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Series B – Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, September 6, 2015 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy Gospel According to Saint Mark
0:31	chapter 7 verses 24 through 37.
0:37	Jesus left that place and went to the
0:43	Jesus left that place and went to the
0:45	vicinity of Tire he entered a house and
0:48	did not want anyone to know it yet he
0:50	could not keep his presence Secret in
0:53	fact as soon as she heard about him a
0:55	woman whose little daughter was
0:57	possessed by an evil spirit came and
0:59	fell at his feet the woman was a Greek
1:02	born in Syrian phenicia she begged Jesus
1:05	to drive the demon out of her daughter
1:08	first let the little children eat all
1:10	they want he told her for it is not
1:13	right to take the children’s bread and
1:14	toss it to their dogs
1:16	Yes Lord she replied but even the dogs
1:18	on the table eat the children’s crumbs
1:21	and then he told her for such a reply
1:23	you may go the demon has left your
1:25	daughter so she went home and found her
1:27	child lying on the bed and the demon
1:30	gone when Jesus left the vicinity of
1:32	tire and went through sidon down to the
1:35	Sea of Galilee and into the region of
1:37	the decapolis there some people brought
1:39	to him a man who was deaf and could
1:41	hardly talk and They begged him to place
1:43	his hand on the man after he took him
1:45	aside away from the crowd Jesus put his
1:48	fingers into the man’s ears then he spit
1:51	and touched the Man’s Tongue he looked
1:54	up to heaven with a deep sigh and said
1:56	to him ephathah which means be opened at
2:00	this the man’s ears were opened and his
2:02	tongue was loose and he began to speak
2:04	plainly Jesus commanded them not to tell
2:06	anyone
2:07	but the more he did so the more they
2:10	kept talking about it people were
2:12	overwhelmed with amazement he has done
2:14	everything well they said he even makes
2:16	the death here and the mute speak
2:20	in the name of Jesus
2:23	all right two stories
2:25	it’s like a Jesus twin spin here two of
2:29	them very different both of them taking
2:31	place outside of Israel technically in
2:33	Gentile territory the second one helps
2:36	us understand the first one but the
2:38	first one is a little bit complicated
2:40	last year I preached on the story of the
2:43	syrophoenician woman from the gospel of
2:45	Matthew chapter 15 and this is one of
2:48	those texts that is really rough and the
2:51	reason why it’s rough is because it
2:52	looks like Jesus is racially insulting a
2:55	woman
2:56	you know calling her a dog
2:58	yeah try that today you know like I
3:01	pointed out last year if this happened
3:03	today Twitter Facebook the news media
3:05	would be a buzz I mean that would people
3:07	would be unfriending Jesus like faster
3:09	than you know if he were a leper you
3:11	know what I’m saying but one of the
3:14	things I hate about the story is it’s so
3:16	convolutedly difficult to understand why
3:19	is Jesus insulting this woman and I’ve
3:22	um recently read a book by the by a
3:25	gentleman by the name of Dr Ken Bailey
3:27	who is a middle eastern studies expert
3:31	and he’s written a book called Jesus
3:33	Through Middle Eastern eyes and he makes
3:35	a very compelling case that there’s the
3:38	reason why we westerners don’t get it is
3:40	because we don’t think in terms of
3:41	community and culture
3:43	and as soon as you put a Middle Eastern
3:45	Community and culture as an assumed
3:48	thing in here all of a sudden things
3:50	start to crackle and come to life and so
3:53	I’m gonna we’ll tackle the first one
3:55	using Bailey’s idea and then we’ll take
3:57	a look at the second one as well and so
4:00	we’ll we’ll read it Jesus left that
4:02	place and he went to the vicinity of
4:04	Tire he entered a house and did not want
4:07	anyone to know it yet he could not keep
4:09	his presence secret just by way of type
4:12	and Shadow Old Testament type and Shadow
4:14	if you know the story of Elijah
4:18	First Kings chapter 17 and the the
4:21	showdown between the prophets above all
4:23	and Elijah well that Showdown begins
4:26	with Elijah basically saying it’s not
4:28	going to rain until I say so because God
4:30	told him to say that and then he goes
4:31	and hides he hides the brook Sharif for
4:34	a while and then the brook dries up and
4:36	then Elijah heads to the region of tire
4:38	and sidon and he like Jesus finds a
4:42	woman kind of in desperate need with a
4:44	child if you would and so you think of
4:46	the story in the Old Testament of Elijah
4:48	traveling to this same region as type
4:51	and Shadow Jesus is now fulfilling it
4:53	where Elijah was able to keep himself
4:55	hidden Jesus is not able to keep himself
4:59	hidden it’s kind of fascinating how that
5:00	works out so there’s a direct connection
5:02	here type and Shadow in First Kings 17
