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The Good News of Jesus

03/29/2009 - The Laughing Jesus, Mark 7:24-37

One of my favorite pictures of Jesus is called "The Laughing Jesus." I love this picture. Of course, no one knows what Jesus really looked like, but I love the expression on his face in this image. Head thrown back, mouth open, eyes sparkling. I love it because I don't often think of Jesus laughing. There's no record of Jesus laughing in the gospels just like there's no record of Jesus ever giving anyone a hug. But I think he laughed a lot and I think he hugged people a lot because he was a lover and he was full of joy. And hugs and laughter are ways that we express love and express joy.

But we don't often think about Jesus laughing do we? We tend to think of Jesus as somber and serious and intense. After all, he was a man on a mission, a mission that would cost him his life. That's serious business. And in recent weeks we've seen that Jesus hasn't been laughing at all, instead he's been exasperated in his dealings with the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. He's tired of their hypocrisy and how they reduced a relationship with the living God down to a long list of rules and rituals. And he's frustrated with his disciples too. He's upset with their lack of faith and understanding. "Why are you so dull?" he said to them last week.

But I can picture Jesus laughing a lot too, especially with the people that he healed, watching their reaction as the lame ran and jumped like deer and as lepers watched limbs grow back and as blind people saw for the first time in their lives and deaf people heard sounds that they never heard before and mute people spoke their very first words. They had to be times of great joy and celebration and I can picture Jesus roaring with laughter as he watched the stunned look on their faces.

I can picture Jesus laughing with kids. He loved children. "Suffering children were safe in his arms." He loved to pick them up and bounce them on his knee. I can picture Jesus carrying them on his shoulders and tickling them and wrestling with them. And when you do those kinds of things you can't help but laugh. Jesus loved kids and kids bring laughter to our lives.

Jesus loved to use humor in his teaching unfortunately some of his word plays don't come through in our English translations. But he would use word pictures that were funny like his description of how hard it can be for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. He said it's like trying to get a big old camel to squeeze through the eye of a little needle. Or the picture he uses in the Sermon on the Mount for people who hypocritically judge each other. He said don't be walking around with planks, 2 by 4's, sticking out of your eyes while you're trying to pick a tiny speck of sawdust out of someone else's eye. I think people laughed at those analogies. They loved to hear Jesus teach.

And in the passage we're going to look at today I think Jesus has another good laugh. This morning we continue our series called The Good News of Jesus … As Told By Mark with a teaching I've called "The Laughing Jesus." If you have a Bible meet me at Mark 7:24-37 (p.689).

Mark 7:24-37, Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret.

Jesus is on the run, I think. He wants to lay low for a while. Last week, he threw a grenade in a bucket of you know what when he said, "It doesn't matter what you eat anymore. It's not the dietary laws of Leviticus 11 that you've been practicing for 1,500 years and that people have died trying to keep that are important. That's not what makes a person unclean. It's not what goes into your stomach. It's what comes out of your heart, the evil thoughts, the sexual immorality, the theft, the murder, the adultery, the greed, the malice, the deceit, the lewdness, the envy, the slander, the arrogance, the folly. Those are the things that make you unclean and keep you far from God."

And when I read that again this week I thought of the Southwest commercials on television. "Do you want to get away?" Have you seen the latest one where the guy warms up a bowl of soup in the microwave and it explodes and the sprinklers go off and everybody in the cafeteria gets soaked and they just sit there staring at the guy, "Do you want to get away?"

Well I think that was the same reaction they had to what Jesus just said. And he wants to get away. He just rained on the Pharisees' parade and they're staring at him sieving with anger. And I think Jesus would have jumped on a Southwest flight in a heartbeat just to get away for awhile.

And he knew that he could get away if he left Israel because the religious Jews weren't going to follow him into Gentile country. So that's where he goes. He heads up north about 40 miles to the city of Tyre and then later he goes another 25 miles further north to the city of Sidon. These were two prominent coastal cities in Syria, filled with people from all walks of life. But Jesus isn't going there to be with people. He's going there to get away from people for awhile. He's going there to finally be alone with his disciples. Remember they're still looking for that vacation that they never had!

So he enters a house and pulls the shades because he doesn't want anybody to know where he is. He's trying to hide out for awhile. Its okay to hide out sometimes and get alone and get away from people especially when you're physically and emotionally exhausted and I think Jesus was. He needs to catch his breath. He needs to regroup. But hey he's Jesus and it's tough for him to stay incognito very long.

