Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Female): Shalom and welcome to Shalom Ariel and to this our 47th sermon in the book of Mark with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Today we're going to hear about the heart. Did you know that at any one time all four chambers of the heart hold only a bit more than one cup of blood? That means that the heart needs to keep pumping and pumping for it is the spring of life for our physical body. It upholds our physical existence and without it every cell would die.

Our heart has valves which allow the flow of blood to go in one direction only so it guards what goes back into the heart and does not allow the bad blood to get pumped back out to the rest of the body but only that blood which has been aerated by the lungs full of oxygen full of life-giving matter will be pumped forward. From the spiritual point of view we need to guard our hearts so that it avoids taking in anything that is evil and contrary to the purity of the word and allow it to circulate in our minds and then get pumped out into the hearts and minds of others.

In our physical heart we have four valves that work together to make sure the body has the oxygen it needs. In the spiritual matter of the heart we have two special valves called trust and faith. They are guarding what enters into our spiritual heart so that contentions and jealousies and envies and lusts would be stopped at the door and only the word of God would have access into and out of the heart making us a fountain where springs of life issue forth words and actions that manifest the holiness of God and echo eternal blessing.

While we should always be concerned with the issues of life around us such as society and governments and cities and families we need to guard our hearts first. When that is done with utmost care then we can properly influence every other matter around us. The heart is the first organ that determines life and it is the organ which in most cases determines death. Trust the Lord with all your heart because when you guard it as precious you will not only be blessed but you will bring life's blessings to many of those around you. Be blessed as you listen in to today's message with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Shalom shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Shalom, shalom. Welcome to our Shabbat service. You know, I want to tell you there are so many things to talk about but there's one reason for our gathering together, it is what? To uplift the name of our Lord and to seek His presence in worship, in prayer, in His Word, seeking His will in all this, and also in fellowship with each other. Amen? Yes, and I'm looking forward to this section on the book of Mark. We will look into some of the hardest sayings of Yeshua. You know, we're most familiar with many of the more soothing and encouraging verses one will often choose to memorize. But what about those things that He said which literally offended so many?

How do we read, how do we deal with these verses? The word of God will often move the reader out of his comfort zone. And using Isaiah's illustration, one will find himself in a place where the bed is too short on which to stretch out and the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in. Isaiah 28:20. I don't know if you've ever been in such a situation where whatever you do you cannot attain a position of comfort. But the greatest things about these tough words is that there always lies a great teaching wrapped with a lot of love. This is what we'll see today.

Today, in fact, after a confrontation with the religious leaders in the previous text, we will be refreshed to meet a great woman, a foreigner living in hostile territory who seemed to know so much about Yeshua and whose deep faith could only be compared to that of Abraham. And so let us open our scriptures to the book of Mark chapter seven. We've seen the battle between tradition and truth and the power behind man-made religion in luring so many away from the scriptures to what has the appearance of stability, a seeming strong history, and which supposedly stands on a solid foundation until one digs in and realizes it is a misconception. It is a mirage.

On the argument about obtaining holiness and appearance of greatness, Yeshua's conclusion is seen in verse 20. "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles man," He says. Nothing in the outside can make us holy no matter how great it looks. Nothing that we do or say will bring holiness in us but the transformation of the heart with the help of the Ruach HaKodesh, that is the Holy Spirit, which begins inside in our mind. This will transform, even metamorphose ourselves. And to enhance this truth, Yeshua then proceeds to list 12 things that defiles man.

These are His concluding words, verses 21 to 23. And the choice of these 12 sins is very revealing. This is what He says: "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile man." See how they are, these things are categorized. From the thoughts to the deeds, right? Just like it was on the Sermon on the Mount. It begins inside and then it goes into the action.

There He equates hate in the Sermon on the Mount, He equates hate to murder for this is where murder begins. We think about it and then the action goes on. And the table of 12 is not equally spread out. We have four for the thoughts and eight for the action. It doubled. One thought can degenerate into many wrong actions. Sin engenders sin but it ought to be dealt with at its root, that is in the heart of man. This is where it begins. And this is why we need to dedicate our hearts, our minds to the Lord morning by morning, every single day.

