Broadening the Disciple Scope of Ministry

September 11, 2022

Scripture referenced 6 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 34 quoted in passing as the source of 'Taste and see that the Lord is good' before the congregation stood

1 I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Depart from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it.
15 Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.
16 Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
20 He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse

John 8:12

introduced before singing 'King of Kings'; Jesus says 'I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light that leads to eternal life'

12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Matthew 15:21-38

identified as the primary passage for the sermon covering the Syrophoenician woman and the feeding of the 4,000

21 Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

22 Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”

23 But he answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.”

24 But he answered, “I wasn’t sent to anyone but the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25 But she came and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

26 But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

27 But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

29 Jesus departed from there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there.

30 Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them,

31 so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the injured healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”

33 The disciples said to him, “Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”

34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

35 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;

36 and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.

37 They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Mark 7

identified alongside Matthew 15 as covering the same events including the deaf man healed in the Decapolis

1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.

2 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.

3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews, don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.

4 They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.)

5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

6 He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”

9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’

11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is to say, given to God”;’

12 then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,

13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

14 He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.

15 There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.

16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

17 When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable.

18 He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him,

19 because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?”

20 He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.

21 For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,

22 covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

24 From there he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn’t want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice.

25 For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet.

26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.

27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29 He said to her, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

30 She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.

31 Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis.

32 They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him.

33 He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.

34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.

36 He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.

37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Mark 8

identified as part of the passage covering the feeding of the 4,000 and the return to Magadan

1 In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to himself, and said to them,

2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.

3 If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long way.”

4 His disciples answered him, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?”

5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.”

6 He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve, and they served the multitude.

7 They had a few small fish. Having blessed them, he said to serve these also.

8 They ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

9 Those who had eaten were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.

10 Immediately he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came into the region of Dalmanutha.

11 The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, and testing him.

12 He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

13 He left them, and again entering into the boat, departed to the other side.

14 They forgot to take bread; and they didn’t have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

15 He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

16 They reasoned with one another, saying, “It’s because we have no bread.”

17 Jesus, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Don’t you perceive yet, neither understand? Is your heart still hardened?

18 Having eyes, don’t you see? Having ears, don’t you hear? Don’t you remember?

19 When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.”

20 “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Seven.”

21 He asked them, “Don’t you understand yet?”

22 He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him.

23 He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spat on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.

24 He looked up, and said, “I see men; for I see them like trees walking.”

25 Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He looked intently, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.

26 He sent him away to his house, saying, “Don’t enter into the village, nor tell anyone in the village.”

27 Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”

28 They told him, “John the Baptizer, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets.”

29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

30 He commanded them that they should tell no one about him.

31 He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 He spoke to them openly. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

33 But he, turning around, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men.”

34 He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.

36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?

37 For what will a man give in exchange for his life?

38 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in his Father’s glory, with the holy angels.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Mark 7:31

quoted to show Jesus leaving Tyre, going through Sidon, and arriving in the region of the Decapolis

31 Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Mark opened the service on September 11, 2022 by walking through a stretch of Matthew 15 and Mark 7-8 that shows Jesus deliberately moving his disciples past the borders of what they knew. The question underneath the whole passage is whether God's compassion stops at the edge of your own people, and the answer Jesus gives, in action more than words, is that it does not.

What was said

Pastor Mark started with geography, not as a detour but as the point. He pulled up Google Earth and walked through the actual scale of the region where Jesus ministered, noting that the whole territory fits within roughly the distance from Smoot to Buffalo Valley. The Sea of Galilee is seven miles wide. The places in these chapters are real, close together, and deliberately chosen by Jesus as he moved outside the territory where he had been working.

By this point in the chronological study, Jesus had completed what the charts call his later Galilean ministry. He had sent the disciples out into Jewish towns and told them to stay away from Gentile ones, because they were not ready. But now something shifts. He heads toward Tyre and Sidon, into Syrophoenicia, territory that is culturally, religiously, and linguistically different from everything the disciples had known with him.

