外邦人的信心故事 馬可福音 7:24 - 37
- 馬克牧師
- Mar 4, 2024
- 10 min read
一個婦人的信心
（太15‧21－28）
24耶穌從那裏起身，往泰爾、西頓的境內去，進了一家，不願意人知道，卻隱藏不住。 25當下，有一個婦人，她的小女兒被污鬼附着，聽見耶穌的事，就來俯伏在他腳前。 26這婦人是希臘人，屬
族。她求耶穌趕出那鬼離開她的女兒。 27耶穌對她說：「讓兒女們先吃飽，不好拿兒女的餅丟給狗吃。」 28婦人回答說：「主啊，不錯；但是狗在桌子底下也吃孩子們的碎渣兒。」 29耶穌對她說：「因這句話，你回去吧；鬼已經離開你的女兒了。」 30她就回家去，見小孩子躺在牀上，鬼已經出去了。
耶穌治好耳聾舌結的人
31耶穌又離了泰爾的境界，經過西頓，就從低加坡里境內來到加利利 海。 32有人帶着一個耳聾舌結的人來見耶穌，求他按手在他身上。 33耶穌領他離開眾人，到一邊去，就用指頭探他的耳朵，吐唾沫抹他的舌頭， 34望天歎息，對他說：「以法大！」就是說：「開了吧！」 35他的耳朵就開了，舌結也解了，說話也清楚了。 36耶穌囑咐他們不要告訴人；但他越發囑咐，他們越發傳揚開了。 37眾人分外希奇，說：「他所做的事都好，他連聾子也叫他們聽見，啞巴也叫他們說話。」
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith
24Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25In 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. 26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
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.”
28“Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man
31Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
33After 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. 34He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!”(which means “Be opened!”). 35At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
各位弟兄姊妹平安，今天要來分享的故事，是耶穌所行的兩個神跡奇事。記載在馬可福音的七章24節到最後的37節。
一個故事是敘利亞腓尼基人婦人的信心。這個時候我們注意，耶穌來到了外邦人的境界。在當時的猶太人的看法中，他們是不跟外邦人來往的。猶太人非常看重自己的身分，認為自己是上帝所揀選的，所以不願意跟這些外邦人來往。而耶穌在剛剛所講完關於潔淨與不潔淨的問題後，他就來到了腓尼基人的地方。腓尼基這個地方今天是在敘利亞地帶，而腓尼基人並不是猶太人。所以耶穌這個時候徹底地來到了外邦人的地方。其實這既是一個事件也是一個預表。
首先，他受到他自己民族的排斥。無論是法利賽人(宗教人士)、希律王(政治人物)、或者是他自己的家鄉拿撒勒(自己的鄉親)，他現在都不受到歡迎。這首先證明了，絕大多數猶太人其實沒有看清楚，這就是他們所期待的救主基督，也沒有真明白他所說的一切話語。所以這個時候耶穌已經開始被他們排斥，被趕到外邦之中。但同時間，這也是上帝本來就預言的，因為猶太人棄絕了真理，所以外邦人從此以後可以得到這個福音。耶穌今天來到腓尼基人的地方，其實就是在驗證福音已經開始臨到外邦人了，不是在他升天以後，而是在他生活的時候，他已經與外邦人接觸，並且讓外邦人聽見他。這就符合了預言，在詩篇118篇22-23，”匠人所棄的石頭已成了房角的頭塊石頭“
接下來，耶穌的話語是一段比較難解釋的故事。我們看到了這個婦人來求耶穌救她的女兒。她是個希臘人，標準的外邦人。她求耶穌趕出那個附身她女兒的鬼，讓他的女兒得到釋放。然而，耶穌的回答讓很多人無法理解。耶穌說的是：“讓兒女們先去吃飽，不好拿兒女的餅丟給狗吃。”人們會覺得，哇，耶穌怎麼能這樣講話呢？耶穌不是救主嗎？耶穌不是慈悲的嗎？在他面前跪著的婦人這麼可憐，怎麼耶穌會用狗來比喻她呢？
