Jesus was now in his second year of public ministry. He was so well known that he was constantly surrounded by crowds of needy people. Sometimes he and his disciples were too busy to eat a meal. They often traveled all night and worked all day without rest and still people kept coming to them.

The Jewish leaders dogged Jesus’ steps, grumbling about his teaching and confronting him over technicalities in the law. Behind the scenes they plotted with the Herodians about how they might kill him.

Jesus became more confrontational with his teaching. He told people they must align themselves with him in order to be saved. He challenged the hypocrisy and evil hidden in people’s hearts. He called out the Pharisees for approving traditions that violated the commands of God.

As Jesus became more intense, some of his disciples walked away. Judas began to show signs of being willing to betray Jesus, and the Pharisees tried to undermine his authority as a rabbi. Jesus tried to protect himself by asking people not to broadcast what he was doing, but his reputation as a miracle worker spread like wildfire.

He needed a break so he took a trip up north to Gentile territory where he was less well known.

Jesus Helps the Gentile Woman

Jesus made it clear that he had been sent to minister to the lost people of Israel, not the Gentiles. The Gentiles’ turn would come later when his followers carried the Gospel to the rest of the world. But on this trip to the city of Tyre he expected to be left alone for a while. He thought no one would know he was there.

His reputation preceded him, however, and a Gentile woman soon came to plead with him to deliver her daughter from a demon. When Jesus initially ignored her she threw herself at his feet, and when he walked on she followed him crying.

“So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’

He answered, ‘I was sent to the lost sheep of Israel.’

The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said.

He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’

‘Yes it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’

Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.” Matthew 15:24-28

Discerning Whom to Help

Jesus was not prejudiced against this Gentile woman when he rebuffed her; he was obedient to the calling his Father had given him. God sent his Son to the people of Israel and Jesus needed a signal from heaven before he ministered to anyone else. He got that signal when he saw the woman’s faith grow through adversity. He was willing to listen to anyone who was drawn to him the way she was.

In John 6:43 Jesus said “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.”

This woman was not from Israel, but the Father had drawn her to Jesus. He was glad to give her what she asked when he saw her God-given faith.

Jesus Revisits Decapolis

From Tyre Jesus headed inland and traveled down the east side of the Sea of Galilee to Decapolis. The last time Jesus was in that region the people had been afraid of him and asked him to leave. At that time he sent the man he had delivered from a legion of demons home to Decapolis and told him to tell his friends and family what God had done for him. The man must have had an effect on the region because when Jesus came back the people welcomed him.

They brought him a man who was deaf and barely able to talk. They begged Jesus to place his hand on the man.

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, ‘Ephphatha!’ (which means ‘Be opened!’). At this the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.” Mark 7:33-35

Jesus didn’t want people to broadcast this miracle, but they couldn’t help themselves.

“People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” Mark 7:37

Jesus left there and continued along the Sea of Galilee until he came to a mountain where he sat down. The stories of his many miracles drew more people.

“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.”

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

Jesus never announced when he was going to make an appearance or heal people. He just went where his Father sent him and did whatever there was to do. People came and waited to tell him their story and receive his healing.

In Mark 8 Jesus spent three days with a large crowd and they finally ran out of food. He didn’t want to send them away hungry so he consulted with his disciples. Their response was the same as earlier when they faced a similar situation. They didn’t know where they were going to find enough food to feed thousands of people.

Jesus walked them through it all again. This time the disciples found seven loaves of bread and a few fish and Jesus multiplied it into enough food to feed over four thousand people. This time they picked up seven basketfuls of leftovers.

Jesus dismissed the crowd and got into a boat to cross the lake with his disciples. They went due west to the vicinity of Magadan (also known as Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene).

The Pharisees Miss the Point

The Pharisees kept showing up to test Jesus, but they ignored the great work he was doing all around them. They asked for a special sign from heaven to convince them that he was God, but they overlooked the miracles Jesus did for people in every town he had visited. The Jewish leaders might have been wise in some ways, but their minds were closed when it came to Jesus.

Soon Jesus was going to give them the greatest sign of all and they would have to wrestle with it for the rest of their lives. Like Jonah coming out of the belly of the big fish, Jesus was going to come out of the grave following his crucifixion. That would be absolute proof of his divinity.

Beware of the Yeast

Jesus got back into the boat and crossed the lake again with his disciples. He must have been in a hurry to leave because the disciples forgot to buy bread for the journey. When Jesus heard them discussing bread he shared what was on his mind.

“‘Be careful,’ Jesus warned them. ‘Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.’” Mark 8:15

The disciples thought Jesus was talking about literal bread, but he was thinking about the insidious influence of his enemies among the Jewish leaders. He didn’t want his disciples to be led astray by the lies of the Pharisees.

He also didn’t want his disciples to miss the meaning of his miracles the way the Pharisees had, so he reminded them about the feeding of the multitudes.

They recalled that when Jesus fed five thousand people there were twelve baskets of leftovers, and after he fed four thousand there were seven baskets of leftovers. It didn’t matter to Jesus that they only had one loaf of bread with them in the boat because having enough bread was never a problem for him.

“‘How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:1-12

From this point forward the Pharisees were going to show up more and more. It was vital for Jesus’ disciples to make up their minds now not to be influenced by them.