consider going, and a call to some to actually go. There may be young people in our church, my prayer is there will be young people in our church whom God calls, and not just young people. Some of you who reach a retirement age, and instead of getting better in your golf game instead serve the Lord in ministry. It’s a call for world missions to reach out to other nations as our Lord did.

It’s also a call for each one of us not to avoid certain people or people groups out of a fear of becoming unclean, being tainted in some way. Listen, are there people you avoid for fear you are going to be contaminated? That’s not the heart of Christ. I’m not talking about becoming best friends with them and being influenced by their lives. I’m talking about genuinely being concerned about them enough to reach out, to reach out with the gospel of Christ. Every person, however different they may be from us, in race or nationality or socioeconomic level or culture, every person is made in the image of God. So, Jesus demonstrated His genuine concern for all who were non-Jewish.

Secondly, we see in this story that Jesus has genuine compassion even for individuals. He calls this man apart from the crowd to heal him. Let me just ask you pointedly the question, and I ask myself the question as well. Are we known for our compassion to individual people? Do we groan over the troubles of others? Do we sorrow over lives and bodies that are deeply affected by sin? You know, in this touch of Jesus in this story we see the compassion of God for those who are hurting. In His groan we see how His own heart breaks over the effects of sin in the world.

In fact, as Ken Hughes points out, in Jesus’ touch here we have a living parable of the incarnation. In the incarnation God reached out to touch all of sinful humanity to touch us just as He touched this man. Are we willing to reach out in compassion to others?

A third lesson is Jesus has genuine compassion and care for those who are disabled. You know, it’s true that God is sovereign, and often when we see those who are disabled in various ways, we think that, and we ought to think that, and God himself takes responsibility. In Exodus 4:11 the LORD says to Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth, or who makes Him mute or deaf or seeing or blind, is it not I the LORD?” He takes full responsibility for those disabilities. And yet, understand this, those disabilities are not part of God’s original creation. They are a product of the fall. They are an effect of sin in the world, not of that person’s sin, but of the reality of sin in the world in which we live. So, we shouldn’t be hard-hearted toward those who are disabled. Look at Jesus’ response to this man. He knew He was going to heal him. And He still had this response. In Jesus we see the heart of God towards those who because we live in a fallen world are affected by disease and death and even disability.

May God give us that kind of heart, that kind of compassion for those who are disabled. I love the fact that our church has really begun a ministry to those who are disabled, and I love, my prayer is to see that ministry grow. Our hearts should be there because it was also in the heart of our Lord.

Number four, and finally, this encounter is yet another evidence of Jesus’ Messiahship and His Deity. Notice, there are two clues to this. The first one is in verse 37. The crowd’s response to Jesus, this Gentile crowd in glorifying the God of Israel says this about Jesus. “He does all things well.” Now, perhaps that Gentile crowd that day didn’t really understand the ramifications of what they were saying. But for the Roman Christians to whom Mark wrote this gospel, the parallel between those words and the words of Genesis 1 would have been very obvious. You remember Genesis 1:31 our children sang about it this morning, “God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good.” What God does is excellent. And here, their response to Jesus and His works, excellent. All of God’s works in creation are excellent and so is the work of Jesus. The Son’s work in redemption is excellent just as the Father’s work in creation. They are both done well.

There’s another clue though even more direct. And it’s in verse 32. Look back in verse 32. The Greek word that’s translated “spoke with difficulty”, I told you that was an unusual word, one Greek word. And it occurs only in two places in the Bible, here in verse 32 and in Isaiah 35. Look back with me at Isaiah 35. I want you to see this in its context. Isaiah 35, now understand what’s going on in Isaiah at this point. In the chapters leading up to this Isaiah had been describing God’s judgment on the nations, and in chapter 35 he turns the corner and says, eventually God will bring blessing upon His people and even upon the nations surrounding them. And notice what He says in verse 4,

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” [When God comes, He will save you, and look at what He will do. Verse 5,]
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

Here in the Septuagint translation the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament that word “spoke with difficulty” occurs. The Rabis taught that this passage about the deaf hearing, the eyes of the blind being opened, that this passage would be fulfilled when Messiah came. In fact, it was the promise of what would happen under Messiah’s reign in the Millennium. So the complete fulfillment of Isaiah 35 is still in the future, but here’s the point, in His first coming Jesus gave the Gentiles a taste of what it will be like when He is king. There was in that event a glimpse for those who knew and understood the Old Testament, a picture that He’s here. God in the person of the Messiah had come to save His people.

Let’s pray together.

Father, thank you for another glimpse of the beauty of our Lord. Father, we feel so hard hearted, so cold towards the needs of others. We see the compassionate heart of our Lord. Father, I pray that You would give us tender hearts. May our hearts beat out of concern for people just as His did. Lord, may we always be interruptible. May we always be concerned not merely about the mass, but about the individual. May we be compassionate toward the needy and those who are disabled, Father, give us that kind of heart.