如果我們能夠去了解一下原文的說法，我們會明白到，耶穌所講的狗並不是指野狗或者討厭的低賤的狗。他所指的是像我們家裡的寵物狗一樣。就像我們對待我們的狗兒子一樣，如果你是愛寵物的人，你會說這是我的狗兒子，是家中的一員。所以，這裡的狗其實是家裡非常親近的一份子。耶穌所用的口氣並不是一種貶低的態度，而是一種笑容溫柔的口氣，他在說：“給孩子的飯不該先給家裡的寵物狗吃。” 這樣，這裡貶低的口氣會少很多。當然，無論如何去解釋當時耶穌所說的，他的確用了“狗”這個詞，所以我們要來理解這個地方到底耶穌想要表達的是什麼。
當時的人吃飯時沒有刀叉或餐具，都是用手。吃完後，他們會用大塊的麵包擦拭手上的油或食物殘渣，然後丟在地上，讓家裡的寵物狗來吃。所以，這個婦人說：“我明白小孩應該先吃，但我可不可以吃那些小孩子丟在地上的麵包呢？” 其實，耶穌非常欣賞她這句話。在馬太福音的第15章，耶穌還讚美這位婦人，說：“婦人，你的信心是大的。” 實際上，耶穌在這裡所說的也是比喻他自己。因為猶太人拒絕了他這來自天上的靈糧，讓福音先從外邦人中開始傳揚。所以，雖然耶穌是上帝所賜給猶太人的救主，但猶太人沒有去享受，反而是外邦人先享受了這靈糧。這位婦人在這個故事中，成了外邦人的代表，謙卑地向上帝祈求，而上帝也為外邦人打開了福音的大門，也表明了福音即將要臨到萬國萬民。
接下來這段故事，如果我們能夠來了解聖經地理的話，我們會發現這段路程其實不太合理。從推羅開始到加利利的話，耶穌並不是走直線，而是先往北，然後倒過來走到加利利途中經過西頓。有些研究者認為這樣的旅程不太正常，可能會認為這是聖經上寫錯了，這西段不應該在這個行程之內。但是有人認為，如果真的要走的話，從推羅到加利利需要八個月才能走完。有些觀點認為，這樣的說法其實比較像是當時所記錄的實情。
因為耶穌知道在不久的未來他就會要準備上十字架的路程，所以他希望在這之前先跟他的門徒有一個好好的相處的時間，並且繼續地給他們看他的生命，以及他所做的一切事情。這就是門徒訓練的一個重點：與師父經常的相處，常常都在一起，生活，吃喝，服事，互相理解，並且從他的行為和生活中來學習，而不只是單單聽他的話語。這是門徒訓練中的重要觀念 – 用生命影響生命，我們以後再來談這個重點。
接下來，耶穌來醫治一個耳聾舌節的人。我們知道，一個耳聾舌節的人聽不清楚，也講不出話來，所以這個時候這個人其實沒有辦法表達自己。耶穌非常貼心，他把這個人拉到自己的身邊，並且到一個沒有人的地方，為的是要好好地來對待他，醫治他。耶穌不只是把他當成是一個病人，他是關心一個人有特別的需求。這就是上帝的能力，將壞掉的、犯錯的、罪惡的重新修補過來，成就一件美事。耶穌帶來醫治和安慰，無論我們的內心是否經歷過痛苦，耶穌都願醫治我們，使我們回到起初創造的美好和美麗。
感謝各位的聆聽，明天我們將繼續講述神蹟故事，耶穌讓四千人吃飽。這一件事情和五餅二魚的故事類似，但其中的內涵卻大不相同。讓我們期待著明天的故事吧！
Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you. Today, we are going to share two miraculous stories performed by Jesus, recorded in Mark 7:24-37.
One of the stories is about the faith of a Syrophoenician woman. At this time, we notice that Jesus came to the territory of the Gentiles. In the view of the Jews at that time, they did not associate with Gentiles. The Jews valued their own identity, considering themselves chosen by God, so they were unwilling to associate with these Gentiles. However, after Jesus had just finished discussing the issue of purity and impurity, he came to the region of the Syrophoenicians. Phoenicia, where the Syrophoenicians lived, is in present-day Syria, and the Syrophoenicians were not Jews. So, at this time, Jesus completely came to the territory of the Gentiles. This is both an event and a foreshadowing.
