Reflective Bible Study

Continuing our year in Mark’s gospel, we come to one of the most shocking events in Jesus’ life, and an event that likely stood out in the disciples’ minds for how Jesus appears to be mean in this case. While Jesus routinely has harsh words for religious leaders who should know better, this case is different. Jesus chooses to be mean to someone coming asking for His help.

Those of you who have listened for a while or who are familiar with Jesus’ life will likely know what event we are focusing in on in this passage, so let’s dive in and discover what we can learn, and what Jesus is trying to teach us in this event. Our passage and event are found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 24, Mark tells us that:

²⁴ Jesus went from there to a place near Tyre. He entered a house. He did not want anyone to know where he was. But he could not keep it a secret. ²⁵ Soon a woman heard about him. An evil spirit controlled her little daughter. The woman came to Jesus and fell at his feet. ²⁶ She was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “That was a good reply. You may go. The demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰ So she went home and found her child lying on the bed. And the demon was gone.

In this short event and miracle, Jesus first does something that is very uncharacteristic of Him. We might even call Jesus out for being not politically correct on multiple levels. Not only does Jesus subtly call this woman a dog, but He alludes to her entire race as being lower than that of the Jews.

As I have read the gospels, this event stands out as one of the meanest things Jesus ever does. This event oddly paints Jesus as being unChristlike, if that is even possible.

However, since Jesus is Christ, why might Jesus have insulted this gentile woman like He did? Since this is Jesus, He must have a reason for this cruelty. In at least one other gospel that includes this event, I believe it alluded to this woman following Jesus asking repeatedly for help while Jesus initially ignores her. So not only do we see Jesus ignore this request, but He also insults the requester when finally acknowledging her.

But why? Why does Jesus seem to single out this request and push back in what appears to be a mean way? Could we even call this love?

In this event, I see two big questions that challenge us to look deeper than the surface. Both of these questions would not be possible to ask if Jesus had responded in a more typical fashion. Like the gospel writers share in other parts of the gospel, Jesus was aware of the hearts and minds of those around Him and I believe He sensed He could use this event to teach His followers a couple of lessons.

The first lesson we can learn from this passage is one of the most challenging lessons we face in our lives. This lesson comes from the question: Does your faith persist if it meets resistance or hostility?

While it is never pleasant to think of Jesus being mean or hostile towards someone, we discover through this woman’s persistence that she wouldn’t leave Jesus alone until He had helped her. From what the gospel writers include, I can conclude that nothing Jesus would have done or said would have stopped this woman from persisting in her belief and her request for Jesus’ help. When our faith meets resistance or hostility, will we give up and abandon our faith, or will we continue persisting. We were never promised easy, simple lives, and one reason this might be the case is that an easy life produces only weak faith. Persistence and resistance together strengthen faith, and because of this, our faith can only be strengthened in less than easy environments.

Through Jesus’ resistance to this woman and her request, we see a faith that persists regardless of the obstacles present. This woman is an amazing example for us to model!

The second lesson we see in this passage is one that focuses more on Jesus. While the first lesson teaches us through the woman’s example, the second lesson teaches us through Jesus’ example. While we might look at this event and call Jesus out for being unloving, when we do this, we are met with the question: Is true love based on what you say, or is love based on what you do?

While it is easy to say that both what you say and what you do are important in the discussion of love, if you could only pick one, which would it be? If we look at what Jesus does in this passage and ignore what He says or doesn’t say, we simply see a miracle. Except that we don’t see a miracle directly, but we see Jesus promise the miracle and the woman accepting Jesus’ word.

This leads us to conclude that if we were to define love based on this event, love at its core is more about what we do and less about what we say. While Jesus didn’t walk around looking for people He could be openly mean to, in this event Jesus draws our attention onto the stereotype of the culture that looked down on others, and Jesus challenges us to help other people, even if culture tells us that we should be hostile or mean to them instead.

Jesus came as a Messiah for all humanity, not simply for a single race, religion, or sub-group of people. Jesus came to redeem sinners, and everyone in this world is defined this way regardless of whether you belief in God or whether you believe sin even exists.

As a follower of Jesus, we are called to display Jesus’ love. While this love should also include being kind with our words, it is much more important for us to be kind in our actions. Jesus was clearly kind with what He did in this event, and this was in spite of culture pushing Him to be cruel or mean.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally and purposefully seek God first in your life and choose to show His love to the world around you. Understand that love is more than simply words. Love includes our actions, our kindness, and our stepping out to help others who are from a different social group or social circle. Jesus helped people who were different from Him even if society told Him He should be exclusive, and Jesus challenged His followers to help others like He did.

Also, like the woman, we should be persistent in our faith and not let resistance or hostility change our faith, our hope, or our belief in Jesus.

Continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to grow and strengthen your faith and your relationship with Jesus, and don’t let anyone or anything get in between you and God. God wants a personal relationship with you. For a relationship to be truly personal, it cannot have anyone standing between you and God, or specifically you and Jesus. Intentionally focus on growing your personal relationship with God!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

In our last episode, we focused on the trip Jesus takes across the lake and how a severe storm sweeps across the water scaring all the disciples while Jesus slept peacefully. I had not realized the connection between that event and the one we will be focusing in on in this episode, because when we look at how the gospel writers structure this event, the miracle we will be focusing in on in this episode happens when Jesus and the disciples reach land. It is as though Satan did not want Jesus to reach this shore and meet the man who lived there.

But remember, one big theme in all of Jesus’ miracles and ministry is that God is stronger than Satan, and nothing would stop Jesus from making this trip to someone who needed God’s help.

While this miracle is included in three of the four gospels, let’s read it from Luke’s gospel to discover what happened. This miracle is found in Luke, chapter 8, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 26, Luke tells us that:

²⁶ [Jesus and His disciples] sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ²⁹ For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

³⁰ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ³¹ And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

³² A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. ³³ When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

Let’s pause reading here to focus in on what has just happened. When reading this event, it appears as though Jesus has made a special trip across the lake just to meet this demon possessed man, and from the description Luke gives us, there was no way this man would have gone to Jesus. The legion of demons living inside of him would not have allowed it.

However, I bet this man had friends or relatives who wished he would be made well, and in the absence of a family or friend’s prayer, this man had a Creator who loved him very much.

We discover in this passage that when this man was unable to come to Jesus, Jesus makes the special trip to visit him. When we are unable to come to God, God is more than willing to come to us. While we were actively sinning and rebelling against God, Christ came to this earth. This event displays on a small scale what God did through Jesus for all of humanity and we’ve barely scratched the surface of the miracle itself!

Another theme we’ve looked at previously in this year of miracles, is that we cannot trust what comes from a demon’s mouth. However, it is interesting that we don’t read Jesus telling this demon to be quiet. Perhaps this was because there was no crowd around and no one to misinterpret the demons’ message.

When Jesus met this demon, we discover more details regarding what all the demons might have collectively said if given the chance. This legion of demons acknowledges Jesus’ divinity, and then they make the claim that Jesus would send them into the torturous abyss when given the chance.

What is interesting in my mind is where the demons’ get the idea that Jesus would sentence them to torture if He wanted to. I don’t see any hint of Jesus sentencing any demon who He cast out of a person to a place of torture or to an abyss. This then strongly suggests that this is the devil’s lie in the words that are spoken. Satan likes to mix truth and lies, and when we look for the lie, we need look no further than here. While there is a judgment reserved for Satan and His angels, there is no hint anywhere in scriptures that this judgment happened the moment a person was freed from an evil spirit.

Judgment happened when Jesus faced the cross, and another phase of judgment happens when Jesus returns. Neither of these things had happened at the point we are looking at in this event, and that means that we now see a big piece of the devil’s lie.

Through this legion of demons, we learn of a place of eternal torment given to those who reject God. Does this sound like today’s cultural description of hell?

While Satan and his angels have every right to fear a place like this if it exists, if the only places we see scripture describe a place like this is through the mouths of demons, then the very existence of this type of hell could also be an elaborate lie Satan has used to turn God into a villain. God definitely describes a time of judgment in the Bible, but God’s description of this judgment is one that has an end. God doesn’t ever describe a continual judging or condemning of sinners throughout eternity.

(I will point out here that the Old Testament description of smoke continually rising that is oftentimes used in support of a place like these demons describe in this passage simply describes smoke. Smoke can exist after a flame has been extinguished, and a flame that has finished consuming its fuel will ultimately go out. In other words, Isaiah’s concluding remarks only give evidence that a fire has occurred, but not that there is one that is forever burning.)

However, we have hit a place in this episode where we have run out of time. While there are plenty of other things we could focus in on in this passage, instead of trying to rush it into the last little portion of this episode, let’s wait and focus on the last portion of this event in our next episode.

With that said, as we come to the end of this podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

Intentionally seek God first and trust Him to keep you safe throughout eternity. When faced with ideas or theories that contradict God’s character or what we can clearly read in the Bible, choose to believe the Bible over what culture wants to push us to think and believe. Culture jumps between fads. The Bible stands as an unchanging anchor that represents God’s love, His character, and His interest in saving you and me for eternity.

Also, always pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and mature into the person God created you to be. Intentionally study to grow closer to God and take your questions to Him and His word. God is more than happy to meet you in the pages of your Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, or chicken out of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!