And there's something quite unusual in this list. Have you noticed the last action mentioned? Foolishness. But how could it be brought at the same level of thefts and even murder? This Greek word speaks of thoughtlessness. From the same root that we have words understanding or to reason out. It seems it is a sin not to use our God-given capacity to think, to inquire, to challenge. It is not a question of intelligence or of cleverness, but really a lack of application in finding out the will of God in our lives.

Both Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 opens up with the same way: "The fool has said in his heart, 'There's no God.'" This verse is not only for the atheist but for believers who do not allow God's sovereignty in every facet of his or her life. If Yeshua has great concern about foolishness, something we may have come to consider acceptable or inconsequential, and if that concern is at the same level as those vile sins such as adultery and murder, it is to show us how high the bar is, how even the smallest sin that is can hinder growth.

So let us be on guard against that evil thought, that hasty word, that burst of temper, that snap judgment, which will only serve to defeat us and grieve the Ruach HaKodesh. Here's a story, by the way, of a man who sat down to supper with his family. He says grace and thanks God for the food. But during the meal, he complained about the freshness of the bread, the bitterness of the coffee, and the sharpness of the cheese. So his young daughter asked him, "Dad, do you think God heard your prayer today?" So he answered confidently, of course God hears the prayers.

Then she asked, "And do you think God heard what you said about the coffee, the cheese, and the bread?" Not so confidently he answered, "Yes, I believe so as well." So the little girl concluded, "Then which do you think God believed?" The father was suddenly aware that his mealtime prayer had become a thoughtless habit rather than an attentive and honest conversation with God, allowing his other feelings to take over. Like James said, from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. Could it be, right, James 3:10? He says, "My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."

So we need to guard our hearts like a fortress where God can dwell. And so we have learned in this great and lengthy section on traditions versus truth that it's about the power of man-made religion and how it can lure us away from the simple truth of God. We've seen that despite Yeshua's presence, the disciples were so enamored and impressed by the religious leaders that they even, if you remember, scolded Yeshua because He offended the scribes and the Pharisees. Matthew 15:12. Clearly, they were not ready for their mission.

And so next, Yeshua brings them north to a hostile territory to meet a great and impressive individual who, despite being so far away, bypassed all social biases and traditions and was able to see so deeply, even to see Yeshua. Here the Messiah is about to take her great faith as an example for not only the disciples but for us as well. Who then is this woman who baffled the disciples and still, I want to tell you, perplexes Bible commentators today? Let us begin to read the text. For this part, I will use both Mark and Matthew's account. Verses 24 to 25 of Mark 7 says:

"From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon and He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet." Here we see that Yeshua's fame went beyond Galilee, north to Tyre and Sidon, where people flocked to see Him. But why did Jesus choose to go to Tyre and Sidon? For it is also territory that was very, very hostile to Jews.

Josephus, the first-century historian, writes that the people of Tyre were among the bitterest enemies of the Jews. And during the wars preceding the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, they killed so many and imprisoned so many others. Even before this, Joel the prophet tells us that they sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them from their territory. Joel 3:6. Here the prophet prophesies that they will be practicing ethnic cleansing to chase away the Jews from their territory, something they did in the first century and probably will do it in the future.

This is a prophecy before the second coming. By the way, this animosity is probably due to the fact that Tyre and Sidon are within the territory of the tribe of Asher as given by the Lord in the Torah. But why would Yeshua choose such an aggressive territory? This is part of the training of the 12. There and through a simple woman of great faith, He's going to show us something great. See verse 26. Let's meet her. This one verse gives us a lot of information about her, her origins, and her character. This is what it says:

"Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter." What do we learn here? First, she's a woman, a person no rabbi of the time would associate with, right? She enters the room filled with men, 13 of them, and she does not seem to be impressed at all by the 12 disciples. Second, she's a Gentile, a Hellenist as the Greek word says. It describes more than a people, but a way of living and thinking that was imposed on Israel at the time as the invaders.

Third, she's part Syrian, an old enemy of Israel. Fourth, she is part Phoenician, another old enemy of Israel. And fifth, Matthew puts the cherry on the cake by adding that she's a Canaanite. Matthew 15:21. So here we have a woman, a Hellenist, a Syrian, a Phoenician, a Canaanite in a hostile territory coming to speak to Yeshua. It would have been very hard to find someone more foreign to Israel than this combination, especially pointing out her Canaanite pedigree.

