Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: What is this thing that is number one in your life apart from Jesus Christ? Your motorcycle, your car, your job, your wife, your husband, your children. All these things have become number one when they should be last. Jesus should be number one, and your wife and your husband, children, number two. But we have things so out of order that we forget that Jesus is on the throne.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We're glad you've joined us as we continue our Easter series, celebrating Jesus' matchless love. If you're going through a hard time, maybe even feeling at a point of desperation, Raul will assure you that Jesus cares about your needs and hears every prayer. You may need to be patient and persistent in prayer, but you won't be ignored. Today's lesson is titled "Jesus' Compassion." Here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Go to the Gospel of Mark chapter 7, beginning at verse 24 through 30. He says, "From there He arose, Jesus, and He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon," that's the coast of Lebanon. "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.

The woman was a Greek, Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, 'Let the children first be filled, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.' And she answered and said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs.'

And then He said to her, 'For this saying, go your way, the demon has gone out of your daughter.' And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out of her daughter lying on the bed." Whenever Jesus did something spectacular, like a miracle, it's just amazing. He came to preach, to teach, and to heal. And now He's getting away, He's getting away from the area of Capernaum, and He's going up to Lebanon, to the coast of Lebanon, Tyre and Sidon, where He wants to get away and to be alone with His disciples and spend some time probably in prayer.

But somehow, you could not get away from His fame, the fame that He had. By the way, He never wanted to be famous, but He became famous. Not only because He was the son of the living God, but because He had a message, a message that brought people to Himself and a message that drove people away from Himself, that hated Jesus.

And I thought about chapter 7 here in verse 24, that here's Jesus trying to get away. There were two other times that He tried to get away: one was the feeding of the five thousand and the other one was the casting of the other demon, which we see in the Gospel of Mark. This is a third time now He's getting away to be alone with the Father, probably His disciples. He doesn't tell anybody, and somehow, the Gentile woman heard about Him, and she came to see Him. He could have rejected the woman, rejected the actual asking of the daughter's healing. She's demon-possessed.

Let's begin again by looking at verse 24. We see here the place and the region where it took place. The mother whose heart was broken. Verse 24: "From there He got up from the Capernaum, and He went to the region of Tyre and Sidon." So He already has been not only in Capernaum for three years, but now He's going to Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. Notice He tells you exactly what happened to Him.

It is hard sometimes to find time to spend alone with Jesus, I know that for a fact. That if we don't spend time with Jesus, then how can we speak about Jesus? How can we share? How can we celebrate Jesus when really we don't know Him intimately when we should? You say, "Well, are there times you don't want to worship?" Oh yeah, all kinds of times. But that's the enemy's lie to get me distracted somehow so that I don't spend time on my face before God and sharing the Gospel with other people. That's what the Gospel's about.

To know Him intimately, to know that He's there, to know that He loves me. And we see the heart of Jesus looking after the needy, after the afflicted, those that had a need. He was always there to meet their needs. Twice Christ was withdrawing from the people as we saw before, twice in the Gospel of Mark. But times they went across. Not only across the lake, remember they went across the lake to the other side, Tiberias, Capernaum, over to the Gadarenes.

But Jesus was always crossing somewhere. To the Gadarenes, Capernaum, wherever He was moving, He was always, always taking the message. The message of hope, the message of salvation. Here on His third withdrawal, He rose up from Capernaum and He goes as far as 40, 50 miles to the border of Tyre and Sidon. And it's neat because Jesus here understands that He's got away, He wants to be by Himself.

His disciples are with Him, but yet in Greek culture, notice He had influence in Syria. He had somehow heard about Him in Lebanon, what He was doing in Israel. And the news got out so fast that when He showed up, they knew who He was. And the woman was not a Jew, she was a Greek. Verse 25, here's the problem. The Gentile girl possessed by an evil spirit.

"For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet." Can you imagine? Here she listens, she hears, and then she humbles. She hears, she humbles herself in asking Jesus about her daughter. The word of God spreading. So impressive to see this woman that comes to Jesus with a hurting heart because of her daughter's situation.

Whenever we have a hurting heart, that's the best place to go, to Jesus. For He's the only one that can respond, the only one that can speak to our hearts, the only one that can heal. And when she heard that there was a man that could heal her daughter, no time was wasted. Immediately she went to see Him. She went to see Him to see if she would have mercy upon her daughter.

The situation we have here are situations that we have every day in life. There are people that are demon-possessed, there are people that are crippled, there are people with cancer, there are people with headaches. Every type of illness you can think about that we not only have experienced, but many are experiencing even here this morning and outside of these four walls.

We know for sure that demons are real, we know for sure. Because Satan, the nature of demons, number one, their nature, they're evil. They're evil, Jesus knew this. Remember when He was talking to that person that was demon-possessed, that was cutting himself day and night, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8? And when Jesus came to him, He knew who he was, and the demon said, "We know who You are. We know who You are." And He said, "I know who you are."