But most of all, Father, I pray in this passage You would elevate our understanding and view of Jesus Christ. May we see Him as You coming to save Your people, and You have brought this kind of healing, the deaf to hear, those who speak with difficulty, to have their mouths unstopped. Father, thank you that again and again and again on the pages of this gospel we see the reality of who Jesus really was and is. May we love Him and adore Him and serve Him as our God and our king.

We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Children's Bread to the Dogs?

Tom Pennington Mark 7:24-30
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He Does All Things Well!

Tom Pennington Mark 7:31-37
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The Extravagant Provision of Jesus

Tom Pennington Mark 8:1-9

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3.

A Voice Crying - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 1:2-8
4.

The Baptism of Jesus

Tom Pennington Mark 1:9-11
5.

The Heart of Jesus' Ministry

Tom Pennington Mark 1:14-15
6.

Follow Me!

Tom Pennington Mark 1:16-20
7.

A Day in the Life of Jesus - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 1:21-34
8.

A Day in the Life of Jesus - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 1:21-34
9.

A Day in the Life of Jesus - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 1:21-34
10.

Divine Healing

Tom Pennington Selected Scriptures
11.

The Compelling Priorities of Jesus

Tom Pennington Mark 1:35-39
12.

Unclean!

Tom Pennington Mark 1:40-45
13.

Authority to Forgive - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 2:1-12
14.

Authority to Forgive - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 2:1-12
15.

A Friend of Sinners - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 2:13-17
16.

A Friend of Sinners - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 2:13-17
17.

New Wine, Old Wineskins

Tom Pennington Mark 2:18-22
18.

The Sabbath & the Heart of God - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 2:23-3:6
19.

The Sabbath & the Heart of God - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 2:23-3:6
20.

The International Ministry of Jesus Christ

Tom Pennington Mark 3:7-11
21.

Twelve Unlikely Men - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 3:13-19
22.

Twelve Unlikely Men - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 3:13-19
23.

Twelve Unlikely Men - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 3:13-19
24.

Jesus: Liar, Lunatic or Lord? - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 3:20-35
25.

Jesus: Liar, Lunatic or Lord? - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 3:20-35
26.

Jesus: Liar, Lunatic or Lord? - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 3:20-35
27.

The Parable of the Soils - Mark's Perspective - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 4:1-20
28.

The Parable of the Soils - Mark's Perspective - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 4:1-20
29.

The Parable of the Soils - Mark's Perspective - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 4:1-20
30.

Eyes to See, Ears to Hear - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 4:21-25
31.

Eyes to See, Ears to Hear - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 4:21-25
32.

The Mysterious Growth of God's Kingdom - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 4:26-34
33.

The Mysterious Growth of God's Kingdom - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 4:26-34
34.

The Wind & Waves Still Obey Him

Tom Pennington Mark 4:35-41
35.

No Chains He Cannot Break!

Tom Pennington Mark 5:1-20
36.

Lord of Life, Destroyer of Death - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 5:21-43
37.

Lord of Life, Destroyer of Death - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 5:21-43
38.

Just a Carpenter? The Deadly Danger of Familiarity - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 6:1-6
39.

Just a Carpenter? The Deadly Danger of Familiarity - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 6:1-6
40.

Jesus' Official Representatives

Tom Pennington Mark 6:7-13
41.

The Slow Death of the Soul

Tom Pennington Mark 6:14-29
42.

The Lord Will Provide!

Tom Pennington Mark 6:30-44
43.

Walk on Water? Jesus' Incomparable Power Over Matter, Time & Space

Tom Pennington Mark 6:45-52
44.

Pursuing Jesus for All the Wrong Reasons

Tom Pennington Mark 6:53-56
45.

Tradition! - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 7:1-13
46.

Tradition! - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 7:1-13
47.

Tradition! - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 7:1-13
48.

The Heart of All Our Problems

Tom Pennington Mark 7:14-23
49.

The Children's Bread to the Dogs?

Tom Pennington Mark 7:24-30
50.

He Does All Things Well!

Tom Pennington Mark 7:31-37
51.

The Extravagant Provision of Jesus

Tom Pennington Mark 8:1-9
52.

When Proof Is Not Enough

Tom Pennington Mark 8:10-13
53.

Dangers to Look Out For

Tom Pennington Mark 8:14-21
54.

Gradually Restored Sight

Tom Pennington Mark 8:22-26
55.

Who Do You Think I Am?

Tom Pennington Mark 8:27-30
56.

The Shocking Mission of the Messiah

Tom Pennington Mark 8:31-33
57.

Following Jesus Will Cost You Everything

Tom Pennington Mark 8:34-37
58.

He'll Be Back!

Tom Pennington Mark 8:38-9:1
59.

A Glimpse of His Glory

Tom Pennington Mark 9:2-10
60.

