And He Healed them all: The Healing Ministry of Jesus V.mp3 Podcast: Download (27.8MB)
Key Text:
Mark 7:24-37
Mark 8:22-26
Mark 9:14-29
Mark 10:46-52
Something I failed to do at the beginning of our journey of healing through the Gospels, was to explain the view points of the four gospels and how Jesus is represented in each of them.
Below is a picture used to illustrate these different, yet harmonious sides of Christ through the four Gospels:
(All of the Gospels also represent the 4 banners corresponding to the 4 tribes closest to the 4 sides of the tabernacle in the wilderness.)
Finally all of these symbols also represent the four faces of the four living creatures before the throne of God. – Ezekiel 1:5-14 & Revelation 4:6-8.
- Matthew- represents the tribe of Judah whose banner was a Lion of Gold on a field of Scarlet. Jesus was of this tribe and was the actual Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Gold is used often in the Bible to represent Deity and Scarlet represents sin.
- Mark – Represents the tribe of Ephraim whose banner was a black ox on a field of gold. The ox is a beast of burden ad upon Christ was to be laid the full burden of our sins. Black represents death and again Gold represents Deity.
- Luke – Represents the tribe of Reuben. Their banner was a man on a field of Gold. This has an obvious symbolism of Jesus, being the Man, who was also God. The man embroidered on the field of gold emphasizes His humanity, without compromising His absolute Deity.
- John – Represents the tribe of Dan, whose Banner had a golden eagle on a field of blue. The field of blue speaks of His coming from heaven (John 6:32,33). The golden eagle splendidly symbolizes His true deity and as such His higher thoughts and ways, His strength and grace, and His tremendous sight and swiftness, like light. God refers to Himself as an eagle in Exodus 19:4 and Jesus, being a man of faith and patience, undoubtedly qualified for the blessing mentioned in Isaiah 40:31. “But those who wait patiently – their trust firmly set on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles . . .”.
Overview:
The first healing we read about tonight was that of the Syro-Phoenicians daughter. This woman came to Christ and worshipped Him, and would not stop asking Him for the deliverance of her daughter until He gave it. This precious woman was a tremendous example of faith! She demonstrated relational trust in the kindness of God through Christ. She refused to let go -until she was blessed with what she came for – just like Jacob. All the while she NEVER got presumptuous, irritated, angry or pushy – she just kept coming.
Another aspect of this healing was that she on some level she had an understanding of authority. When Jesus said, “Let the little children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Her reply was priceless – “Yes Lord!” were the first two words out of her mouth – meaning – you speak the truth and I agree. Never the less she did not stop there, she said, “yet even the little dogs UNDER THE TABLE eat from the children’s crumbs.” – Oh, I love this woman! She sees what others miss!
Here we have a Canaanite woman – these people being gentiles were commonly referred to as dogs by the Jews. Jesus reaffirms this stereotype by referring to her as such, but He did so to create a mental picture which would inspire faith and tenacity. We don’t need to speculate as to the image it conjured in her head, for she spoke it out of her mouth. Her words were words of submission and humility. She realized that healing was the children’s bread – meaning it belong to Israel, but if she positioned herself in a submissive place under the Children of the covenant she could expect to eat of their crumbs. Furthermore, her faith was so clear and true that she realized that it didn’t take much of this bread to heal a body or deliver a soul – a crumb would be more than enough!
This is SO different than the modern way of viewing healing. Most Christians today would look at casting a demon out of a person as something requiring mountain like faith and power. This woman realized that it doesn’t take much of God to destroy the work of the devil. Oh, that we would see with the same eyes of faith!
The next thing we covered was the fact that we need to guard our hearts and allow God to protect the Word of revelation He has planted.
We then spent a little time discussing the topic of repentance – which simply means to change the mind. To repent is something most Christians need to do in regard to their thoughts about Gods willingness to heal their bodies and souls.
One other thing I will extract out of the message here is that Jesus surrounded Himself with people of belief and did not return to an area which openly rejected Him. In Mark 8:22-26 Jesus takes a man outside of the city to heal his blindness and afterwards commands him to not go back into the city nor tell anyone in the city about his healing. Why? Well, the gospel of Mark does not record the rejection of Christ by Bethsaida, but Luke does and it read like this,
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.” ~ Luke 10:13-14
This aligns with the command Jesus gave to His disciples just before this verse,
“Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.” ~ Luke 10:8-12
I wonder what Christ would say to those of us who continue to harass the exact same people over and over again concerning salvation? I think the above verses say it all!