And they were not only communicating with Jesus, and they were fearful because they knew their time was not yet, their time is coming. So what do they do? They ask Jesus if they could release this person by coming out of him and if they could go into those 2,000 pigs that were there by the Sea of Galilee. And He said, "Go." And they went out of this person and the pigs went over the Sea of Galilee, they all drowned. The demons didn't drown, the pigs drowned.

And we see that demons are evil. In Luke chapter 10:17, Jesus said, "And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Your name.' And He said unto them, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.'" Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 through 12. "Behold, I saw him fall, and one third of the angels with him." That's what the Bible teaches.

Powerful. Luke 8:29: "For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him, he was kept bound with chains and fetters, and he broke the bands, and he was driven of the devil into the wilderness." And then they're numerous, and not just one, many. Mark 5:8 says, "For He said unto him, 'Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.' And He asked him, 'What's your name?' And he answered and said, 'My name is Legion, we are many.'"

Unclean. Matthew 10:1: "And when He had called unto Him the twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease." And then they're under the command of Satan. Matthew 12:24. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and scribes that were saying that He was actually the devil. And Jesus said, "Hey, you guys be careful what you say. You're getting this close to crossing the line of the unpardonable sin. That once you cross that line, nobody can bring you back this way."

He warned them. They said this, "And when the Pharisees heard it, they said, 'This fellow does not cast out devils but by Beelzebub, the god of the flies, the prince of the devils.'" And Jesus knew their thoughts, and He said unto them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. Every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is dividing against himself. How shall then the kingdom stand?

If I by Beelzebub, Jesus says, cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore because of this, they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." Wow. The kingdom of God has come unto you. He rebukes them. He says, "You guys, I am God."

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. It's always our joy to support you in your spiritual journey. Visit us at somebodylovesyou.com for a wide selection of Bible-packed resources, including this entire Easter series focused on Jesus' world-changing death and resurrection. Now, back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Verse 26, we see the mother's desperation here concerning her daughter being healed. You notice here Jesus is going to make things clear to her. He says, "The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth," we spoke about that up in Lebanon. "And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter." So she kept persistency of keeping asking you until you give me an answer.

We all have sometimes experienced desperation, I don't know about you, but I've experienced desperation. And when desperation comes, you can really be uptight, you can really be stressed out to the point that you think, "I wonder if I'm going to make it. I wonder if I'm going to really make it." And it seemed that Jesus, maybe it seemed that He wasn't listening, but Jesus always listens. "Jesus, hey, I am listening to you."

And when I looked at that little phrase there, I thought, "What can I learn from this woman?" I learn that she was a loving mother, I learn that she was persistent, and I learn that she had faith. That's what I learn, I looked at the scripture. This was the life of Jesus, this was this woman from Phoenicia that she had come by faith. She didn't know what was going to happen, but Jesus already knew. And she will be surprised at what Jesus will do. But first of all, she will be tested before Jesus will do anything, and you'll be tested and I'll be tested before Jesus can do anything in your life.

Verse 27 through 30, the loving Messiah. Verse 27, Jesus' reminder here. He had come to help people. Verse 27, He says, and then Jesus said to her, here's His answer, response: "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." Now, what does that have to do with healing? The woman must have thought, "What do You mean?"

But the woman was smart, and I don't know how spiritual she was, but she started figuring out what's going on here. Because we see Jesus responding here to the woman's request, how? And mark this down, examining her heart, as God wants to examine your heart to see if you're connected or not. God does it at all times. He wants to make sure that I'm connected, He wants to make sure that when I'm connected, I'm listening and I'm doing what He tells me to do.

So as He is examining our hearts, another thing He checks is your motives, the motives in our lives. Because He knows that we are discouragement to a lot of people. We get discouraged ourselves just like this woman. He gave this request to Jesus: "Let the children again be filled." Who's He talking about? We'll see in a moment that Jesus kept repeating it and repeating it. Remember, the Gentiles had not received the Gospel yet. It was given to who? To the Jews. Romans chapter 1 verse 16.

Jesus was in Gentile land, a Gentile comes for a healing, and He says, "Look, I came first of all to give the Gospel to the Jew. And later on, I'll give it to the Gentile." And then He says this, He says, "Who are like the dogs" comparison to them, the Jews? And "dogs" to them snarling to them or at them, ready to attack them. The Jews were always attacking people, remember? People that were following Jesus, they attacked Jesus, the disciples, all these people.

Now, we have here the illustration Jesus is giving was in essence to the test of the woman's faith, to see if she was connected. Let's see if you're really connected to what I'm saying. Jesus' first responsibility was to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first," to His people, "and to the Greeks or the Gentiles next."

Romans 15:8 says, "Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision, Jews, for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers," from Abraham all the way through the Jew first and then they rejected it and then the Gentiles get it. That's why we're here. 1,900 years because we're Gentiles. That "first" is also applied there, that there would come a time when the Gentiles again would receive the blessings of God in their lives. Not now, but another time He was saying.

