The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
MISSION TO THE GENTILES
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
MISSION TO THE GENTILES
Lesson Plan:
1. The Story of the Syrophenician Woman (Mk. 7:24-30)
2. The Story of the Roman Centurion and His Servant (Matt. 8:5-13)
Lesson Setting:
Time: The story of the Syrophenician woman occurred in the summer of A.D. 29, a few weeks after our
last lesson. The healing of the Centurion's servant was about a year earlier, in the summer of A.D.
28.
Place: The Syrophenician woman lived in the region of Tyre and Sidon. The Centurion's residence was
at Capernaum.
Place in the Life of Christ: In the movement and progress of His work, it was its extension beyond
the Jewish race. The earlier story of the healing of the Roman Centurion's servant is joined in our
study with the other, because they both refer to this extension of His work.
Research Thoughts: Why Jesus went out of Galilee, after His words in Matthew 10:5, 6 "Syrophencian by race." Why did Jesus test her faith so severely? Tyre and Sidon. The Roman Centurion at Capernaum. The Palsy. How he showed his faith.
Introduction: When Jesus was preaching the Gospel in Palestine three classes of people were within reach of His influence. (a) There were the Jews who were best prepared to understand and to accept the Gospel. Their training for a thousand years had been preparing them. Here was the entering wedge for the salvation of the world. Hence when Jesus sent out His disciples alone to preach and heal, He commanded them to confine themselves to the Jews, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Gentiles enter ye not" (Matt. 10:5). For the same reason, after the ascension of Jesus, and the mighty outpouring of the Spirit described in Acts, for several years the Christians confined themselves to the Jews, and Palestine. It was impossible to do much for the Gentiles, till the Christians were established in the faith and teachings of Jesus, in the facts and meaning of His life, in a deep, impregnable experience in their own souls and lives, and in a Christian community of considerable numbers, and sufficiently organized. The same is true of modern mission work. It is the Christian community, experience, i.e., the fruits of Christianity that are the fulcrum by which unbelieving nations can be uplifted. (b) But Jesus did not mean that Christians should be content with this. His command was "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation" (Mk. 16:15, Am. V.). And when the disciples remained too long in Jerusalem, a few years later, He let persecution compel them to go forth with their Gospel. The Jews were surrounded by Gentile lands, and Jesus gave an example, a specimen of the work to be done, as told in the story of the Syrophenician woman. Likewise, in our time we find millions of idol worshippers throughout the world. (c) There were foreigners dwelling in Palestine, Gentiles from the surrounding nations, and Roman officers and soldiers. Likewise, today there has come into every nation dwellers from other parts of the world, and one serious problem today is how to reach them with the Gospel. Christ's example in this relation is shown by the story of the Roman Centurion.
Scripture Reading: Mark 7:24-30
1. The Story of the Syrophenician Woman
v 24 ... “And from thence,” Capernaum and its vicinity, where He had met the opposition of the Pharisees in our last lesson.
v 24 ... “He arose, and went,” out of Galilee. His reason for leaving Capernaum arose from the increasing opposition of the Pharisees, as described in the earlier part of this chapter, and in John 6:41-66. The Crisis: It seems evident that this journey marks practically the close of our Lord’s ministry in Central Galilee and the dispute with the Pharisees about ‘clean and unclean’ marks a crisis in His life. For from this He moves chiefly in the outlying districts, and His instructions are largely restricted to the disciples, to prepare them for lay before them in the near future.
v 24 ... “Into the borders.” The country around “Tyre and Sidon.” Not into the great and splendid cities themselves. There were two flourishing seaports and capitals of Phenicia, a narrow, level district along the shores of the Mediterranean. Sidon was twenty miles north of Tyre. The journey was not long, as Tyre is only about thirty-five miles, and Sidon fifty-five miles, from the Sea of Galilee. Though unbelievers, they were an active, commercial, and manufacturing people: wealthy, luxurious, and dissolute.
v 24 ... “And entered into an house, and would have no man know it.” Because He had gone there both for safety and repose. He must not give Himself to His usual work of healing, for so much was to be done for the future work of His disciples.
v 24 ... “But he could not be hid” any more than sweet perfumes in the hand.