Now the disciples were originally impressed, if you remember, by the scribes and the Pharisees. And this woman with all that she is is about to upset their traditional belief and reveal a great work of the Spirit in her, in this individual. Now verse 26 tells us about her strong, also her strong, tenacious character. We learn that she kept asking. This is an imperfect tense, meaning that she did not stop. She did not take a no for an answer. She forcefully resisted the disciples and repeated that she wanted to see the boss.

So much so that the disciples asked Yeshua for help. They couldn't get rid of her. Turning to Matthew's account, we read that they could not stop her. Matthew 15:23 says, "His disciples came and urged Him, saying, 'Send her away, for she cries out after us.'" They urged, they compelled Yeshua to act because they could not handle her. It looks like it was 12 against one there. But where did this woman get this stamina and assurance to confront 12 men and demand to see Jesus? There is something that she said that would lead us to her source of strength.

As she argued, Matthew gives us some of her words. She said, Matthew 15:21, she said, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David, my daughter is severely demon-possessed." But how did she know that He's the Son of David? This was something that even the highest educated people in Jerusalem did not know, or perhaps did not acknowledge. This piece of information gives us a good indication as to the means the Spirit of God used to bring her at the feet of Yeshua.

This woman seems to know enough or had enough knowledge of the scriptures, of the Messianic prophecies, to have become like a lion for she knew her God. She knew her Bible, or at least whatever of the Bible she had. Here is a foreigner who discovered the Messiah of Israel. At this point, one would have expected Jesus to welcome her. "Come, my daughter." But no. Not just yet. It is now that we come to some of the harshest words and action of the Messiah.

You will surely be surprised by what follows. But let me first tell you a little bit about the context. Do you remember the Akedah? That is the story of the sacrifice of Isaac and how then and still today people are so offended that the Lord would ask a human sacrifice. But Isaac was never sacrificed. It was just a test. In fact, this is how the account begins: "It came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham." So there's no reason to make a big fuss about it.

In the same manner, what we're about to read with the Syrophoenician woman is also a test. A trial not only for the disciples but for us as well. However, the difference here, as opposed to the Akedah, is that we're not warned at all. We are brought right to the actions and words of Jesus. We will understand it is a test only at the end in the way He finalized the encounter. So let us see how we can deal with these things. As the disciples asked Jesus to act, instead of welcoming the woman or perhaps a small good word for her, Matthew tells us that He didn't even answer her a word.

He completely disregarded her. And see His first words. Hard to figure out why He would say them right here. Matthew 15:24. He says to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." As if to say, I won't speak to you because I did not come for you. See that here He emphasized even these things by adding "except" or "only" the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That Yeshua went only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel is true, but He nevertheless did help some Gentiles, right? Do you remember the centurion's servant?

But why did He answer this way to this woman? This is so unlike His character. But let me suggest to you that this must have been among the most difficult things the Messiah did and experienced. Yes, the cross was difficult, but this also must have been very difficult when you consider that He is love and that He felt and knew her deep needs. Obviously, Yeshua had an outreach strategy here. But the question now is how come the disciples here did not get offended for this woman as they did for the Pharisees?

Remember how they took the defense of the Pharisees? But they did not do anything for this woman. Perhaps it is right here where a major part of their training lay for the disciples and for us as well. As for the woman, she did not argue at all. She seems not phased at all by what was happening here. But these were not the hardest words of Yeshua yet. See what He says next. Verse 26 of Mark 7. He said to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

Who are the children? The children are the children of Israel. But the others, who are the dogs? He's referring to Gentiles. How can we read this? And it is so interesting to see how so many commentators are trying to deal with this, even to slip out of this verse. One of them imagined another situation altogether and he said that Jesus was not actually talking to her, He was talking to Himself. He could not believe that Yeshua would actually say something like this.

Another imagined Jesus as having some facial expression or even tone of voice that would somehow indicate to the woman that it was just temporary, just take it for now. One went very far in suggesting that Jesus winked to the woman while pronouncing these words. I personally did struggle much with this passage trying to look at it from every possible angle. But the fact remains the same: the verse is clear, the translation along with it. And the comparison with a dog is very powerful.

Whichever way you look at the word dog, it did have a negative connotation. It was a symbol of uncleanliness. To call someone a dog was an insult, as Goliath, you know, said to David, "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?" The New Testament as well carried this negative view when Yeshua said not to give what is holy to dogs. So why did Yeshua bring us to this level at the cost of deeply offending this woman? But we may not look at the right place, actually, to understand this dilemma.