There he encounters a Syrophoenician woman, called a Canaanite by Matthew, whose daughter is demon possessed. Jesus does not answer her immediately. His disciples urge him to send her away. Pastor Mark suggested that when Jesus says he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then compares her people to dogs under the table, he is not speaking to her so much as holding up a mirror to his disciples. The woman refuses to be dismissed. She says even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table, and Jesus responds by calling her faith great and healing her daughter at once.

From there Jesus loops around through Sidon and down to the Decapolis, a predominantly Roman region. The last time he had been there, he healed one man of a legion of demons and left him behind, telling him to go tell his people what God had done. That man had been doing exactly that. So when Jesus arrives this time, crowds come out to him, and he heals them in the same way he healed Jewish crowds. Matthew notes that they glorified the God of Israel, people who had been polytheists, recognizing something in what they were seeing.

Then comes the feeding. A crowd of roughly four thousand men plus women and children has been with Jesus for three days and has nothing to eat. His disciples ask where anyone could possibly find enough bread in such a desolate place. Pastor Mark stopped there and let the question hang. They had asked the same question before the feeding of the five thousand, just one chapter earlier, and in a Jewish context. Now in a Gentile context they ask it again, as though the lesson had not transferred. Jesus feeds the four thousand the same way he fed the five thousand, starting with what is in hand, giving thanks, breaking it and passing it through the disciples to the crowd.

Pastor Mark's conclusion was that Jesus was not simply performing miracles. He was showing his disciples, deliberately, that what he does for one group he does for another. The Pharisees waiting back on the familiar shore demanding a sign represent people who have already decided God is on their side alone. Jesus refuses them a sign and walks away. The church, Pastor Mark said, is chosen the same way Israel was chosen, not to be the only ones, but to carry a message and bring others in.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The pastor talked about how Jesus was patient with his disciples, showing them the same lessons repeatedly rather than all at once. Where in your own life have you seen God extend that same patience toward you?
When the Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus, the pastor suggested that Jesus was being sarcastic with the disciples to expose their own prejudice, not to push the woman away. How does that reading of the passage change the way you understand what Jesus was doing in that moment?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 6,121 words

Find in this transcript

Speaker 1Around the

Speaker 2Alright. We just got the thumbs up. Good morning, everybody. How are you? Glad to see you this morning.

Speaker 1Hey.

Speaker 2Could we stand and sing together? I'd love to sing the song lion and the lamb. Two names used for Jesus, the victorious and conquering lion of the tribe of Judah, and at the same time, Jesus is the lamb who took away the sins of the world. But let's sing it. And let's say, who can stop the Lord Almighty?

Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty?

Speaker 1Got a few announcements this morning. First of all, Monday night's at first week. Carl, what's happening?

Speaker 2Yes. We are on down the hall tomorrow night, 06:00 meal, music message. It would be like a a pasta dish of some kind, but, we're in Philippians. In Philippians chapter two tomorrow, and it is so good. It's about having the attitude of Christ.

But what I love about these verses we're studying tomorrow is it shows the motivation for having the attitude of Christ. So please know that it's another worship gathering. You're invited to join.

Speaker 1That's one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. Connect hours down the hall between services. There's coffee down there, sweets, refreshments, all kinds of stuff down there. Feel free. Sisters Saved by Grace is a Bible study that's led by Nancy Baxter.

Nancy, would you stand and wave? Hey, I don't get you to do this every Sunday but that's Nancy. If you would, they're starting a new study. They actually started this last Thursday evening at 06:00. It's Thursdays at six and you can catch up with them.

It's not a problem if you missed that first one. Come on. Study God's word together, pray, and enjoy a meal together. It's a good time. Jackson Hole Women's Bible Study started this past Wednesday also.

That's in this room with various musical guests. Would you call that? Yeah. It was hopping in here. Ten to twelve Right here at Firstbeat, Deb Buckingham is teaching, but that's daytime Wednesdays, ten to twelve.