v 25 ... “For a certain woman.” She was a ‘woman of Canaan,’
v 26 ... “a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation,” or race. “She was a Gentile as to religion, probably Greek-speaking, under the influence of Greek manners and customs; but descended from the old stock of the Phenicians of Syria, who belonged to the Canaanites of the Old Testament” (Dr. James E. Priest). Thus she represented the descendants of Shem and Ham by descent and of Japheth by language and civilization, and thus was “a representative of the vast multitude of pagans.” This description is given to show how thoroughly Gentile she was, as far as possible from the Jewish nation in her bringing up, but it is quite probable that she had heard of the wonderful cures Jesus had wrought.
v 25 ... “Whose young daughter had an unclean spirit.” Matthew says she was grievously vexed with a devil, or rather a demon. It was called an unclean spirit because it produced uncleanness of body and soul. This Disease: The torment of this disease may be learned from the description of similar cases. One such, a boy, is described as often falling into the fire and often into the water (Matt. 17:15, 18). The spirit makes him dumb, “and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away” (Mk. 9:17, 18). The Gadarene demoniac was wild and fierce, “crying and cutting himself with stones.”
v 26 ... “She besought him.” “She cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David.” “Lord, help me” and fell down at His feet. Conversation of Jesus with the Syrophenician Woman (arranged from Matthew and Mark): The woman comes to the house where Jesus is in retirement; or meets Him and His disciples by the way. The woman: “Have mercy on me, O Lord thou Son of David, my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.” Jesus is silent, “He answered her not a word.” The disciples: “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” Jesus (to the woman): “I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” The woman (bowing before Him in worship): “Lord help me.” Jesus: “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” The woman: “Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” Jesus: “O woman, great is thy faith; for this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. Notes: (a) The woman addresses Jesus as “The Son of David” the Messiah of the Jews. She so addresses Him because by living on the borderland of the Jews she may have been familiar with the Jewish expectations, and with the fact that Jesus’ works and words proved Him to be a great prophet. (b) Why was Jesus silent after all this pleading? His purpose seems to have been to increase her faith by exercising and expressing it. The blessing to her soul’s growth was in the end far greater than it could otherwise have been. Jesus saw that His silence and delay would not “quench the smoking flax” of faith, and that there were great possibilities and opportunities of her spiritual growth. (c) While the woman continued to plead with Jesus with persistent cries, determined not to let her daughter go unrelieved, the “disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away.” It is unworthy to attribute this action of the disciples to selfishness and hardened hearts. On the contrary it is probable that they meant that Jesus should grant her request first; for, as Bengel says it was in this way Jesus was accustomed to send away suppliants. Moreover they felt a strong sympathy with Jesus in the interruption of His plan for needed repose. (d) Jesus then broke His silence and said to the woman:
v 27 ... “It is not meet to take the children’s bread,” the care and service which was due to the Jews to whom He was sent “and cast it unto the dogs.” “The Jews in general, and the Pharisees with especial scorn, used to speak of all Gentiles as ‘dogs,’ and ‘dog’ in the East is the one expression which conveys the deepest contempt and hatred” (Farrar). But this was not Jesus’ own attitude or feeling. He stated the difficulty, and expressed the feeling which she knew the Jews had. But Jesus used another word than the accustomed word, not ‘dogs,’ but ‘pet house- dogs.’ “The picture is of a family meal, with the pet house-dogs running round the table” (Farrar). There is a touch of infinite beauty and graciousness in the expression, which it is easy for us to miss. The word He uses for ‘dogs’ is not the word which was used for the wild creatures which go about in troops in Eastern cities, and which were regarded by the Jews with great disgust. It is the word for ‘little dogs,’ living in the house and with the family, and lying under the table at meal time. Her woman’s wit was sharp that day, and she seized the one advantage Jesus had afforded her.
v 28 ... “Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” They are not outside; they too have a place in the family. It mattered not how humble a place she had, if only her child could be saved. “Then Jesus answered,” He met her state of mind, “and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith;”
v 29 ... “for this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” It is impossible for us to realize the tone in which Jesus uttered these words, nor the love which beamed in full glory from His eye. Nothing ever drew from our Lord such commendation as the exercise of a supreme faith. The Blessing: Great was the blessing brought to this mother by her faith in Jesus and in God. Her home was transformed from perpetual gloom and the shadow of death into love, friendship, hope and life. Her daughter was no longer furious in passion, worn with hysteria, helpless in epilepsy, raving in blasphemy and invective; but was a sweet, pure healthy maiden, the hope and joy of her mother. But also in the mother herself was one of the victories of faith, she was brought near to Jesus and to God, she had a new transforming spiritual life, with new visions, new ideals, new hopes, new usefulness.