5:05	then the substance in this text
5:08	but we’ll we’ll I just put that in there
5:10	so that we all have that marker here’s
5:13	what it says then verse 25 in fact as
5:15	soon as she heard about him a woman
5:18	whose little daughter was possessed by
5:20	an evil spirit came and fell at his feet
5:23	the woman was a Greek born in Syrian
5:27	phenicia she begged Jesus to drive the
5:30	demon out of her we get from the gospel
5:33	of Matthew who are actual words she
5:35	calls out to Jesus Lord son of David
5:39	sir cry to him Lord son of David so she
5:42	has she knows who Jesus is
5:44	she’s got a little bit of theology
5:46	training going on here she’s knows about
5:49	the coming Messiah who would be the son
5:52	of David and so Jesus rebuffs her in the
5:56	mat in the methane account we learned
5:58	that the disciples Jesus says nothing to
6:01	her at first and the disciples say send
6:03	her away send her away and this kind of
6:06	helps us understand this so Bailey’s
6:08	thought on this is that we must
6:11	understand that the culture of first
6:15	century Israel was extremely racially
6:20	biased against the Gentiles
6:23	it’s akin to what we saw here in the
6:26	United States in the 20th century with
6:29	this in the South against African
6:32	Americans it’s that kind of racial
6:34	hatred and so you see this by the way if
6:38	you want an example of what this looks
6:40	like go and read Acts chapter 10 and
6:43	chapter 11. Acts chapter 10 gives us the
6:46	story of the first Gentile Believers in
6:48	Christianity the story of the Centurion
6:50	Cornelius and Peter is sent by the Holy
6:54	Spirit to go to his house and he shows
6:57	up he preaches the gospel they receive
7:00	the Holy Spirit and they’re baptized
7:02	Cornelius and his whole family and
7:05	rather than Rejoice that the gospel has
7:08	now gone out to Gentiles in chapter 11
7:11	we learned that the circumcision party
7:13	within Christianity that they were
7:16	actually very upset at Peter for daring
7:21	to eat a meal with Gentiles and so they
7:25	called Peter on the carpet and he had to
7:27	give an explanation about his actions
7:30	and so that gives you kind of a frame of
7:32	mind that you can understand here as far
7:34	as what the Jews thought of the Gentiles
7:37	at this time in history it’s a very very
7:40	strong racial Prejudice and so
7:44	that is part of what’s going on here
7:46	there’s a racial barrier but the other
7:49	thing is is that when we have to
7:50	understand this is that women are not
7:53	permitted to talk to men
7:56	and men don’t talk to women in this
7:58	Middle Eastern culture and so this woman
8:01	she broke through two Rock Solid
8:06	barriers to talk to Jesus two of them
8:08	first by way of the fact that she’s a
8:11	woman and she is UN invited and
8:14	basically engaging in a conversation
8:16	with Jesus and calling out to him and on
8:18	top of it she’s a gentile so in the
8:20	methion account we the first response is
8:23	Jesus says nothing
8:25	and the disciples say send her away
8:30	get rid of her
8:32	and so what’s going on in this text if
8:34	you understand the culture is is that
8:36	Jesus has every intention of meeting her
8:39	need this is a woman who has faith
8:43	she absolutely has faith in Jesus and
8:46	Jesus is not going to turn away somebody
8:48	who has faith in him and not meet their
8:50	need his ears are open to his children’s
8:55	plea for Mercy because she has Faith his
8:58	ears are attentive to her but the set
9:00	kind of the subtext here is that Jesus
9:03	in his response is preaching to two
9:05	groups and you have to keep them teased
9:07	out the first group is the woman the
9:10	Gentile woman he’s challenging her faith
9:13	knowing that her faith is going to come
9:16	shining through but the other thing he’s
9:18	doing is he’s challenging the racial
9:20	Prejudice of the of the disciples this
9:23	is Bailey’s Theory and I think he’s got
9:24	he’s on to something here and so what
9:26	Jesus does then is that she persists
9:31	and then Jesus voices these painful
9:33	words let the little children eat all
9:35	they want for it is not right to take
9:38	the children’s bread and then toss it to
9:40	the dogs and what Jesus was doing there
9:42	was literally giving voice
9:45	to the racial Prejudice of the Jews of
9:48	his day
9:49	and the disciples they had that
9:51	prejudice still in them because they
9:52	were telling him to get rid of that
9:54	woman so jesus takes up their cultural
9:59	hatred if you would not because he he
10:01	possesses it but because he’s going to
10:03	give voice to it and by giving voice to
10:05	it he’s going to show how absolutely
10:08	ugly it is
10:09	and so he says
10:11	first let the little children eat all
10:13	they want for it’s not right to take the
10:15	children’s bread and toss it to their
10:16	dogs
10:18	called her a dog
10:20	and the fact that the disciples record
