Hungry even for Children’s crumbs (Mark 7)

Mark 7:1-37

Key Verse 28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Introduction: Today’s passage tells us three stories; an argument between Jesus and the teachers of the Law and Pharisees; casting out a demon from a daughter of Syrophoenician woman, and healing of a deaf and mute man in Decapolis.  Here is a radical shift in the subject of his teaching but also in his healing ministry. As we go through today’s passage, I like to explore and understand what Jesus had in his heart.

1. The law of God shall not be compromised by man’s idea (1-13)

The Pharisee and teachers of the Law came down from Jerusalem and saw what Jesus and his disciples were doing. When they noticed that the disciples did not wash their hand before joining the meal, they said asked Jesus, their teacher this question:

“Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

To understand their question, we are to understand few things; the law, the tradition, and the role/position of the teachers of the Law and Pharisees.

First, the law was given by the LORD to his chosen people Israel as a Covenant between Israel and the LORD. The goal of this covenant was for Israel to be His people and He might be their Lord. By this covenant, the relationship was solidified and was expected to sustain God’s blessing for good. So, the law was the Covenant code.

Deuteronomy 11:26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse– 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

As we know well, the Ten Commandments represents the essence of the entire Law of Covenant. Simply if people keep the law, then they would be blessed by the LORD. If not, they would suffer God’s punishment. The essence of the codes of the Law was holiness as their LORD was holy. As it said;

Lev. 11:45 I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

Second, the tradition might refer to Mishnah. It was built upon the Hebrew Bible in its attention to the latter’s legal materials and language. Yet, the text stands quite independent of biblical antecedents, developing autonomous areas of interest that it expresses through very few, tightly controlled rhetorical patterns (AYBD). This circulated in Jewish community between 50 BC to 200 AC (AYBD). In other words, this was created without direct inspiration from the Lord. Instead, many rabbis gave their personal understanding of the Bible and formed ‘Mishna’.

Third, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were the spiritual leaders of the time. They were the authority to interpret and to practice life in the Law.  What they understood and taught out of Mishna was authoritative in life and in the politics of the nation. In this way, they were considered to be well versed in the scripture and well respected for their zeal for the LORD and honored high among common people of the nation. According to the law, the main functions of the priests was to differentiate the clean things from the unclean things.  Ability to discern unclean from clean and living a life in such discernment was a barometer whether one is good and godly or not. Their living was better off than the common people and this also served as a justification for godly living. These three things, well versed in the law/Mishna, strict observance to the teachings of the Mishna, and good living, spoke them of their godliness and supported well for their pride. Out of this pride, they made themselves the model of those who lived by the Law of God and blessed by Him. In addition, their godly living was well recognized and respected by the people of Israel and they became the leaders and holders of the authority of the nation.

When they came down from Jerusalem and pointed out the problem among Jesus’ disciples, this posed an enormous weight not only for the disciples but also for all the people who followed Jesus. This question raised an insidious accusation that the disciples violated the law and could not be considered as holy as they were. At the same time, they promoted an idea that they were righteous and holy, and would surely be counted righteous before the LORD better than the disciples. This could further be extended that their teacher Jesus was not of God or not in line with the Law of Moses. 

Have you faced such an implicit accusation on your integrity as a decent human being or as a godly man or woman? Almost all accusations are rooted in one’s desire to promote his or her own goodness or righteousness over others. That is saying, “I am right and you are wrong”.  How did you handle such accusation? Often, we find it difficult to accept that we are wrong.

How did Jesus respond to this question? 

To their question, Jesus responded;  

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

Isaiah was a prophet in the 8-9 century BC. who served southern kingdom Judah. At this time, the northern kingdom of Israel was on the brink of exile to Assyria. He prophesied that unless they repent of her sins, Judah would face the same fate as Israel.

 near the end of northern Kingdom Israel. He warned Judah for their ungodliness. By his time God already had determined to send the Nation Judah to exile for their sins. In the first part of Isaiah, he rebuked the kingdom Judah and called for their repentance.

Ch 29 speaks about the failure of the leaders in Jerusalem; it was their hypocrisy. I happened in the temple, the place where Israel meets God according to the Law of Covenant. They honored the Lord with their lips but their lives spoke something else. God punished their unrepentant heart and sent them to exile in Babylon. Since then, she did not have her own country. The striking things are that even now while under God’s punishment, these leaders, teachers of the law, and Pharisees are doing the same thing as the leaders of the time of Isaiah.