Applications for Modern Foreign Mission Work: The cry of Unbelieving Womanhood – It was an idolatrous woman that cried to the Son of David for help. Even in her darkness she believed that the power and love of Christ were great enough to scatter His blessings to all mankind. The cry of the distressed unbelieving women and children still goes up for a share in the blessings scattered by Christ. The cry is not always voiced, and does not always recognize the deity of Him who can bring relief, but the call comes with clarion notes and pathetic wails from the sufferers who are grievously vexed with demons. Can you hear the cry? Can you hear the cry of the daughters of China? Where the women are srudges of the household, where the feet of the ladies have been crushed and crippled to make them small and give them social standing, where hundreds are so ill-treated that they commit suicide and thousands are still sold into slavery every year. Can you hear the cry of the women of India? Many millions are widows, and of that number many are child widows, doomed to curses and cruelty at the hands of all whom they meet, because of no sin of their own. The Savior Hears the Cry of These Women: Though sometimes His disciples have not let them hear His invitation. Have you opposed? Have you thought that all the money given to foreign mission work was wasted and should be spent at home where there is so much need? Shall the children’s bread be given to dogs, to those who don’t ask for it? The Gospel of Christ does good for any civilization. It makes life more worth living. It makes life better. It brings mankind closer together in love and understanding. And it gives mankind hope for eternity! Salvation from sin! Actually if we practiced the spirit of that preacher we would soon have no ‘religion’ in this country. As old saying: “If heaven were mine, with only me in heaven, few hells could be harder for me to live in.”
Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:5-13
2. The Story of the Roman Centurion and His Servant
v 5 ... “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum,” His home city during His Galilean ministry. It was on His return from preaching the Sermon on the Mount.
v 5 ... “There came unto him a centurion.” According to Luke (7:1) he did not come in person, but he came by a delegation of leading Jews, his friends, probably imagining that they would have more influence with Jesus.
v 5 ... “A centurion,” a Roman military officer, captain of a hundred soldiers, probably the garrison of Capernaum which was on the great commercial route between Assyria and Egypt, and a place for collecting the revenue. Character Sketch: (a) He was a Gentile (v 10), but he was thoughtfully religious and of an inquiring mind. (b) He was broad-minded enough to see how much good the religion of the Jews was doing, imperfect as it was. (c) Hence he built a synagogue for the Jews. (d) He was a very generous and kindly man. (e) His position was extremely difficult for one in his surroundings. He was wealthy or he could not have built the synagogue at his own expense. He was a Roman army officer among unbelievers, who cared little for morals and less for the Jews.
v 6 ... “My servant,” probably an under officer. He was “dear unto him” (Luke), or as in R.V. margin, “precious to him,” or “honorable with him.” Note: How delightful the relation of master and servant, employer and employee, can be, when both are of the right character and filled with the right spirit.
v 6 ... “Sick of the palsy.” The term “palsy,” Greek, “paralysis,” was used by the ancient physicians in a much wider sense than by our modern men of science. It included not only what we call paralysis, which is rarely very painful, but also catalepsy and tetanus, i.e., cramps and lockjaw. Dr. Hastings (Bible Dictionary) thinks the disease of the centurion’s servant may have possibly been an acute case of spinal meningitis.
v 6 ... “Grievously tormented.” The underlying Greek word means a touchstone, by which gold and silver are tested, hence “trials by fire and torture.” The cramps, in Oriental countries, is a fearful malady, and by no means infrequent. One case of such torment was described by a minister of the Gospel in Ireland, who wrote, “I helped take care of a young man who was afflicted most terribly with the tetanus, or cramp. This man would have frequent spasms of cramp, so severe as to dislocate his arms, his shoulders, and sometimes even his neck, so far, at least, that it took two of us with all our strength to get his head in place after the spasm was over. During the spasms he could not be touched, for a touch then hurt him like the blow of a hammer upon a well person. During the intervals he was not only clear in his mind, but cheerful, and even brilliant in conversation.”