Now, the children of the bread here is referring to God's blessings offered to the Jews. I mean, can you imagine Jesus came, offered everything to the Jew? "I'll give you everything, everything." If they would have been reading the scriptures, the Bible, they didn't have the New Testament, it was being prepared, but the Old Testament from Genesis all the way to Malachi. If they would have been reading the Old Testament, they would have never missed the Messiah, the anointed one of God.

People today miss the Messiah and salvation because they don't read the Bible. They don't know what the Bible's about, the Bible's about Jesus. But in order for me, like Jesus speaking to this woman, I must understand that I cannot receive unless I give of myself to Him. The picture here is indicating that the little dogs are Gentiles have a place, notice, in the household of God later on. Not now.

And the little children here suggests also that it refers to the dogs that were kept as little pets, you have little pets in the house. The wild dogs were outside, they would roam around the street. They were wild, they would bite you, and they could, they would kill you. And Jesus here is using that term. Jesus was referring to the Gentiles, but He did not use the derisive term to the Jews usually employed for them, that described mangy or vicious or mongrels, speaking of those wild dogs.

Jesus loving and caring for the Jew. And here are the Gentiles coming to Jesus and saying, "Jesus, I need Your help. My little daughter is demon-possessed. Can You please help me?" The only time you can hear the word "no" is when you are coming against Him. And then He's going to reward you not great, He's going to reward you in judgment. You can't play games back and forth with Jesus.

But I think that within each one of our own hearts individually, where is Christ in your life? What possesses you? What is this thing that is number one in your life apart from Jesus Christ? Your motorcycle, your car, your job, your wife, your husband, your children. All these things have become number one when they should be last. Jesus should be number one, and your wife and your husband, children, number two. But we have things so out of order that we forget that Jesus is on the throne.

This woman was seeking Jesus. This woman has faith in Jesus, that He is able to heal her daughter. We notice the answer: "Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord." And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs." She knew in her heart that she was a sinful and undeserving woman that needed God's grace. I love that. She knew it.

She responds without any complete absence of pride, self-reliance. But she answers as a sinful woman to the Lord Jesus Christ. Says, "Lord, yes, Lord." Verse 29, her reward because of faith. "And then He said to her, 'For this saying, because of what you said, go your way. Go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.'" Imagine that. How did she feel? Well, I think she says, "Well, I wonder if He did or not."

She was hustling home. But I love the way Jesus does things. "I don't have to go, I'm just going to speak it." Hey, what are you asking of Jesus here this morning? What do you want? You have everything, what do you want? He's here for that, just like that woman came to Jesus. Now, verse 30: "And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out and her daughter lying in the bed." Totally well and healed.

The daughter's healing through the wonderful power of the Lord Jesus Christ. A primary thing rather than focusing on the center of other things, on the substance of this woman. Faith being characterized by their humility, her penance, her reverence on God, and the faith that she possessed as she believed in Jesus Christ, that He was the one that was able to do it.

Guest (Male): We hope you've been strengthened by today's assurance that the Lord hears every prayer. And while it can be difficult to wait on His response, you can trust that He always has your best interest at heart. You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. For a complete copy of today's lesson, "Jesus' Compassion," just call us at 800-634-9165 and for a donation of $5 or more, we'll send a copy to you.

Now, to further establish your confidence in God's goodness, we'd like to offer you Raul's entire series titled "Why the Cross Mattered and Still Does." It's available on both CD and USB. Each of the 13 lessons in this study will inspire you to fully surrender your life to your Savior as you learn more about His unconditional sacrificial love. Just visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order "Why the Cross Mattered and Still Does."

We'll send you this 13-part study on CD for $25, or if you prefer, on a flash drive for just $16. That's 800-634-9165, or write to Somebody Loves You radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. We'd also like to mention several free resources designed to strengthen and grow your faith. Catch straight talk with Raul on the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Pacific.

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Next time we'll continue with more in our focus on Jesus with an eye-opening look at His foreknowledge and the suffering He would have to endure. We'll find more reasons to worship as we consider our Savior's choice to leave heaven for a cross. Here's Raul with a closing comment.

Raul Ries: I'll conclude with these three things. Number one: God's love is so great, so great for us. Ephesians 2:4 Paul says, "But God who is rich in mercy because of His great love in which He loved us." Secondly, God's love is everlasting. Jeremiah 31:3: "The Lord has appeared of old to me saying, 'Yes, Jeremiah, I have loved you with an everlasting love,'" underline that and underline it and underline it.

When you feel totally depressed and that God doesn't love you. "Therefore because of this, with loving kindness I have drawn you to Myself." Loving kindness, "I've loved you so I've drew you to Myself." Thirdly and last, God's love is sacrificial. It's going to cost you. And Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, that in while we were still yet sinners, Christ died for us." Christ died for you and Christ died for me.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You radio in Diamond Bar, California.