7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

They spoke in the honor of the LORD. That honor must be genuinely reflected in their worship of the Lord. They taught as if they honor the LORD. But their teachings were merely of human rules. They modified the Law to make easy for them to be able to meet the requirement of the Law.  This modified law became the law itself and stood as the commanding principle of life. In other words, in their hypocrisy, they wrapped man-made rules well and labeled it as the Law of God.  But in essence what were they doing?

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Human traditions are man-made along the side of the Law of God. But basically, they trimmed, and tailored and reinterpreted for them to meet the requirement of the Law easily with minimal effort; man-oriented; for his good, for his benefit, and for his wellbeing. The primary purpose was to ease the sharp edges of the law so that they may be able to escape the judgment of the Law. In this way, they forged a fake certificate: we are good and right in the eyes of the Lord and we are better than others, We are superclass, God’s chosen, and have more righteous and more honored and more dignified. All must hear what we say for we are the Law. God is with us and we are His people. Jesus further explicated the details of the process in replacing the Law of God with their traditions.

9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

Here Jesus called their deliberate scheme ‘a fine way’. In the eyes of the ordinary, the law and the traditions must look the same and the difference must not be discernable. The most important thing was that the tradition must be doable with little efforts. It focused on human activities—rituals, formalities, and sacrifices. There was no or little concern for the hearts of men.

The Law was to govern the hearts of men through what they do in respect to the LORD. When there is no heart to the LORD, there would be only busy-minded human activities in and around rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices. God detests what mortal bodies can do. God wants the essence of our being, our heart. Without true fear and reverence to the LORD, all those rituals and sacrifices are meaningless to Him.

Then why did they do it? Why did the leaders at the time of Isaiah do? Even after seeing God’s punishment for such failure, why are these leaders, the teachers of the Law and Pharisees are still doing the same thing?

The law demands of them to be right in the eyes of the LORD. They were making efforts to make themselves right in the eyes of men, thinking that what they were doing was right in the eyes of the LORD.  Righteousness! Men cannot live without ‘righteousness’. They must be counted right and good not only among fellow men but also in the eyes of God.  

The Pharisees and teachers of the Law are on the top tier of all levels of human efforts to be right and just, implying that all men, all human beings, regardless of their spiritual and moral background, have rules or laws that support their righteousness as Paul said in Rom 2:14-15. The laws of the world, all religions, without exception, have their own laws. A quite number of similarities are found among them. Nevertheless, they are all man-made as was with the traditions of the teachers of the Law and Pharisees.  Though they are distinctively different from each other, they were created with the same mindset: to guide and to rule man’s effort toward God or gods of their own. Can it succeed to bring men to meet God who created them? The answer is obvious as we have seen in these leaders of Israel. Then why? Or how can we man can meet the LORD of all creation and be ‘right’ in His eyes, and be rewarded with His blessings?

2. What comes out of man (14-23)

Now people were confused because they accepted the Pharisees and teachers of the Law as a genuine teacher of the Bible and for life and gave their respect to them. Actually, many of them strived hard to be like them. Yet, it became obvious that they failed to please the LORD and were rebuked of their hypocrisy. Then, where could the people find the way of life? What would the life of righteousness look like? To this puzzled and confused crowd, Jesus spoke to uncover the truth about men’s heart.

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

The source of defilement is not outside but inside of men. It has been there since birth. Or it has been there since the fall of man.

Romans 3:10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." 13 "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." 14 "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."

But it was too odd idea to understand and to accept. They asked what Jesus meant by saying 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”

18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

God concerns the hearts of men. The food from outside is never able to make our hearts dirty or unclean. They might make us sick in our body, but never be able to make our heart crooked. He further clarified what comes out of a person is. 

21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.

These things have been there in men’s hearts since the fall of men. Cain killed his brother Abel, not because he did not wash his hands but because the murderous intension was there in his heart as soon as they rebelled against the LORD’s counsel. Paul details how that happened.

Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…  24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Jesus pointed out that the hearts of men was the locus of all defilement. Out of this defiled heart comes out and defile others and the LORD.

But men’s self-righteousness is strong. As they were rebuked of their wrongs, they began to plan to discredit, remove, and even kill Jesus. If sins of men cannot be stopped by God’s warning, then it would surely drive itself all the way to see the real fruit, killing, or murder. This event was the beginning point of that confrontation in unrepentance and which eventually led to the death of Jesus on the cross.

What did Jesus do? Then?

