Why did Jesus sigh?
(Mark 7:1 – 8:21; Exodus 20:12; Isaiah 29:13) Blog Aug. 04-10, 2024
Prepared by Richard A. Marin: <PresentTruthLRI@gmail.com>
REVIEW: When Mark pictures Jesus healing the sick, casting out demons, teaching in parables, and conflicting with the religionists of his day, he continually emphasizes the need of faith and the divinity of Jesus.
Traditions
1. In Mark 7 what fault did the Scribes and Pharisees find with Jesus’ disciples? They faulted the disciples for not keeping the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before eating (Mark 7:1-5).
2. What was the tradition of the elders regarding hand washing? The tradition of the elders was not a matter of good hygiene in washing their hands before eating, but rather they did numerous washings as a religious, ceremonial ritual like counting rosary beads or vain repetitions in prayer (Mark 7:3-4; Matt. 6:7).
3. How did Jesus respond to the accusation of the scribes and Pharisees? Jesus reminded the accusers that Isaiah had spoken of them as hypocrites who honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from him & he illustrated the problem by referring to their tradition of allowing children to not support their aged parents if they first promised their money to the church (Mark 7:6-13; Isa. 29:13).
4. What did Jesus say lost its value because of the traditions of the elders? It was the Word of God that was made of no value by the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:13; Ex. 20:12).
5. Where does Jesus say that real defilement comes from? Jesus said that real defilement doesn’t come from what we eat but from what comes out of our hearts (Mark 7:14-23).
6. On what basis could Jesus say that the human heart was so wicked? Jesus new that Jeremiah had written that the heart was desperately wicked (Mark 7:21-22; Jer. 17:9).
7. Does Mark 7:21-22 describe Jesus’ heart? No, for from conception Jesus had an undefiled heart: a sinless human nature (Prov. 16:5; 21:4; Matt. 7:11; Luke 1:35; Heb. 7:26; 1 Pet. 1:19).
Crumbs
8. Who found Jesus when he was seeking seclusion in a house near Tyre and Sidon? A Syrophoenician mother found Jesus in the house & asked him to cast the unclean spirit out of her daughter (Mark 7:24-26).
9. How did Jesus answer the Syrophoenician woman? Jesus said: “Let the children first be filled; for it is not meat to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” (Mark 7:27).
10. Why did Jesus answer the mother this way? Jesus knew that as a mother she would understand his statement & he wanted to teach his disciples that God’s salvation was also for non-Jews, so he expressed the sentiments of their hearts that Jesus only came to bless Jews (Mark 7:27; Acts 1:6; 10:9-20).
11. What did the mother’s response to Jesus show? By accepting the position of a dog under the table, the Syrophoenician mother showed her humility, faith, & persistence (Mark 7:28).
Right Thinking
12. When returning to Decapolis where many had responded to the testimony of the devil-possessed men, who was brought to Jesus for healing? They brought a deaf & dumb man to Jesus, asking that he touch him (Mark 7:31-32).
13. Why did Jesus sigh before healing the deaf & dumb man? By looking up to heaven Jesus acknowledged God’s desire that all men would open their eyes to believe in him & use their tongues to express his praise but he sighed because so many refused to hear or to speak his praise (Mark 7:34; Eze. 21:7; Dan. 4:34; 2 Pet. 3:9).
14. When Jesus desired to feed the multitude that had been with him for three days, why did his disciples not immediately offer him what they had? They had already forgotten how Jesus fed the 5000 & they were prejudiced about feeding these people since they were not Jews (Mark 8:1-4).
15. Upon returning to Galilean side of the lake, who met Jesus asking for a sign of his messiahship? A group of Pharisees came asking a sign but Jesus after sighing deeply offered them none. Their unbelief would surpass any sign he might give them (Mark 8:10-13).
16. What is the leaven of the Pharisees of which Jesus warned his disciples while crossing the lake? The leaven of the Pharisees is pride & hypocrisy. The disciples thought only of physical bread but Jesus was trying to show them that when the Pharisees asked for a sign they were only trying to leaven people’s minds with the idea that Jesus was not the true Messiah while exalting themselves (Mark 8:14-21; Luke 12:1).