10:23	this account
10:25	and memorialize This Woman’s faith is
10:28	critical for us to understand what’s
10:30	going on here because Jesus here you can
10:32	almost see the disciples wince and going
10:34	ow
10:36	man that doesn’t sound right right
10:39	but she has faith she’s a penitent
10:43	Sinner and so rather than getting sensed
10:46	and upset and blow up on Jesus and say
10:48	how dare you call me a dog
10:51	she responds with faith yes Lord
10:56	she replied
10:57	but even the little dogs under the table
10:59	eat the children’s crumbs
11:03	she’s not going away she’s got Jesus by
11:06	the hand and she’s not letting go
11:09	and so her faith comes shining through
11:13	and then Jesus says for such a reply you
11:17	may go the demon has left your daughter
11:19	and in the methion account in Matthew 15
11:22	Jesus says woman great is your faith
11:26	so we know that she has faith and so the
11:29	idea here is is that Jesus who is our
11:33	God his ears are attentive they’re open
11:35	to the needs of his children who have
11:37	faith in him and this woman although
11:39	she’s a gentile and although she’s a
11:41	woman in this culture men and women are
11:43	not supposed to be talking to each other
11:45	and she’s broken through all these
11:47	cultural barriers that have been set up
11:49	and her culturally what she’s doing is
11:53	like unbelievably Beyond The Pale
11:56	still Jesus knows that she has faith
12:00	tests her faith a little bit
12:03	and knows that she’s going to pass just
12:05	fine and at the same time there’s a
12:07	secondary thing and that that’s going on
12:09	here is that this begins to unwind
12:12	the racial Prejudice in the minds of the
12:15	disciples against the Gentiles
12:18	this is what begins to unwind that
12:21	and part of the reason we know this is
12:23	because of the next story that we read
12:24	then Jesus left the vicinity of tire and
12:28	went through sidon down to the Sea of
12:30	Galilee into the region of the decapolis
12:32	the region of the decapolis is not
12:34	Jewish territory the capitalist means
12:37	the ten cities this is in the
12:39	northeastern region of the Sea of
12:41	Galilee and extends all the way up into
12:43	Syria and so there people brought to him
12:47	a man
12:48	who was deaf and could hardly talk and
12:52	They begged him to place his hand on the
12:55	man another Gentile by the way by by the
12:58	fact of where he lives now we’ve all
13:01	experienced and understand this man’s
13:04	difficulty
13:06	In Our Lifetime we all probably met with
13:08	and talked with and spoken with people
13:10	who are deaf
13:12	you know this is a lonely existence to
13:14	not be able to hear and deaf people they
13:18	can learn how to speak but you can
13:19	always tell by how they speak that they
13:22	don’t have the ability to hear
13:24	there’s a certain way in which all of
13:26	them kind of talk and I you know from
13:28	time to time you see somebody posting on
13:31	Facebook you know a link to one of those
13:33	videos where somebody receives their
13:35	hearing for the first time because we
13:36	now have medical technology these
13:38	Cochlear implants or whatever the thing
13:40	they’re called where somebody has a
13:42	medical procedure and they’re finally
13:44	able to hear with the help of some
13:46	technological device and when they turn
13:49	it on for the first time I mean the
13:51	videos on YouTube of people hearing for
13:53	the first time it just brings tears to
13:55	your eyes but even after they hear they
13:58	still talk as if they’re deaf does that
14:02	make sense it’s going to take them a
14:03	long time to learn how to not speak that
14:06	way because that’s the way they’ve been
14:07	speaking their whole lives and so this
14:09	is a man like that he’s deaf he has some
14:12	ability to communicate
14:15	like many deaf people they can learn how
14:17	to talk but he doesn’t speak very well
14:19	so Jesus watch what he does he took him
14:22	aside away from the crowd big deal by
14:25	the way because one of the things if you
14:28	have that had the opportunity to speak
14:30	with people who have you know don’t have
14:32	the ability to hear being in a crowd is
14:35	a very difficult thing for them
14:36	and so Jesus
14:38	extremely sensitive to this man’s
14:42	feelings and sensitive to his disability
14:47	doesn’t put on a circus in the crowd
14:50	instead he takes the man by the hand
14:53	leads him away and then privately begins
14:57	to deal with him and you’ll notice that
14:59	in the in up above when Jesus healed the
15:02	little girl of the demon that the mother
15:05	had come for he just gave a word Jesus
15:08	does something different with this man
15:09	and what’s going on here is is that he
15:12	is actually being very sensitive to him
15:15	to let him know that he’s being cared
15:17	for so this is a tactile
15:20	healing if you would