Sound booth volunteers. Oh, the sound booth volunteers skipped right over that announcement. We have a volunteer in the booth this morning, and I was told that her husband has to set up the Kindle each evening for her to read her stories. But she is working in the sound booth and doing a heck of a job. So we are getting some.

She wants to move on along. We are getting some volunteers, but we could use some more. We'd like to have a deep bench if we could to put people in when it's time. Awana is back too. This month, September 26 at 05:45.

There are still volunteers needed. I'm going to ask Mike D if he'll come forward. If you don't have a mic, you can borrow mine, Mike. Alright. Blake is chasing you down.

Speaker 3Alright. Yes, my name is Mike Demetriks. I'm the youth director here at First B and I'm also helping again with Awana this year. Last year, we weren't sure if Awana was going to happen. We made petition before the congregation just said, what can we do?

Would you guys be willing to help out? And overwhelmingly, the congregation said, yes. And we were able to put that program on and bless a ton of kids. And now the time has come this year again. We lost some volunteers due to people moving out of this town.

Are you guys familiar that sometimes people move away from here? Have you picked up on that? It happens sometimes. And we lost some volunteers this year and we've got 100% of the people that live here are coming back, which is really awesome. And we had a lot of fun, blessed a lot of kids.

We do need a few more volunteers for this year. It takes about 20 volunteers a night to bless these 40 to 60 kids that come and we pour God's truth into them. So if you're willing, if you're able, would you please consider volunteering at Awana this year? While I've got the mic, I might as well tell you. Middle school youth group has already kicked up.

High school youth group is kicking up, and we're gonna be changing I just got some incredible news this morning that we're gonna be changing the format a little bit and working with a couple other churches and organizations here in town to combine the pool of high schoolers that we have and pour some really important content and God's truth into them weekly. It'll be on Thursday nights about 06:30, 7PM. More details to come on that, but that is gonna be happening. If you know of high schoolers, please plug them in. If you know middle schoolers today at four to six, we're gonna be playing kickball at Matiosky Park, so please send them there.

Speaker 1Matiosky Park is just a couple blocks that way.

Speaker 3Right here at the fairgrounds.

Speaker 1Yes, So the it'll be fun. Thank you. Cool. Thanks, Mike. Oh, a kitchen whiz bang.

Back to that. We use thesaurus.com. We're looking for a kind word for somebody that will take care of the kitchen, somebody that will manage the kitchen. And we have had somebody doing it for several years, but it's time to pass that on away. So if you want to be the new kitchen whiz bang, ordering supplies and getting ready and making sure that we have what we need in there, let us know.

Please see the office. Let Nick or Diane know about that. It is in years. And And so time screening or Nancy Toracciano is in screening The Chosen down the hall. So all Fridays that are not the first Friday of the month, she's doing that.

06:00 in the evening. We have started putting these little cards in the seat backs in front of you again. So if you would like to fill that out with a prayer request or an encouraging word, I said last week, or discouraging word, whatever you want to write on there, write on there. And somebody wrote the kindest thing, and put it into the plates when the offering plates passed. You're welcome to communicate with us that way if you would like, and they're just there.

Old Bills. Yesterday, at Old Bills, there was this community turns out in force. And you know the 300 and something charitable organizations in the town, the reason a lot of them are based here is because of Old Bills, the way that, that operates. We had a booth, Nick and Mark and Lindsay and Jackson were there making balloons all day long at Scott Schnieder. They're making balloon animals and handing them out to people.

So if you saw him with a balloon animal hat, it was probably made by Nick or Mark or Lindsay And wandering around. Old Bills helps amplify giving. If you want to give a charitable gift, you still have a few days to do that. The giving season is open through the sixteenth of this year. And I think that that's is that the last one?

That is. Alright. Anything I've forgotten? Suggestions? No?