If You're Messiah, Where's Elijah?

Tom Pennington Mark 9:11-13
61.

No Faith, Weak Faith, & Little Faith - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 9:14-29
62.

No Faith, Weak Faith, & Little Faith - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 9:14-29
63.

No Faith, Weak Faith, & Little Faith - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 9:14-29
64.

The Shocking Plan Behind the Cross

Tom Pennington Mark 9:30-32
65.

Jesus Defines Greatness

Tom Pennington Mark 9:33-37
66.

Not One of Us: Overcoming Christian Provincialism

Tom Pennington Mark 9:38-41
67.

The Disciple's Greatest Danger - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 9:42-48
68.

The Disciple's Greatest Danger - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 9:42-48
69.

Lessons From the Salt Shaker!

Tom Pennington Mark 9:49-50
70.

Jesus on Divorce - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 10:1-12
71.

Jesus on Divorce - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 10:1-12
72.

Jesus on Divorce - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 10:1-12
73.

Let the Children Come!

Tom Pennington Mark 10:13-16
74.

The Rich, Young Ruler - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 10:17-27
75.

The Rich, Young Ruler - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 10:17-27
76.

The First Will Be Last!

Tom Pennington Mark 10:28-31
77.

A Third Shocking Prediction

Tom Pennington Mark 10:32-34
78.

So You Want to be Great?

Tom Pennington Mark 10:35-45
79.

The Great Exchange: His Life for Mine!

Tom Pennington Mark 10:45
80.

Kyrie Eleison

Tom Pennington Mark 10:46-52
81.

A King's Entrance: Jesus Returns to Jerusalem

Tom Pennington Mark 11:1-10
82.

The Fig Tree & the Temple: Two Unforgettable Object Lessons - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 11:11-18
83.

The Fig Tree & the Temple: Two Unforgettable Object Lessons - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 11:11-18
84.

Faith to Move Mountains

Tom Pennington Mark 11:19-26
85.

By Whose Authority?

Tom Pennington Mark 11:27-33
86.

God Will Vindicate His Son! - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 12:1-12
87.

God Will Vindicate His Son! - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 12:1-12
88.

Render to Caesar: Jesus on the Role of Government

Tom Pennington Mark 12:13-17
89.

Jesus Publicly Affirms the Resurrection!

Tom Pennington Mark 12:18-27
90.

What Commandment Is the Greatest?

Tom Pennington Mark 12:28-34
91.

The Psalm That Proves Messiah Is God

Tom Pennington Mark 12:35-37
92.

Unmasking False Religion

Tom Pennington Mark 12:38-40
93.

The Widow's Mite: A Misunderstood Story with a Shocking Lesson

Tom Pennington Mark 12:41-44
94.

Not One Stone!

Tom Pennington Mark 13:1-2
95.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
96.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
97.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 3

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
98.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 4

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
99.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 5

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
100.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 6

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
101.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 7

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
102.

The Future According to Jesus - Part 8

Tom Pennington Mark 13:3-37
103.

The Conspiracy to Murder Jesus

Tom Pennington Mark 14:1-2
104.

The Worship Jesus Praises

Tom Pennington Mark 14:3-9
105.

The Passover Plot

Tom Pennington Mark 14:10-16
106.

Betrayed!

Tom Pennington Mark 14:17-21
107.

The Lord's Supper

Tom Pennington Mark 14:22-26
108.

Unfaithful Disciples & A Faithful Lord

Tom Pennington Mark 14:27-31
109.

Gethsemane! - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 14:32-42
110.

Gethsemane! - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 14:32-42
111.

The Illegal Arrest of Jesus of Nazareth - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 14:43-52
112.

The Illegal Arrest of Jesus of Nazareth - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 14:43-52
113.

Travesty of Justice: The Jewish Trial of Jesus - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 14:53-65
114.

Travesty of Justice: The Jewish Trial of Jesus - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 14:53-65
115.

When a Disciple Denies His Lord

Tom Pennington Mark 14:66-72
116.

Jesus Before Pilate - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 15:1-5
117.

Jesus Before Pilate - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 15:1-5
118.

The Great Exchange

Tom Pennington Mark 15:6-15
119.

The Soldiers' Game

Tom Pennington Mark 15:16-20
120.

The Crucifixion

Tom Pennington Mark 15:21-26
121.

The Comedy at Calvary

Tom Pennington Mark 15:27-32
122.

The Death of God's Only Son - Part 1

Tom Pennington Mark 15:33-39
123.

The Death of God's Only Son - Part 2

Tom Pennington Mark 15:33-39
124.

Dead and Buried

Tom Pennington Mark 15:40-47
125.

April 9, 30 AD

Tom Pennington Mark 16:1-8
126.

The Biblical Case for the Resurrection

Tom Pennington Selected Scriptures
127.

The End of the Story

Tom Pennington Mark 16:9-20
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