3. But even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. (24-30)

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. Jesus moved into totally new territory. It was the territory of Israel’s enemy for a long time. Still, the hostility between Israel and the people of Phoenicia was still unabated. This was the place Queen Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, was from. She introduced Baal worships into Israel and since then Baal worship played the major role for the eventual fall of the kingdom Israel. What possibly could or would Jesus do anything to do in this place? Yet Jesus went there quietly for he did not want anyone to knew his presence. But it was not possible because Jesus’ fame as the man of God spread even to this place.

 24b yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.

I like to bring your attention to the problem she faced on her daughter. It was not a sickness. Also, it was not her but her little daughter.  Where there is an overwhelming fear of the LORD, it is rare to see the demon possessions. But where there is no fear of God, demon possession is more common; demon possession presents as one of the common sicknesses of the society. She was a Greek woman but born in Syrian Phoenicia. We know there were so many Greek gods and also Phoenicia had its own god, the most prominent one was Baal. What it means that her mind and life were fully influenced by these paganisms. Nevertheless, she sought Jesus’ help. She came and fell at Jesus’ knees and begged for his mercy. But Jesus showed his cold shoulder;

27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Jesus rejected her request. Because she was a gentile woman and was like a house dog in comparison to the children of the house. Simply she and her daughter were not up to par with the people of Israel in righteousness and holiness. Any blessing from the LORD of Israel couldn’t be considered until His people were fed fully with His blessing. In this seeming outright rejection, Jesus left a little room for consideration. The word ‘dog’ that Jesus used was not a dog (Kyon) in the street. He used the word “kynarion” a little dog in a house (domesticated dog). In this way, though she was like a dog in comparison to the children of the house, she was still a member within the house. Being encouraged by Jesus’ word of inclusion, she replied.

28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

She called Jesus, ‘Lord’ By calling him in this way, she honored Jesus as her Lord and rejected all other gods that she knew and believed. She did not take Jesus’ word as a rejection of her pleading for help. Instead, she found a room in Jesus' seeming rejection. Even the dogs of a house eat the crumbs that the children of the house dropped from the table. Here we discover that she played with the word children.  The word children (teknon) used by Jesus was different from the word ‘children (paidion)’ used by this woman.  Teknon denotes biological children while paidion is used for children in general. By saying so, she claimed that there were children of God, that were not necessarily biological children. She and her daughter were not biological children and yet they were children of God. The implication of her word was enormous and powerful. Though we might be like a dog in comparison to your biological children, still we are children of God the creator. Truly she was a woman of faith. What could Jesus say to her? Could he reject here request? Jesus was happy to see her faith and rewarded her with healing and said

29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

What happened then? Jesus did not do any action but said his word only. She believed Jesus and went home and found that the demon was gone and her daughter was well. This was total dependence on Jesus. It was by faith, nothing else.

4. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”(31-37)

Then Jesus took an unusual journey.

31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. (NIV)

But NAS read a little differently: Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. The original language was not quite clear what it meant.

Most scholars believed that Jesus went from Tyre and then up to Sidon and went east toward Damascus passing through the northern slope of Mt Hermon and then came down south to Decapolis. There he moved to the western end of the Decapolis region, which was the sea of Galilee.

Why did Jesus go there through Decapolis? Or how did Jesus get there from Tyre? There are more questions on why didn’t Jesus go there directly through the sea of Galilee?  We remember that Jesus and his disciples went to the region of Decapolis by boat crossing the Sea of Galilee and there they met a demon-possessed man. Jesus drove out six thousand demons from him (Mark 5:1-20).

Leaving this question aside for the time being(see the appendix), let’s move on to the next event in the region of Decapolis.

32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

As far as the Bible tells us, Jesus came here only once to heal a demon-possessed man. At that time six thousand demons were driven out of the man and the local people lost two thousand pigs. They were all too scared of this power and forced Jesus to go away. But now some people from this region brought to Jesus a man deaf and mute. This man was almost impossible as the previous one. In some sense, healing this man was much difficult than the previous man. But they believed Jesus and some people got together to bring this man to Jesus. In other words, this was not one man’s faith. A few men jointly agreed that Jesus could heal this man though this man might be much more difficult than the demon-possessed one. Jesus did not question or comment on anything to them. Jesus knew their hearts; the belief in Jesus.