Would you stand? Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34. Glad you're here.

Speaker 2God, thank you for the privilege of being able to do just this Yes. To glorify you, to exalt you. God, you are worthy of our praise. You truly are. Yes.

Amen. God, would you mark make our hearts tender and soft toward you this morning. And we sing with all sincerity, lifting you up in Jesus' name. Amen. God, we sing it, but I also want to pray it this morning.

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, whatever is before us, that you would still be our vision, our treasure. In Jesus' name, amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service. I'll invite the ushers to come on forward.

We're gonna sing king of kings from John eight twelve. This is one of my favorite verses. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Think about that for a second. The light of the world.

Whoever will whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light that leads to eternal life. Before we sing, Ray, would you pray?

Speaker 1God almighty, so thankful, to be here this morning. God, we ask for you to give us the blessing of peace that we may extend it to the rest of this world. In Jesus' name, Lord, we're thankful to have been exposed to your word, your life changing word, to Jesus, to his teachings, Lord, but to him, to his sacrifice, to everything, Lord, that he did to reconcile us to you. In Jesus' name, Lord, we want to live and move and have our being. We want to do that.

In Jesus' name, Lord, show us what that means. Would you show us what that means? God, I pray that you would expand our minds this morning, expand our hearts this morning to include the uttermost parts of the world, to include the people that we currently are just kind of brazen towards unthinkingly. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that you would use these resources that we place in these plates to do your kingdom's work, Lord. Would you surpass our limitations by your spirit.

In Jesus' name, amen. Includes separately middle school and high school guys and gals too. Downstairs, there's a class for you. That last song got to me, Carl. I might need a moment.

God, you're so good. This morning. Last week was heavy. Some of y'all I'm I'm looking around. Some of y'all were here last week.

Some of y'all decided not to come back this week. It was it was heavy. It was heavy on all of us. Carl summed up the sermon afterwards with Jesus, nobody is safe. With Jesus' teaching, all of us have something to learn.

Absolutely, all of us have something to learn. So, broadening the disciple scope of ministry, I believe is what the scripture is about today. Matthew fifteen twenty one through 38 and then Mark seven and part of eight, is about the same thing. But I I want to personalize it. So I'm going to do that with geography review.

No, sorry. My favorite class in college was geography. I just love it. I think that it's interesting how these little geopolitical lines change over time is interesting. How culture is, is interesting.

I'm from West Central Georgia. I'm not from Middle Georgia, and I'm not from South Georgia, and I'm not from East Alabama. I'm from West Central Georgia. And the culture of that place is very different from the culture of this place, right? I love both.

I love both. I've got people that grew up 90 miles from me that we sound the same to you all, but I know where they're from just by listening to them. Do you all know what I'm talking about? You can be one side of a little line, whether it's imaginary line or not, you can be on one side of that. And when you cross over that line, it's like a whole different country, right?

We live within 50 miles of the Mexican border for seven years, but we came back and forth a lot. And culturally, there are some similarities there. But man, the primary language changes, the primary religion changes, just on that little bit. So here we are. Actually, I did this in my office, so there I was.

But this is Google Earth. They can pinpoint you. My goodness. Yeah. It's amazing.

The technology is amazing. That little blue dot right there between Cash and Glenwood on Kelly is where we sit this morning. And if you go a little more bird's eye and you see just part of the town of Jackson or you see the whole town of Jackson headed towards Wilson or you get up a little further and you're starting to see our region of the Intermountain West or you see, here we are. And you back a lake, Oh, Great Lakes. That tells us where we are.

We're in the good old US Of A. But if you'll take just a moment and let that earth turn, cross the Atlantic, and get on over here. You know, the culture changes a whole lot in that much space, right? I mean, just to the East Coast Of The U. S.

Is a wide difference, we're reminded often. North Africa. Less than 60 miles over there from Spain to North Africa. It's not much time at all to get from one to the other, but man, what a change. Well, if we keep on and we start zooming in again right here, this is what we're going to do today.

