{"id":543,"date":"2023-04-14T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=543&2023"},"modified":"2023-04-11T18:00:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T00:00:10","slug":"praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/","title":{"rendered":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: Mark 7:31-37 (NIV)<\/div>
\r\n

31\u00a0<\/sup>Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32\u00a0<\/sup>There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.<\/p>

33\u00a0<\/sup>After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man\u2019s ears. Then he spit and touched the man\u2019s tongue. 34\u00a0<\/sup>He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, \u201cEphphatha!\u201d<\/i> (which means \u201cBe opened!\u201d). 35\u00a0<\/sup>At this, the man\u2019s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.<\/p>

36\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37\u00a0<\/sup>People were overwhelmed with amazement. \u201cHe has done everything well,\u201d they said. \u201cHe even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Read Mark 7:31-37<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Something interesting I find in this passage is what Mark does not say about the crowd\u2019s reaction. Perhaps this is because Mark leaves a detail out, or perhaps this may have been the big distinction between the crowds who brought people to Jesus in the gospel of Mark when compared to the crowds that Matthew describes.<\/p>\r\n

Our passage ends by saying, \u201cPeople were overwhelmed with amazement. \u2018He has done everything well,\u2019 they said. \u2018He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.\u2019<\/strong>\u201d (v. 37)<\/p>\r\n

While this doesn\u2019t sound odd, or like it is missing anything, when we bring in a similar event where Jesus heals many people from a different gospel, we see something else included. From Matthew\u2019s gospel, we find the following verse to describe the crowd\u2019s reaction to Jesus\u2019 healing miracles: \u201cThe people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.<\/strong>\u201d (Matthew 15:31)<\/p>\r\n

Matthew draws our attention to the fact that the crowd \u201cpraised the God of Israel<\/strong>\u201d. This is important because Mark does not include this detail, and also in Mark, we see Jesus pulling the disabled man away from the crowd in order to heal Him. Jesus does not do this in Matthew.<\/p>\r\n

Perhaps it is because these two crowds see Jesus\u2019 ministry differently: the crowd in Mark wants to elevate Jesus as the great healer, while the crowd in Matthew sees Jesus as someone who God has chosen to work miracles through. Mark\u2019s crowd sees Jesus as an extraordinary human, while Matthew\u2019s crowd sees Jesus as someone sent from God.<\/p>\r\n

This could be why Matthew\u2019s crowd is not pushed away in this case while Jesus is healing, whereas Mark\u2019s crowd is subtly told to \u201cwait over there\u201d while Jesus takes the man aside to heal him.<\/p>\r\n

This makes me understand that Jesus wanted people to see Him as someone who God had sent to them. Jesus wanted to point people to God the Father as His source. Jesus did what He did to give glory to the Father, and it seemed that He tried to avoid situations where the glory would only go to Himself.<\/p>\r\n

This also tells me that if I am to \u201cbe like Jesus\u201d, I should focus on pointing people to God the Father (and Jesus)<\/em> rather than drawing people towards looking at me.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Something interesting I find in this passage is what Mark does not say about the crowd\u2019s reaction. Perhaps this is because Mark leaves a detail out, or perhaps this may have been the big distinction between the crowds who brought people to Jesus in the gospel of Mark when compared to the crowds that Matthew […]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nPraising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Something interesting I find in this passage is what Mark does not say about the crowd\u2019s reaction. Perhaps this is because Mark leaves a detail out, or perhaps this may have been the big distinction between the crowds who brought people to Jesus in the gospel of Mark when compared to the crowds that Matthew […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/\",\"name\":\"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"Something interesting I find in this passage is what Mark does not say about the crowd\u2019s reaction. Perhaps this is because Mark leaves a detail out, or perhaps this may have been the big distinction between the crowds who brought people to Jesus in the gospel of Mark when compared to the crowds that Matthew […]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37","datePublished":"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/"},"wordCount":615,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/","name":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-14T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/praising-the-god-of-israel-mark-7-31-37\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Praising the God of Israel: Mark 7:31-37"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God's Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}