READING 16

  1. Read the headings in Mark 7:24-37.

  2. Find Tyre, Sidon, Sea of Galilee, and Decapolis on the map.

  3. Highlight verses 27-28 of chapter 7.

  4. Read Mark 7:24-37.

  5. Consider the following questions.

FYI: It is important to remember the social dynamics of Jesus' time when reading the story of the woman in 7:24-30. The region of Tyre was in non-Jewish territory, and the woman was indeed a Gentile. Unlike Jesus, most Jews would have tried to avoid this region. Like Jesus, most Jews would have called this Gentile a "dog," a rather harsh remark.

In 7:24 it says that Jesus "did not want anyone to know he was there." Why? When are the times in your life when you just want to be left alone?


What was it about the woman's saying in verse 28 that persuaded Jesus to heal her daughter? It showed:

  • how desperate she was.

  • what a believer in Jesus she was.

  • she was willing to humilate herself for her daughter's sake.

  • how clever she was.


FYI: If you have been doing the map exercises, you realize that it is a fairly strange journey for Jesus to go from Tyre to the Decapolis via Sidon. This journey is all the more bizarre if all Jesus did during his 100 mile walk was to heal the Syrophoenician woman.

In 7:32-35, why such a strange method for Jesus to heal the man? What are some of the strange methods that God has used to effect a change in your life?


Read verse 37 again. Now read Isaiah 35:5-6. What is significant about Jesus' fulfillment of these verses?