Jesus Welcomes All to His Table

📜 Complete Transcript

07 06 2026

Today as I'm teaching in the book of Mark, I'm not going to flip back and forth, but I'm going to share things from Matthew because it's going to give you a bigger picture of what Jesus is doing in the book of Mark. Does that make sense? And so as we do that, if you're thinking, I don't see that in Mark, it's because I'm pulling it from Matthew. So if you want to flip back and forth, you can, but it's in Matthew chapter 15, verse 21 is where it's at in Matthew.

And so before that, I got a question. Have you ever been a part of something where you have to understand the big picture in order to understand the small picture? Like the more you understand the big picture, the more it helps you understand what? The small picture. For instance, if someone said to you, man, I heard Jason said this.

And it's like, I heard Jason said, for instance, in a sermon the other day, I was listening online and Jason was preaching. And he said something like, if you're from Michigan, you're going to hell. Like that's what he heard.

And the truth is I said that in a sermon, but I didn't say that in a sermon. In the context of it, it's like, man, if you're from Michigan, hell's going to be hot. Like I didn't, I didn't say that.

I just said that. But if someone listens to this sermon, you know, I don't think if you're from Michigan, you're going to hell. There's a lot of people from Michigan that love Jesus.

Like you're with me, but in the context of something, you need to understand the whole picture to understand what Jason was telling a joke. Okay. Maybe it wasn't funny.

Maybe if you're from Michigan, you're offended, but you're welcome here. Okay. And it'd be the same if I used anything, but I think all of us understand that understanding everything about it allows you to understand the one thing more.

Today in this passage, as we break it down, there's a lot of things I'm going to tell you that I know to be true because the Bible says it, but there's going to be moments I'm going to say, this is something I think. And I want you to give me grace in that today, because just like in this passage, I need it. You're going to need it too.

As we discover what it says, it starts out this way in Mark chapter 7. Don't forget this. Jesus has just done what he's just been confronted by a bunch of religious leaders.

Jesus has just healed people that were Jewish and Gentiles. He's been loving. He's been serving.

He did all these crazy miracles, right? And then these religious leaders show up. And when the religious leaders show up, we talked about this last week. The only question they ask him is not, wow, what was it like to do miracles or man, what did this put like, like none of that.

Their question is, bro, why don't you wash your hands? Remember that last week, all the miraculous things that God has done, fed 5,000, healed the sick, raised the dead to life. And their question to him is, bro, you don't wash your hands before you eat. And Jesus looked at him and the discussion went on.

And Jesus basically says, hey, all you care about is the outside of a cup and you don't clean the inside. What's on the inside matters. Jesus is defending that he came for all the people.

Okay. You can't miss the context of this moment because what we're going into is harder to understand if you don't. So Jesus has just been confronted by Jewish people that think that Gentile people are bad.

They're evil. They're dirty. And they're never going to be in heaven.

That's what they think about us. That's what they think about us. Jesus then walks away from these guys saying, no, you're wrong.

I do care about all the people. I do love all the people. Jesus then walks away in this moment and he heads to this place called Tyre.

Tyre is about a day, maybe a two-day walk. It's north of Israel. It's completely filled of people that are Gentile people.

Does that make sense? It's like modern day, like near Syria, like it's north, it's way north. And so it goes on and it says these words, it says, and from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house.

And then I want anyone to know that he was there. He wanted to be hidden. Then it says this, but immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him.

So Jesus comes rolling into town. Picture this story. Let me tell the narrative of it through Matthew 15, 21 and this.

Jesus comes rolling into town. We know his disciples are with him. We probably know the male and the female disciples are there.

Probably an entourage of at least 20 people. They come walking in with Jesus. Jesus is trying to like, he's tired of being oppressed.

He's tired of being confronted. He needs just a deep, he needs this. Been there, it's summertime.

You're there. Jesus comes walking in. This woman who has a child who's demon possessed or oppressed, depending on the translation, is basically screaming at him.

