{"id":37042,"date":"2025-08-17T22:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T05:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37042"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:06:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:06:39","slug":"mark_7_24-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_7_24-30\/","title":{"rendered":"If Jesus Squeezes You Today, What Will Come Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 7:24-30 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 7:24-30.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 7:24-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 24:\u00a0 Jesus goes into Gentile (non-Jewish) territory, visiting the city of Tyre.\u00a0 Whereas the Pharisees and teachers of the law would be concerned about becoming ceremonially by getting close to Gentiles, Jesus had no such concern.\u00a0 The fact that Mark places this passage right after the passage where Jesus declares all foods clean suggests that just as there was no food that could not be eaten, so\u00a0people of all cultures are loved by God and God does not discriminate based on culture or race<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps because Jesus had taught and healed people from Tyre before (see Mark 3:8-10), Jesus could not keep his presence in Tyre secret.<\/p>\n

Mark 7:25-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In 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.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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.”
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-30:\u00a0 What do we make of Jesus\u2019 shocking answer to the Greek woman born in Syria Phoenicia.\u00a0 How could Jesus compare her, her daughter and her people to dogs while comparing his own Jewish people to children? Keep the following in mind:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Greek word for \u201cdogs\u201d here is\u00a0kyn\u00e1ria<\/em>, which is a diminutive form of\u00a0k\u00fd\u014dn<\/em>\u00a0(meaning dog). In other words, Jesus could be evoking the image of \u201cpuppies\u201d or \u201chouse pets\u201d rather than dirty stray dogs.\u00a0 In this way, when Jesus refers to the woman and her people as \u201cdogs\u201d, Jesus\u2019 tone may have been softer and more endearing than what appears at first glance.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was testing and stretching this woman\u2019s faith.\u00a0 We as a church often try to eliminate barriers to people coming to faith and try to make it as easy as possible.\u00a0 But here Jesus is making it a little harder for this woman, not because Jesus doesn\u2019t want her to come to faith, but to prove the genuineness of her faith.\u00a0 There is wisdom in Jesus\u2019 approach, for by not making it super easy for this woman, by making her fight for it, she will cherish Jesus and Jesus\u2019 answer more.\u00a0 Likewise, sometimes\u00a0God will allow things to be a little harder than we expect and put us in pressure situations, not to be cruel to us, but so that our faith can grow under that pressure like a muscle and so that we would cherish Jesus more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>So when Jesus squeezes you, will faith come out?<\/p>\n

Father, thank You for Your heart that is for people of every nation, race and culture.\u00a0 Thank\u00a0You that You don\u2019t always make things easy for us, not to be cruel to us, but so that we can grow.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 7:24-30.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nMark 7:24-30 (NIV)
\n24\u00a0\u00a0Jesus 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.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 24:\u00a0 Jesus goes into Gentile (non-Jewish) territory, visiting the city of Tyre.\u00a0 Whereas the Pharisees and teachers of the law would be concerned about becoming ceremonially by getting close to Gentiles, Jesus had no such concern.\u00a0 The fact that Mark places this passage right after the passage where Jesus declares all foods clean suggests that just as there was no food that could not be eaten, so\u00a0people of all cultures are loved by God and God does not discriminate based on culture or race.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37042"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37046,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37042\/revisions\/37046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}