Get a little closer to this little spot that you all are used to seeing cartoon maps of this area. That all of Jesus' life was spent most likely in that frame right there. And it's not as big as you think. Like, the area is just not as big as you think. From Smoot, Wyoming.

You know where Smoot is? From Smoot, Wyoming to Buffalo Valley. That's the scope of where we're talking about. That's just a couple, maybe three counties here in Wyoming. But that is this area.

And we're used to seeing, like I said, little cartoon maps like that one. And they tell us where things happen. And it's nice to have those, but I want you to root yourself in the real world. This is, something that really happened. And as free flowing as the ministry of Jesus seemed to happen, he was leading people into understanding, and they kept on getting tripped up by their preconceived notions.

And they said it over and over. And sometimes we read that and go, I'd be embarrassed. I'd be absolutely ashamed to have said that. But he's revealing things to them gradually and teaching the lessons over and over again. Thank God he does that.

Thank God that he's patient with us. Right? That he does that. He doesn't show us all of our sin all at once. Thank God.

Because I think it'd kill us. So as we zoom in here, I want to this is the scope of the teaching today, just Matthew 15, Mark seven and eight. Now that's 20 miles right there. So the Sea Of Galilee is not an ocean. It's only about seven miles wide.

It's only about 12 miles long. It's not huge. If you were to look at it, spread it out, the whole area we're looking at today is 80 miles wide. And that's all the way to the coast. It's really not that far.

And only a 100 miles top to bottom. So there we are. That hopefully will help ground us. Oh gracious. I'm not going to go through this whole chart.

I love these kind of things though. This is a bird's eye view of the ministry and life and ministry of Jesus, the life of Christ. And so it starts with his birth in Bethlehem. And so it's got, you know, all of these different places, but Judea, birthplace, Judea. And it goes through his life.

This is how much we've covered so far in our chronological study of Jesus' life in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Gospels. This is how much we've covered in the last few months, Just up to there. Now you see let me borrow something from here. I'm sure I have a better pointer than this. But you see his early Galilean ministry is right here, and then this is his later Galilean ministry.

He's been in Galilee. Everything that we've talked about from him being rejected at Nazareth, pretty much everything we've mentioned in here has been his later Galilean ministry. But something's going to change today. Now, he's been teaching these lessons and he has sent out his disciples and we talked about it a few weeks ago. He sent them out into all of these towns, and it said, don't go into any of the Gentile towns.

Don't do that. You're not ready for that. That's what he's saying. I'll go into your towns, but you go, you go out into these towns and you minister and cast out demons. And he gave them the authority to do that kind of stuff, and they have just like a little time.

You see the they call it the circuit to the first circuit, second circuit, third circuit in Galilee. But today, we're gonna see him go out of Galilee. And that's what we're looking at today. So there is your map. That should satisfy the map people.

Some of you are really into that. We're gonna talk about the Decapolis today. The Decapolis was 10 cities. If you listen to 10 different lists, you'll get seven different versions of it. Pliny gives us these 10 cities in black right here.

That's the Decapolis. There are 10 cities. They're mostly on the other side of the Jordan. Sythopolis is the only one that's not. But that area is where we're going to end up today.

Actually, we're going to pass through today and end up back here. Now Jesus got up and he went from there to the region of Tyre. I heard this morning that somebody in the room is originally from this area and I thought my geography was really good. If I mess up, forgive me. That's Tyre right there.

I know where that is, no doubt. It's in Syrophoenicia. It's in Phoenicia at the time, what now is, Syria or Lebanon. Tyre is right there. Matthew puts it this way, Jesus went away from there and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon.

So Tyre and Sidon are that close together. They're both in Phoenicia or they're near nearbouts, but that's the region. Now, if you've been paying attention, what we have been going through, Jesus has thoroughly covered Galilee. He's been all over Galilee. First, second, third circuit's now completed.