We cannot just stop at this verse. we need to read the next one, that is the woman's answer which is as powerful as this seeming rejection. This is what she answered: "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from the master's table." Mark 7:27. It takes great faith to have pronounced these words. But she accepted all that Yeshua said. She does not argue His words, but tries to find a way out for the sake of her daughter because she came for her daughter.

As it was with Abraham when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his son, he did not argue or doubt the word of God even though the promises of all the nations of the creation of a nation and the promises of redemption in the Messiah were in Isaac. She also accepted all the words of the Lord no matter what they are. Abraham's faith was not phased by uncertainties or hesitation about the truth of God's word, but he resolved this dilemma by saying to himself that if the Lord, if I kill Isaac, the Lord will resurrect him.

This is what the book of Hebrews tells us. For Abraham and this woman, then, the living and pure word of God must remain untouched. So whatever Yeshua said, He is right. Her defense then is that okay, I'm a dog, but even a dog needs to eat. And Jesus must have helped her faith because the word for dog here is puppy, a house dog in Greek, right? So she must have resolved her dilemma by saying that this dog, this puppy, is however part of the family seeing that it feeds in the same home, the same table, the same bread.

Yes, Lord, it is as You said. And yet everything around her said otherwise. She went beyond what others thoughts, beyond the hate, the sets of beliefs and traditions. But she is not alone. She is not alone because in the scriptures we see the same spirits in men and women of God. She had the same spirit as Isaiah and Jeremiah. Did you know that both prayed for the people of Moab, the enemies of Israel? "Therefore I will wail for Moab," Jeremiah says.

Some may have thought of them as enemies of Israel siding with the adversary, but true prophets of God learn to cry for all people regardless of nationality, birthplace, like this woman. So her answer showed that this woman was a true daughter of Abraham by faith. The point is then made. And it is at this point when Yeshua could not take it anymore. But He burst out of admiration and love towards this lady, something that must have surprised everyone, even the woman.

Combining the sayings from Matthew and Mark, this is what He said right at this point: "O woman," He says, "your faith is great. It shall be done for you as you wish because of this answer, go, the demon has come out of your daughter." And her daughter was healed at once, right? "O woman," the word "O" is an exclamation of admiration, an expression of joy, even of surprise. It must have been such a relief for Jesus, for Yeshua, to have pronounced these words.

He played the game for the sake of our learning, but we understand that His answer, that it was very hard for Him to do that. That must have also shocked the disciples who must have at first seen with pride how Yeshua took their side in scolding the woman. It must have been also a shock to the woman. I don't think she expected such an outburst of admiration. Everyone must have been surprised, but a great truth had been set and written in the eternal word of God.

This must be the first time, by the way, that Jesus lost an argument. In the same way, the Lord lost His fight against Jacob. Do you remember when He fought with an individual and Jacob fought with an individual whom at the end he won? And we read in Genesis 32:28: "He has striven with God and with men and he prevailed." Both the Syrophoenician woman and Jacob won their fight. For both knew their God and had such an immovable faith.

The Lord lost the fight and the argument in the same way that a father teaches his young son or daughter to look for solution when he or she, you know, has problems or struggles with this. Incidentally, by the way, this is part of the Parashat, Genesis 32 is part of the Parashat of the week on this day in the synagogues around the world. They would read this passage of Genesis 32. It is the Parashat Vayishlach. That is this is when Jacob realized that the individual turns out actually to be the physical representation of God.

Because when he fought against him, he said, "I've seen God face to face and yet my life is preserved." Genesis 32:30. Both Jacob and this great woman have seen God working in their lives and they seem to know Him so well. As for the woman, her faith, her knowledge of God prevailed against opposition, disregard, rejection, hurting words. Yet God is the Lord and He never changes and He was her strength all that time.

Guest (Female): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel nor will He renege any of the promises He has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal. If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 1-888-685-5902 or you may write us at info@bethariel.ca.

You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Boulevard corner of Madison in NDG. The message is given in English but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 AM. We have Shabbat school for children of all ages up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at bethariel.ca and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac. If you would like to sign up for informative newsletters, log on to our website and add your name to our email list. Shalom Ariel is a listener-supported program. If you have it on your heart to donate, it will be a great blessing for the continuing ministry and outreach of Beth Ariel. Thank you and shalom shalom.