15:22	so we took them aside Jesus put his
15:25	fingers into the man’s ears so the first
15:27	thing he’s touching his ears okay he
15:30	can’t hear but he’s touching his ears
15:34	then he spit and he touched the Man’s
15:36	Tongue very tactile
15:38	then Jesus looks up to heaven
15:41	and by just do it you look up to heaven
15:44	you now know what’s going on this is a
15:46	signal to the man it’s Heaven that’s
15:48	going to be healing you right so he
15:50	looks up to heaven and he sighs a deep
15:54	sigh and he says this word
15:57	elephant
15:59	this is the way it says it right
16:01	and so all of this is a signal to the
16:04	man who can’t hear to let him know Jesus
16:07	has got him
16:08	I’m going to heal your ears we’re going
16:10	to give your give you the ability to
16:12	speak
16:14	and then he sighs you know looking
16:16	looking up to heaven to let him know
16:18	that heaven is doing this
16:20	and he looked up with a deep sigh said
16:22	ephatha which means be opened
16:25	at this the man’s ears were opened
16:28	his tongue was loosed and he began to
16:31	speak plainly
16:33	given the ability to hear and to no
16:37	longer speak as one who has been deaf
16:41	total healing Total Restoration and
16:44	you’ll notice Jesus does this privately
16:47	when you turn on the television you have
16:49	the televangelist they put on a big show
16:51	right bring somebody up on the stage and
16:53	they do their faux fake healings and
16:56	people you know applaud and stuff like
16:59	that and afterwards they send the
17:00	buckets to the audience you know to get
17:02	the money out of the people’s wallets
17:04	right Jesus doesn’t do this
17:06	it’s not a show it’s not a circus
17:10	he doesn’t make this man pay for his
17:13	healing he doesn’t make the crowd
17:15	pay for his healing by sending the
17:17	buckets to the crowd
17:19	the one who pays for this man’s healing
17:21	is Jesus
17:22	that’s the one who pays for it how does
17:25	he pay for it by going to the cross and
17:27	bleeding and dying for this man’s sins
17:30	in fact Jesus is not some kind of
17:32	charlatan huckster showman circus
17:36	you know ringleader right
17:39	says this after the healing Jesus
17:41	commanded them not to tell anyone
17:44	but the more he did so the more they
17:46	kept talking about it and people were
17:48	overwhelmed with amazement
17:50	he’s done everything well they said he
17:53	even makes the death here
17:55	in the mute speak which is exactly what
17:57	Isaiah prophesied the Messiah would do
17:59	we read it this morning
18:00	Jesus has truly done everything well
18:03	now if you remember as we’ve been
18:04	working through the gospel of Mark one
18:06	of the things we’ve heard Jesus say on
18:09	several accounts is the one who has ears
18:12	to hear Let Him hear
18:14	the one who has ears to hear Let Him
18:17	hear
18:19	all of us we all were born with the
18:21	ability to physically heal to hear right
18:24	but all of us because we’re descendants
18:27	of Adam Eve we’ve been born deaf to
18:31	God’s word to his gospel to his law
18:34	and Jesus has had to open our ears it’s
18:38	important for us to remember that we are
18:41	very similar to this man and very
18:43	similar to that woman we both have faith
18:46	but here’s the important part you were
18:48	born without the ability to hear God in
18:51	his word but Jesus opened up your ears
18:53	in the waters of your baptism
18:57	speaking his gospel is a privilege to be
19:00	able to do and to speak it plainly and
19:01	it’s important for you to remember today
19:03	as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper that
19:05	this morning Jesus is going to touch
19:07	your tongue
19:09	he’s going to touch your tongue with his
19:10	body and blood broken and shed for you
19:12	for the Forgiveness of your sins to open
19:15	up your mouth so that you can sing his
19:18	praises and proclaim the mercies and The
19:21	Wonder of God
19:22	and to let the world know that Jesus
19:26	truly has done all things well and he’s
19:28	done all things well for you and for me
19:32	he lived a sinless life
19:34	so that we can be clothed in the
19:36	righteousness of God and he took his sin
19:39	our sins upon himself so that we would
19:41	never have to face the wrath of God
19:44	and so Jesus has opened our ears and
19:46	opened our mouths opened our eyes we who
19:50	were deaf blind and mute to the things
19:53	of God are no longer blind no longer
19:56	deaf no longer mute and we thank and
19:59	praise God that he has done this to us
20:01	and he has done this for us and so it is
20:05	truly true
20:07	that Jesus has done everything well he’s
20:09	done it all well for you and he even
20:11	makes you who were deaf and mute
20:15	to hear and to speak the Wonders and the
20:18	great mercies of our God and King Jesus
20:21	Christ in the name of Jesus Amen
20:25	[Music]

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