Look at verse 25, In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

This story is also found in Matthew's gospel and in his account we're told that she's a Canaanite woman and she's been crying out over and over again, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!" She's making a scene, but Jesus doesn't answer her. He acts like he doesn't hear her. And so the disciples get annoyed because she's becoming a nuisance and they say what they always say to Jesus, "Send her away! Get her out of here for she keeps crying out after us."

But Jesus doesn't send her away. Instead, it just looks like he's ignoring this woman which wouldn't surprise the disciples at all because she's a Canaanite. And the Jews and the Canaanites hated each other and that hatred went back centuries, kind of like the hatred that exists now between the Arabs and the Israelis. It was age old. The Canaanites were the enemy Israel. They're the ones who had to be driven out of the Promised Land by Joshua and his troops. And they were unclean, idol worshiping, godless, Gentile dogs. That's what they were called by the Jews in Jesus' day, "dogs," not cute, playful house pets, but dirty, mean, diseased, scavenger slum dogs that roamed the streets of every town and village in the Middle East.

So it doesn't surprise the disciples that Jesus seems to be ignoring this woman. She's a Gentile. She's a Canaanite. And she's a woman. Those were three strikes against her in that culture, but despite all of that she musters up the courage to come to Jesus pleading for him to help her demonized daughter.

And every mother in this room can understand why because there's nothing like the love of a mother for her child. And a mom will do anything and go anywhere and talk to anybody and pay any price to advocate for her son or her daughter in a time of crisis.

Just like a dad would do for his son or daughter as we saw in the story of Jairus a few weeks ago. Nothing touches the heart of a parent as deeply as the struggles of their kids. We'd rather be hurt ourselves than to see them hurt. And so we bring our children to Jesus all the time as parents. We try our best to point them to Jesus through our example and through instruction and through prayer. We pray for them to follow Jesus. And we pray for them like crazy when they're going through a crisis. And this little girl is in a crisis and her mom is thinking, "If only I can get her to Jesus! Maybe Jesus can help her!"

No doubt she had heard stories of Jesus' healing work in Galilee and thought maybe he could pull one off for her. She has remarkable insight into his identity using Messianic terms for Jesus that his disciples haven't even used, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And finally Jesus breaks his silence in verse 27 and says, "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

That's a strange response. What in the world is he talking about? Well, the children that Jesus is referring to here are the children of Israel. From the start of his ministry Jesus' first priority was to share the gospel of the kingdom with his own people. So he uses the image of a meal where bread is served to the kids before it's given to the dogs. But the word he uses for dogs here is not the derogatory term that the Jews used for the Gentiles. It's not the word for a scavenger instead it's the word for a puppy.

So he's saying to the woman, "I came for the children of Israel first. They get the good news first. So it's not right for me to give their bread to Gentiles like you."

Verse 28, "But Lord," she replied, "even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." And at that point I think Jesus just roared. Touché! Home run!

"The dogs may not get the bread," she says, "but they do get the crumbs that fall on the floor." I know that's how it works at our house. Cuddles gets the crumbs off the floor. "And that's all I'm asking for, Jesus. Just some crumbs for my little daughter not the whole loaf." And Jesus says, "You got it girlfriend!" In Matthew's gospel he says, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And I think when he said that he had a big smile on his face!

Look at verse 29, Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." ³⁰She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

I love this story. I think it's one of my favorite stories in the gospels. And it reminds us all of a couple of things. First, no one is outside the reach of the love of God. No one! Jesus had just done away with the distinction between clean and unclean food and now he's doing away with the distinction between clean and unclean people. He's moving towards the creation of his church where there will be no distinction between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. That's why there's no room for prejudice in the body of Christ. We can't call ourselves Christ followers and be racist or chauvinistic because Jesus demolished the distinctions that segment people. Oh he saw the differences in people, but he didn't treat people differently because of their differences. And he doesn't want us to either. "Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world and the big adults too."

Second, this Gentile, this Canaanite woman reminds me that God can touch anyone's life. I'm sure most of us can think of some one we know, a relative, a friend, a coworker, a classmate, someone that seems to be beyond the power of God to change. But even the most unlikely person can have their heart touched by Jesus. He can save anyone.