He has been down to Jerusalem and back through Samaria one time by this point that we know about from the gospel of John, and he has thoroughly covered Galilee again. He probably went down to Jerusalem more times than are listed in scripture, but it was a normal course for people to do that. He also, a few weeks back, we studied how he went across into the Decapolis. He went across to Gadara, Garrasa, and he met up with a guy who charged them from the tombs who was filled with legion demons. And at that, he put that man out of his misery by removing the demons.

They went into a herd of pigs which hurt the economy of area and the people said, get away from us. Sent him back away. The man wanted to go with him. This is just review. The man wanted to go with him but Jesus said, no, you stay here and tell all of your people what God has done for you.

So, he leaves this guy behind and it's kind of a sad moment really for somebody thinking, Jesus just set him free and he left him alone. No. Jesus has a plan. He's coming back. So, he goes back across the Sea Of Galilee.

I don't have the little line for this one And he heals and he does what he does. He carries a message and authenticates it with miracles. And then he hears of John the Baptist's death. And he retreats to Bethsaida just on the other side of the River Jordan, but still in Galilee. Right up here, that's Bethsaida.

Right there up on the hillside. And he sees people, and he has compassion on them because they're like sheep without a shepherd. And he then feeds 5,000. Now it says, and these people recognized him as the prophet that Moses spoke of him knowing that they were going to take him by force and make him their king. These are Jewish people.

They want that because he fed them. And Jesus sends his disciples away, and he goes to be alone with God and then walks across the sea. We saw that a couple weeks ago. He was intending to pass by, but the disciples saw him. And as they get to the other side, they keep on ministering.

It's just what they do. And then the 5,000, the news of the five feeding the 5,000 comes across. And so Jesus seems to be in a mode where his publicity is growing very, very, very rapidly, and he is looking for some rest. See at Galilee today, Tyre and Sidon. When he had entered the house, he wanted no one to know about it.

Can you see that he's trying to take a little retreat? And yet he couldn't escape notice. After hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile of Syrophoenician descent. Makes sense because that's where they are.

And she repeatedly asked him to cast the demon out of her daughter. That's Mark's version. Mark's version is primarily for Romans. Matthew's version is primarily for Jewish folks. And a Canaanite woman.

Listen to that. How long does a prejudice have to hang on? From the Old Testament. Canaan doesn't even exist. It hadn't existed forever.

Long, long, long, long time. And a Canaanite woman, Matthew says, from that region came out and began to cry out saying, have mercy on me, Lord, son of David. Lord, son of David. She seems to know about him and have faith in him. Have mercy on me, lord, son of David.

My daughter is severely demon possessed but he did not answer her with even a word and his disciples came up and urged him saying, come on, Jesus. Send her away. She keeps on shouting at us. She's bothering us. This Canaanite woman.

Dog, Gentile, woman, foreigner. Send her away. She keeps on shouting at us. But Jesus answered and said, oh, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I wish I had a sarcasm font.

I'd use it. He said to her? He said to her. He said, oh, I'm so sorry. I was just sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Mark says and he was saying, oh, let the children be satisfied first for it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs. I've got resources. Yes. I could do that. But it's for these people.

It's just for our people. Me and my four no more. Right? But she answered and said to him, yeah. Yes, Lord.

But even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs. This is not a big deal for you. And he said to her, Because of this word, because of this answer, your word, lady, because you said that, I think he got a big smile on his face. She got what was going on. He said to her, because of this answer, you go.

The demon has gone out of your daughter from a distance. And after going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon was gone. Amen. She came and began to bow down before him saying, Lord, help me. Yet he answered and said, it's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

Yes, she said, Lord, but please help. Even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And then Jesus said, oh woman, your faith is great. Remember the lady who touched the hem of his garment stopped the whole show on the way to Jairus' house and says, it's your faith that has made you whole. He calls it out again here at Matthew.