When Jesus had come near the house “the centurion answered and said” (v 8) through a delegation of friends (Lk. 15:19) as at first.
v 8 ... “I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof.” He did not wish to trouble Jesus to come to him. He was conscious of his weakness in comparison with one who could do such marvelous works as Jesus had been doing. He may have caught the idea from some of the disciples that Jesus was to be the Messiah, the great Deliverer.
v 9 ... “For I also am a man under authority,” etc. “He means: ‘I also, though a very humble person in the army, under the authority of more important officers, still have a command over a body of men who do implicitly as I bid them.’ The centurion thinks Jesus can order about disease as he orders his soldiers – say to fever, palsy, leprosy,’ go,’ and it will go” (Expositor’s Greek Testament). “Under authority”: (a) Might be an expression of humility; (b) It may imply that Jesus also is under authority, receiving power from God; or (c) It may imply a contrast, i.e., “If I, a subordinate, can thus be obeyed, how much more you, who possess authority yourself as the Messiah!”
v 10 ... “Jesus ... marveled.” Only twice do we read in the Gospel that the Savior marveled: once at the unbelief of His fellow-citizens at Nazareth (Mk. 6:6), once at the faith of this man. In the fact of this Gentile centurion’s faith, Jesus found a great assurance of the success of His work. The Jews might reject Him, but the Gentiles were coming. The Gospel Feast would not be without guests. The Kingdom of heaven was represented as a great festival feast, supplying every desire and hunger of the soul and body, without cloying, but with ever increasing power of enjoyment and use, i.e., enough for each, enough for all, enough forevermore; the feast of reason and the flow of soul, where they eat and drink, and in communion sweet guaff immortality and joy.
v 11 ... “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west,” from all parts of the world “and shall sit down with Abraham,” etc., those first invited, those who had lived as members of the kingdom.
v 12 ... “But the children of the kingdom,” who had been especially trained and taught and invited “shall be cast out into outer darkness.” The banqueting-house is lighted up; within is joy and festivity, but without is darkness. The streets are narrow and filthy, and unillumined by any light whatever. They are cast out because they would not come in, because they would not believe in Jesus, who showed them the only way by which they could enter, through living the principles which make the kingdom of heaven what it is.
The sadness of their fate is shown by the words “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v 12).
v 13 ... “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Consider the kind of faith through which the blessing came. (a) It was a faith founded on facts. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant, because he had already done such things. (b) It was faith accompanied by works. He did all that could be done. (c) It was a growing faith, i.e., the blossoming and fruitage of his previous strivings after the true religion. (d) It was a faith that made the daily life better, a faith interwoven with spiritual life and its virtues, a faith that, like Jacob’s when he was dreaming on a pillow of stone symbolizing his hard lot, looked up to see God and heaven and ministering angels.
Illustration: Most people who visit Paris desire to see the Eiffel Tower, rising nearly a thousand feet. Upon seeing it, one feels the elevator trip to the top is a perilous journey. But when told how they had been tested, how that many millions of people have been carried up and down in them without accident, one goes to the top as calmly as going upstairs in a house.
It is what Jesus has done and is doing that increases our faith in Him: Home Mission Work – (a) In our cities and towns there are many who have come to us from other lands. (b) This is our opportunity to help them to receive and enjoy the blessings God has given to us. (c) We must treat them with all the courtesy and kindness of Christian gentlemen and ladies. If we want them to see the value of our faith we must exhibit its superiority to theirs in all our relations to them and dealings with them. (d) The boys and girls in school have an unusual opportunity to show them what Christianity seeks to do for them. Want of kindness and love to those who come here from other shores, is almost treason to our country, to the church of our Lord, and thus to Jesus. “I live ... For the Cause that lacks assistance. For the Wrong that needs resistance, For the Future in the distance, And the good that I might do” (Frances E. Tyner).