There's a song by Twila Paris called I Never Get Used to What You Do and in it she says, "I look on the outside, you look on the heart. Where I see an ending, you just see another place to start." Jesus is always looking for places to start in people that we think God's done with because we look on the outside, but he looks on the heart. So keep praying for that person you're tempted to give up on.

And that's another lesson here. This woman was persistent in crying out to Jesus. She didn't stop even when Jesus was silent and kept walking, even when it looked like he was ignoring her she kept crying out to him, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Don't ever stop crying out to Jesus.

Someone I read this week said that this woman could teach seminars on assertiveness training. She knew the power of a sense of humor. She was determined and intelligent. She was bold yet humble. She set a goal and let nothing stop her from achieving it, not her lack of status, not the attitudes of the over protective disciples, not even the initial silence of Jesus. Keep pursuing Jesus and he will reward your faith. That's a big lesson for all of us. It's a great story.

So Jesus leaves Tyre and moves on. Look at verse 31, Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.

Now that's funny. Jesus leaves Tyre and heads south to the Decapolis by going north through Sidon. That would be like saying, "I'm leaving Philadelphia and heading down to Washington D. C. via New York City!" Wait a minute! Washington D. C. is south of Philadelphia and New York City is north so that's not the fastest way to go, which gives me the impression that Jesus isn't in a hurry to get back to his critics.

Some scholars think he was up in Syria for as long as eight months. We don't know for sure, but we do know he's taking his good old time coming home because once he gets back he knows things are really going to heat up. There's no record that Jesus does any miracles or teaching in Sidon. He may have or maybe he just enjoyed some much needed time with his disciples. Maybe this was the vacation that they never got.

But eventually they return to the region of the Decapolis which means "ten cities." This is Gentile territory too. This was the place where Jesus had cast out a legion of demons and told the man to go back home and spread the word. And he must have done a good job because when people find out that Jesus is back they bring their sick to him to get healed.

Look at verse 32, There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on him. ³³After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue.

This is a very tender scene. A deaf, mute man is brought to Jesus by some of his friends. And because he's deaf he's never heard about Jesus. His friends have tried to communicate with him, but they can't get through. So they just grab him and say, "You're coming with us. Trust us this could be good!" So I'm sure this man's confused and scared and wonders what in the world's going on. But his friends try to assure him that everything's okay, "Calm down. Jesus won't hurt you."

And so Jesus, sensing that he's afraid, takes the man aside, away from the crowd. And because he can't hear Jesus has to do some tactile things. So he puts his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spits. I bet you didn't know Jesus spit before! Kids don't try that at home. At least go outside! Then he touches the man's tongue. Literally, he unties his tongue. I'm sure he put rubber gloves on first.

And then he looked up to heaven, verse 34 says, and with a deep sigh said to him, "EphphathaEphphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). ³⁵At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

And again I think Jesus probably laughed as he looked at the man's face and saw his expression when he could finally hear and speak plainly! No more garbled speech. And then when he brought him back to the crowd and his friends were like, "I can't believe this! This is awesome! Let's go get some more of our buddies and spread the news!"

But Jesus says no. Look at verse 36, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.

Jesus knows that what he's doing is dangerous and could get him killed, but his kingdom work has to go on. And part of that work is healing and reversing the effects of the curse. And he can't stop people from talking about it. He's fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah who said of the Messiah inIsaiah 35:5-6, Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ⁶Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.

I'm sure this man was shouting for joy! The healing that Jesus was doing was a sign that the kingdom of God was breaking through into this world of pain and death. Every healing he did then and every healing he does now points to the ultimate healing that God will one day bring to all of his creation when Jesus comes back and is revealed to the whole world as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Verse 37, People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

"He does all things well." I love what William Barclay says in his commentary on this verse. "When the healing was completed the people declared that Jesus had done all things well. This is none other than the same verdict of God who said after his creation in Genesis 1:31, And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. When Jesus came bringing healing to people's bodies and salvation to their souls he had begun the work of creation all over again. In the beginning everything had been good. But our sin spoiled it all. And now Jesus is bringing back the beauty of God to this world that our sin had rendered ugly."

And he wants to bring that beauty back into your life and back into my life. And he will if we allow him to cleanse our hearts and rearrange our attitudes and gently transform us into kingdom people who are more and more like Jesus. That's what happens when we pursue him like the Canaanite woman and follow him day after day after day.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.