But how or what could Jesus do with this man, deaf and mute? Any verbal communication was impossible. But when one could not hear, what Jesus said might not be much to him.  Also, he was mute, and could not express himself at all. Since there was no one but Jesus and this man, Jesus must open any meaningful ‘communication’ channel with this man. What could Jesus do for this man?   

33 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.

Jesus made a contact with this man in his ears and in his tongue. His eyes were widely open and did not or could not say anything. He was totally at a loss. After having touched these two, Jesus did this;

34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).

He looked up to heaven. He was seeking God’s grace and mercy on this man. Underneath of this prayer was a deep sigh, a sigh on the pitifulness of this man’s predicament.  When God created Adam, he was good and could communicate well with the LORD without any hindrance. God said to Israel when he gave them manna from heaven.

Deuteronomy 8:3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deu 8:3 NIV)

This man could only see the things that were visible. This was the physical world. But there was nothing to think and reason for the communication of the word was shut down. When God gave Israel the ten commandments, they heard the LORD speaking directly to them. They could taste the full power of the LORD of holiness. The word is the means for the Lord to communicate with men. Because of this,

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Deu 6:4 NIV)

To hear is to path to know and understand. But the predicament of this man was truly pathetic and helpless. Sin and its toll came upon him hard and there was very little or no trace of the man that God created to have dominion over all of His creation.

Could this man hear the word of God and be saved? Or was this man worthy of Jesus' care and love? What good was in him that Jesus the Son of God must pay attention to him?

Jesus said to him ““Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). Jesus called out for God, the father, to open this man’s tongue and ears. He was the one who created man, who created ears and tongue. At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. For the first time, this man could exchange his thoughts and feelings with the Son of God and with other men. The sphere of his spirit was open and be cable to learn the world of God, beyond what was visible.

What was this man worthy of that Jesus healed him? There was nothing in him that could be counted worthy to receive Jesus’ blessing. But because of the faith of some people of the people of Decapolis, Jesus had mercy on the deaf and mute man. though they were totally pagan and had no law, lived ungodly lives,   

35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

5.     Jesus had done everything well (36-37)

36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

The Pharisees and teachers of the law counted themselves to be worthy because they kept the law of purity; they thought that they did not defile themselves with unclean hands. By doing so they counted themselves far better than others and considered to be worthy of God’s blessing. But Jesus pointed out the sin deeply in the depth of their hearts. In them were all kinds of evils; envy, murder, sexual immorality, lie, descension,  .. ; They failed to see what was in the depth of their hearts. Jesus did not do anything for them and actually, Jesus wanted to get away from them. They were totally unworthy in the eyes of the Son of God. They were excluded from God’s blessing. Eventually, they conspired together to kill Jesus, the vilest and treacherous sin against humanity and God. Righteousness built up in their own hand will surely lead to eternal destruction.

Contrary to the teachers and Pharisees, the woman in Tyre, and some men in Decapolis knew the truth, the sin in themselves and unworthiness before God. When Jesus said of her ‘dog’ she accepted this as a truthful designation of her life in sin and ungodliness. In this way, she was truthful to her and to the LORD. So were some men in Decapolis. At first, they cared for their assets and feared to lose their riches, not showing any compassion for the demon-possessed. But at this time, they repented of their past sin, caring for their material goods over a man’s life. In repentance, they showed great compassion for a man deaf and mute and sought help from Jesus.

In these ways, both, the woman in Tyre, and some men in Decapolis counted themselves to be sinners and turned their heart to Jesus for his mercy and help. Both had come to Jesus for their compassion for others, one for her daughter and the other for a fellow man of the town. The spirit of love and compassion is in line with the LORD, the creator of heaven and earth. Jesus, His son, showed all-out love for them.

We all are sinners and unworthy of God’s blessing. But Jesus came to show His love for such sinners like us. He brought himself as the lamb for our sin and  

 

 

Appendix

The Law and defilement: one of the most important functions of the priests, especially that of the high priest, was to discern what is clean from what is unclean (defiled). The origin of ritual purity was likely to be originated from the ritual purity that God commanded for the high priest (Lev 8:6-9; 16:3-5). The limitation of the ritual purity is well illustrated in what the high priest was required to do on the day of Atonement (16:3-5). The high priest had access to the Holy Place every day for the whole year without the blood of the lamb. But on the day of atonement, he had to go into the Most Holy Place, where actual meeting with the LORD. At this time, he must wear linen clothes instead of normal high priest garments and wardrobes and he must have the blood of the lamb in his hand to enter the Most Holy Place. This tells us that no matter how cleanly the high priest prepares himself before the LORD, as he was, he could not enter the Most Holy Place and could not meet the LORD. This tells us the finite nature of our effort to be clean/pure. As we are in the flesh of sin, which is well reflected in the high priest’s linen clothes, we cannot meet the LORD of holiness. Simply in the Law, God had already laid out the ultimate principle; no man in flesh can meet him, the Lord of Holiness, and receive His blessing.