First, he was rejected by his own people. Whether it was the Pharisees (religious leaders), Herod (political figures), or his own hometown of Nazareth (his own kin), he was not welcomed now. This first proved that the vast majority of Jews did not really understand that he was the Messiah they were waiting for, nor did they truly understand all the words he said. So, at this time, Jesus had begun to be rejected by them and was driven into the midst of the Gentiles. However, at the same time, this was also what God had foretold, because the Jews had rejected the truth, so the Gentiles could receive the gospel from now on. Jesus coming to the region of the Syrophoenicians today actually verifies that the gospel has begun to come to the Gentiles, not after he ascended to heaven, but during his lifetime. He had already come into contact with Gentiles and let the Gentiles hear him. This fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 118:22-23, "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."
Next, Jesus' words are a somewhat difficult story to explain. We see a woman coming to Jesus to beg him to heal her daughter. She was a Greek, a typical Gentile. She asked Jesus to drive out the demon possessing her daughter, so that her daughter could be set free. However, Jesus' response puzzled many people. Jesus said, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." People might think, wow, how could Jesus speak like this? Isn't Jesus the Savior? Isn't Jesus compassionate? How could Jesus use dogs to compare her? If we can understand the original meaning of the words, we will understand that the dogs Jesus referred to were not wild dogs or despised lowly dogs. He meant dogs like the pet dogs we have at home. Just as we treat our pet dogs as members of our family, if you love pets, you would say, "This is my dog, a member of the family." So, the dogs here are actually very close members of the family. The tone Jesus used was not a demeaning attitude, but a gentle and smiling tone, as he said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." This way, the derogatory tone here is much less. Of course, no matter how we interpret what Jesus said at the time, he did use the word "dogs," so we need to understand what Jesus wanted to express here.
At the time, people didn't use knives, forks, or utensils during meals; they ate with their hands. Afterward, they would use large pieces of bread to wipe the oil or food residue from their hands and then throw them on the ground for the household pets to eat. So, this woman said, "I understand that children should eat first, but may I eat the bread that children have thrown on the ground?" In fact, Jesus greatly admired her statement. In Matthew 15, Jesus even praised this woman, saying, "Woman, your faith is great." Actually, what Jesus said here is also a metaphor for himself. Because the Jews rejected the spiritual food that came from heaven, the gospel began to be preached among the Gentiles. So, although Jesus is the Savior given by God to the Jews, the Jews did not enjoy it. Instead, the Gentiles enjoyed this spiritual food first. In this story, this woman became the representative of the Gentiles, humbly praying to God, and God opened the door of the gospel to the Gentiles, indicating that the gospel is about to come to all nations and peoples.
Next, in this story, if we can understand the geography of the Bible, we will find that this journey is actually not very reasonable. From Tyre to Galilee, Jesus did not take a straight line but first went north and then turned back to pass through Sidon on his way to Galilee. Some researchers believe that such a journey is not normal and may think that this is a mistake in the Bible, and this segment should not be included in this itinerary. But some people think that if you really want to walk, it will take eight months from Tyre to Galilee. Some viewpoints believe that such statements actually reflect the reality recorded at that time.
Because Jesus knew that he would soon prepare for the journey to the cross, he hoped to have a good time with his disciples before that, and to continue to show them his life and all that he had done. This is a key point of disciple training: to spend time with the Master, to be together often, to live, eat, serve, understand each other, and learn from his actions and life, not just listening to his words. This is an important concept in disciple training - influencing life with life, and we will discuss this point later.
Next, Jesus came to heal a man with a deaf and speech impediment. We know that a person with a deaf and speech impediment cannot hear clearly or speak, so this person actually cannot express himself. Jesus was very caring; he pulled this person to his side and went to a place where there was no one, to treat him well and heal him. Jesus not only treated him as a patient but also cared about a person with special needs. This is the power of God, to repair the broken, the wrong, the sinful, and accomplish a beautiful thing. Jesus brings healing and comfort, and regardless of whether our hearts have experienced pain, Jesus is willing to heal us and bring us back to the beauty and goodness of the original creation.
Thank you all for listening, and tomorrow we will continue to tell the story of miracles, how Jesus made four thousand people full. This event is similar to the story of the five loaves and two fish, but the connotations are quite different. Let's look forward to tomorrow's story!
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