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Jesus Tried Her Faith
Matthew 15:27, 'But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs.'
MATTHEW 15:21-39; MARK 7:24-37; 8:1-10
It is very clear in scripture that Jesus was sent to fulfill God's covenant to the Jews. However, it was equally clear that Jesus would open up faith unto the Gentiles. Jesus certainly knew this, and had already ministered to numerous Gentiles without the apparent disdain that we see here with the Syro-Phoenician woman. Jesus could not have been forced into ministering to this woman's daughter if it was not His will to do so. Therefore, His silence and rough answer to this woman must have been designed to accomplish a positive...
Change Your Mind
Mark 7:21, 'For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders.'
MARK 7:17-23
These verses (21-23) further establish the fact that our heart includes more than just our spirit. Even Christians still struggle with things like pride and foolishness, which Jesus said comes out of our heart. It's certain that our born again spirit is not the source of these sins; therefore, the heart encompasses more than our spirit.
The word 'spirit' is used in different ways in scripture. The most frequent usage refers to either the Spirit of God or the spirit of man. In that context, it denotes the person of the Holy Spirit or identifies a part of our three-part being (1 Th. 5:23)....
JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Our Hearts Control Our Bodies
Mark 7:15, 'There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.'
MATTHEW 15:1-20; MARK 7:1-23
All of the Old Testament dietary laws were shadows (or pictures) of spiritual truths which would become realities in the New Covenant. These Pharisees (as well as many Christians today) missed all of the spiritual significance of these laws and saw only the physical act.
The real spiritual meaning that these Old Testament dietary laws symbolized was that we were supposed to be holy (separated) unto God in everything - even what we eat. Under the Old Testament law, it was forbidden to eat or to touch certain...
Tradition Neutralizes
Mark 7:13, 'Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.'
MARK 7:1-13
Deuteronomy 4:2 clearly states 'Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it . . . .' This same thought is repeated in the New Testament in Revelation 22:18-19 with very stiff penalties. Religious man is very swift to observe the part about not diminishing any of God's commandments, but there seems to be an unwritten law that adding to them is okay. Every denomination has its own set of 'do's and don'ts' which aren't found in scripture, and like those of the hypocritical Pharisees, their unwritten laws usually have to do with...
Taking Off The Masks
Mark 7:6, 'He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'
MARK 7:6-9
This is the biblical definition of a hypocrite, 'someone whose words and heart (actions) don't agree.' A hypocrite may act the part of a Christian or he may talk like Christ, but he won't do both. When both confession and action from the heart are consistent with God's Word, there is salvation (Rom. 10:9-10).
The word 'hypocrite' comes from the Greek word 'hupokrites,' meaning 'the playing of a part on the stage; an actor.' It was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to use large masks, when acting, to disguise their...
The Law Is Not Of Faith
Mark 7:2, 'And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.'
MARK 7:1-7
Man looks on the outward appearance (this is what the scribes and Pharisees were concerned with), but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Jesus looked on men's hearts. The Old Testament laws concerning washing served a secondary purpose of hygiene, but as stated in Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 9:1,9-10, their real purpose was to shadow or illustrate spiritual truth.
Defiled food may hurt our bodies, but it cannot reach our spirits (Jn. 3:6).
The scribes and Pharisees missed the principle of spiritual purity taught by the Old Testament ordinances and...