Woman, your faith is great. It shall be done for you just as you desire and her daughter was healed at once. Okay, that's the first part of the story. That's already broadening for the disciple scope of ministry. He's shown them that anybody that comes to him seeking will find.

And he's willing and he's waiting even though he was being sarcastic for them, not for her. Okay. Do you get that? That he was doing that to show them their prejudice. Mark seven thirty one goes on.

And again, he left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea Of Galilee. So that's actually Tyre up to Sidon and then around. He's taken a loop going places that it does not appear that they have been together before. Oh, how literally that is tracking with the metaphorical. He left the region Tyre, came through Sidon to the Sea Of Galilee within the region of Decapolis.

Okay. So he's walked around the shore and he's coming down to Decapolis. They've been here one time before. They healed one guy that we know of. And they brought to him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking.

They begged him to lay his hand on him and Jesus took him aside from the crowd by himself. He put his fingers in his ears and after spitting, gracious Jesus, he touched his tongue with the saliva. And looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, he said to him, Ephesians, that is be opened. And his ears were opened. At the word of the Lord.

Wow. And the impediment of his tongue was removed and 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. Now when he left that guy that he had taken, set free from the demons, legion demons, he said, you go tell everybody. So his fame was spreading, but it was just at the word of that guy.

But it was the word of a guy who had been lost but now was found. It was a guy who had been set free. There is no good theological argument against a transformed life. Okay? You might hear all kinds of deconstructionists right now that are arguing for theology being flawed.

But if Jesus has transformed your life, you tell that first person, there's no good argument against that. If he sets you free, free indeed. He gave orders not to tell anyone, but the more that he ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. And they were utterly astonished saying, he's done all things well. He makes even those who are deaf hear and those who are unable to talk speak.

So this is in a Roman area. The Decapolis was not Jewish. The culture was very, very, very, very, very different as evidenced by the fact that they had fields of pigs. Right? They were seeing this and understanding it firsthand for the first time, and he's done all things well.

That's their verdict. Okay, but Matthew. We're gonna go mark Matthew, mark Matthew the whole time today. Departing from there, Jesus went along the Sea Of Galilee and after going up on the mountain, he was sitting there and large crowds came to him, bringing with him those who were limping and who had impaired limbs and who were blind and were unable to speak and many others. And they laid them down at his feet and he healed them.

So the crowds, the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs or storm, those who were limping walking around, and those who are blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel. They they were polytheists. Right? But they recognized a power in this God unlike any that they had ever seen, and they glorified the God of Israel because of what Jesus was doing. Was Jesus doing anything different for these crowds than he had done for the Jewish crowds?

No. It was the same. His ministry, the Jews already had the Old Testament and so he concentrated on saying this is like this and he authenticated the message with the miracles. This doesn't even mention the message except for there's freedom in Christ. Right?

That that is evident but he's not going on and on about it. He's doing the miracles although they don't even know the history of the Old Testament. They don't even know what's going on. He is going beyond and his disciples, good Jewish boys mostly. Were watching this and going, wow.

He's doing the same thing for them that he did for us. When Paul says first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, he's talking chronologically, not as a favoritist move, not because they are the chosen ones, only chosen ones. They were chosen to bear a message to be a light to the Gentiles and bring them in. We, church, are chosen to carry a message to bring in those who do not know Jesus. Mark, in those days, when there was a large again, again, again with the large crowds, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned his disciples and he said to them, I feel compassion for the people.

Though they're not Jewish people, I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with me for three days already, and they have nothing to eat. If they brought anything, it's gone now. They've remained with me for three days already. They have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they'll faint on the way.

Some of them have come from a very great distance. And his disciples replied to him, where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people? Is this an echo? Can you hear this? Isn't that the same question they ask about the 5,000 at Bethsaida?

Where are we going to be able to find enough bread? It was just one chapter ago, people. Don't you remember how you got the bread last time? But they weren't in a Jewish area. They weren't used to seeing God bless the nations and they're asking again, where am I going to find enough bread in this godforsaken place to satisfy this many people?

