Mark 7:24-30 Sermon Questions

Deliverance for All

1. What does last week’s context have to do with this week’s story? 
   1. The Pharisees were concerned about purity laws, and here a very impure person comes to address Jesus. 
2. Why is it important to read this account in both the gospel of Matthew and Mark? 
3. What was the significance of Jesus going to the region of Tyre and Sidon?
   1. His focus moved from the chosen, holy, treasured Jews to include the Gentiles. 
   2. This is a picture of the fulfillment of the Great Commission. 
4. What was the significance of the woman coming to Jesus? 
   1. She was a woman, Gentile, who came on behalf of her daughter, who was possessed by an unclean spirit. 
5. Why do you think Jesus ignored the woman? 
6. How does Jesus’s response to the disciples in Matt. 24 show his dedication to the work of the Father? 
7. Why does Jesus answer the woman in the way that he does? 
8. What does the woman’s response to Jesus show about her heart? 
9. How do we, like the woman, come to terms with the severity of our situation? 
   1. Sin is harmful to us (Is. 59:2)
   2. Sin is harmful to others (2 Sam. 11)
10. Christ came to offer deliverance to all. What must we do to experience the deliverance that he offers? 
11. Does this deliverance affect us now, or is the salvation that he provides only to be enjoyed after we die? 

* Oftentimes we get caught up in the mystical elements of a Biblical narrative. In this story don’t spend any time thinking about the nature of the daughter’s demon possession. The mother came to see her daughter delivered, but Christ came to provide a much greater deliverance for all who will place their faith in him. Focus on him!