Jesus’ detour: Soon after his harsh rebuke of the teachers of the Law and Pharisees, Jesus went to Tyre and then to Sidon, Decapolis and to the eastern side of Decapolis, facing the Sea of Galilee.  Why did Jesus make such a long detour? There are three plausible reasons.

First, Jesus wanted to have a very private time with his disciples (6:31). But this was hampered by a large crowd and the plan was put off.  When Jesus went to Tyre, it said that Jesus did not want anyone to know his presence (7:24).  The long detour could take at least several days. This was a good time to spend ample time with his disciples.

Secord, it is possible that Jesus wanted to get away from the threat of Herod Antipas, who was the king of Galilee and Perea. If Herod was looking after him, then he must get away from his territory (Mark 6:16; Luke 13:31). Such a threat was foreseen also from the Pharisees and teachers of the Law because Jesus rebuked them very harshly (7:1-13)

Third, Jesus had to escape from the crowd at or near Galilee who made an attempt to make Jesus king by force immediately after the feeding of five thousand men (John 6:14). So, the best way to avoid this crowd was to get away from Galilee and its vicinity.

All these three are very plausible causes enough for Jesus took such a detour. Nevertheless, all these three reasons did not add up to make the cause of Jesus’ tour.  Actually, Jesus’ getaway attempt was first seen in Mark 6:31, just before feeding five thousand. In other words, this was put off by an unexpected event (feeding the five thousand). Going to Tyre was the second attempt and this plan was extended by his trip to Tyre and then to cross over to the east side of the mountain Hermon. All these three, feeing five thousands, healing of a daughter of Syro-Phoenician woman, and deaf and mute man in Decapolis halted Jesus’ private time with his disciples. When would one put off the current task in order to take care of something that he did not plan? Only when something that just came up was more important or as equal as the current task, he would put it aside for a moment. All the three events that halted Jesus’ purpose to be with his disciples were of God’s grace and mercy. All the recipients of this grace were of faith, including the five thousand crowd—far more committed to Jesus than any other crowds before. Jesus was looking forward to the revelation of his suffering, death, and resurrection to his disciples.  This was the paramount importance, far important than escaping the threats or people’s effort to make him by force. The disciples’ way of thinking on the Messiah was not much different from the crowd who attempted to make him king by force. How could their belief be changed or how could Jesus help them to conform to Jesus’ purpose to be the king by life-giving sacrifice?

1.     The belief that Jesus to be the king to restore the new kingdom was well-grounded on the righteousness; that is to say that the Messiah must be the king of the Jews and put down all ungodly peoples and kingdoms. This was the pervading theme in the mind of his disciples as much as it was among the believing crowd and the teacher of the Law and the Pharisees.

2.     When Jesus showed his mercy on three occasions. On all of them, Jesus was moved by his compassion.  The response of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law was totally antithetical to this compassion; disdain and condemnation for the self-righteousness. In addition, caring for the unworthy gentiles (the woman in Tyre and a mute and deaf man in Decapolis) was totally opposite to the theme of Jesus, the King of the Jews (as far as the Jews were concerned). The disciples must think and rethink their way of understanding of the Messiah. The most damaging blow to such understanding was his compassion on the four thousand of mostly gentile crowds in and a gentile territory (8:1-13).

3.     The purpose of Jesus’ private tour with his disciples was his persistent effort to open the eyes of the disciples who were totally blind to Jesus’ will to restore His people by giving his life as a ransom for many (8:22-26).  Interestingly, Jesus opened the eyes of the blind in two stages with some extraordinary efforts, though he could open his eyes by his word only.  This matches well with Jesus’ duplicate efforts (ch 6:32-7:37 is parallels in sequence with 8:1-30).

4.     After all, the entire journey hand one goal, what the kingship or Messiahship of Jesus would be like. His messiahship was centered on one thing, to impart His grace to those who believe in him, that is to give His life as a ransom for the sinners.

This leads us to think about how much we make efforts to help others to know the faith in God’s grace. All-out compassion in love connects us to the heart of the LORD and His Son Jesus.