And he said to him, how many loaves do you have? Same question from last time. And they said, seven. Okay. Matthew, how are you gonna tell us?

Now Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I feel compassion for the people. You know what? Jesus still feels compassion for the people. Because they've remained with me now for three days, they have nothing to eat. I don't want them to send them away hungry for they might faint on the way.

The disciples said to him, where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd? And Jesus said to him, how many loaves do you have? And they said, well, seven and a few small fish. That's different. They had five last time, but seven.

A little bit more as far as loaves go. A few small fish. And he directed the people to recline on the ground. Did that last time. Same thing.

Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks. He broke them. Same thing. Started giving them to his disciples to serve, same thing. They also had a few small fish and after he blessed them, told the disciples serve these as well.

And they ate and they were satisfied and they picked up seven large baskets. Not as much left over. Maybe the Gentiles are hungrier, I don't know. Full of what was left over for the broken pieces. There were about 4,000 men there and their families.

That's 4,000 men and men, women and children too. And then he dismissed them. Okay. Matthew says, and he directed the people to sit on the ground, recline on the ground. Same thing they had done before.

Matthew said it the same way he did before. Mark says it the same way he did before. And he took the seven loaves and the fish and after giving thanks, he broke them and he started giving them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds. It's the same thing that they had done before and they all ate and they were all satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.

And those who ate, actually, the 12 baskets were smaller baskets. You're looking at the Greek word for baskets, it's two different words. Maybe it's the same amount of leftovers, who knows? Everything else seems to be the same. The place is different.

The people culturally are different. How much they had to start off with is a little different. But Jesus took it and blessed it, and he multiplied it to the people the same way. And those who ate were 4,000 men besides women and children. So Matthew fifteen nine ends this section right here by saying this, and sending away the crowds.

He did the same thing the last time. In sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. And Magadan is on the normal shore of the Sea Of Galilee where we're used to seeing him, kind of between Capernaum and Migdal. And immediately, Mark says, he got into the boat with his disciples, came to the region of Dalmanutha. It's a bigger territory.

Magadan is part of that. And the Pharisees, doggone those Pharisees. And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with him demanding from him a sign from heaven to test him and sighing deeply in his spirit. Can you hear it? Can you just see this story?

Sighing deeply in his spirit. Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. He's talking about people who already have made up their mind that God favors them. Jesus is broadening the scope of the ministry of the disciples.

It's not just for these. I sent you out one time just to the Jews. You weren't ready for this. But when you're with me, I'll show you that this is a worldwide deal, and we're starting on the other side of the lake in a place that's very different from the places that you know, and I'm gonna act with them the same way that I act with you. There they are in Magadan back across the Sea Of Galilee, the very real place.

Not a huge place, but that place, the way that he did what he did there has made a difference into the right now and right here. I think that's the message. Carl, would you all come on back up and would you pray with me? God, help us. Help us to see past our blinders.

Help us to take our blinders off, Lord. If there is a segment of the world that we are missing, if there is a culture that we are missing, if we are, Lord, self centered and feel favored, Lord, would you take our blinders off and allow us to see past the cultural differences and allow us to act in a way that is good and gracious. Would you allow us, Lord, by your spirit to do all things well so that others may be fed and so that others may be clothed and so that others may be set free from their own demons. In Jesus' name, I pray that you'd live and work among us in a way that transforms us and others. Amen.

But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good. For God does not show favoritism. Lord, would you teach us the lesson firsthand? And may we may we just find ourselves living in that place. Lord, and be filled with your joy.

I pray that you'd infect many with that joy. Amen. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

Topics

Faith Of A Canaanite Woman Feeding The 4000 Gentiles And Jesus Prejudice In The Church Who Is Jesus For

Recap

What was said

Doing a Bible study?

Topics

Share this message

Come find us