Hey, Jesus, would you heal my daughter? Jesus, would you heal my daughter? Jesus, would you heal my daughter? As Jesus is walking, as Jesus is walking, then his disciples say to him, this is part of, this is in Matthew 15. They say, Jesus, will you shut her up? So they say, that's kind of my paraphrase, but it's close. Like Jesus, if she keeps shouting this, everyone in town is going to know who you are and you're not going to get a break.

Like Jesus, would you just tell her to be quiet? And Jesus doesn't say a word to them. This woman then, when they say this, the next thing she says is this. She says, Jesus, son of David.

She says, Jesus, Messiah, Jesus, savior of the world. Jesus, king of kings. Like she calls on his real name.

She calls him Lord. Like she is saying, Jesus, son of David. She's calling out to him saying, I know you're the king, even though I'm not Jewish.

I know you're the savior of the world. I know you're the creator of the universe. Would you please have mercy on me and my daughter? Because my daughter is possessed by a demon.

That's the next moment. I don't know about you, but in the context of who Jesus is, when he sees someone hurting, what does Jesus usually do or do? You should nod your head and say he heals them. He has compassion on them.

He cares for them. Like even a cold-hearted dude walking down the street. If you have the ability to help a mother and a child and a child is hurting.

Now a dude and a child, maybe not, but a woman and a child. I'm just like, I'm just painting the picture here. This is what's real.

So don't miss this. So then Jesus, it says when she says, Jesus, Lord, son of David, have mercy on my child. It says in the passage in Matthew that Jesus was silent.

Does it mean Jesus ignored her? Nope. He was silent. Why would Jesus help me out here? I'm gonna tell you something.

I think why would Jesus have been silent in this moment? Who's he trying to prepare to lead the church? You should say, well, Jason, the 20 people with him, the 20 people with him that he's been rolling with. He's literally been looking them and saying, we got to care. And we got to love people.

We got to serve people. We got to, it doesn't matter if they're Jew, doesn't matter if they're Gentile. We got to care.

We got to love. We got to serve the gospels for what all the people it's for everybody, not just you. And so Jesus has a Gentile woman who needs help.

And the apostles, their first inclination is what can you shut this person up? She says, then Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus then doesn't stop healer. He doesn't y'all.

He doesn't do anything. He's just silent. Why is he silent? I don't know for sure, but me as a teacher and as a leader, if every single week I talk to you about loving your neighbor and then me and you are walking down the street sometime.

And I know that I'm moving. I'm not moving by the way, but we're walking down the street and we're talking about loving and serving and loving and serving and loving and serving. And then one of the guys that I work with on the street says, hey, pastor Jay, I need a little help.

And I got you with me. If I know I'm trying to prepare you as a 17, 18, 19, 20 year old, what might I do? Just pause a second and see how you react. Have we learned that we need to love people or are we just going to, are you with me? Context to make a little more sense now.

Then the passage goes on and Jesus then gets to this house. He sits down. She then doesn't stop.

And they say again, Jesus, can you please, like she's driving us crazy. And then she falls at Jesus's feet. And before she falls at his feet, Jesus says these words, hey, uh, sister, I came for the house of Israel.

Like the reason I came, I came, my mission was for the, what the house of Israel. Now, you know, and I know why did Jesus come? If Jesus had a table in this passage, he's drawing it. He's like a picture of a table.

There's a table. Jesus came to this table. Who's sitting at the table.

Initially Jewish people. He is sitting at this table. What's the message of Jesus to the table? Hey, y'all, all of us at the table, you got to make more room because the whole world's going to be a part of this table.

That's Jesus's constant thing. Remember at his very birth, see, he came to save the whole world. He came for all the people.

Jesus is always about all the people, but where did Jesus live? Did Jesus live in the USA? Did Jesus live in Russia? Did Jesus live in China? Did Jesus live in France or Germany or great Britain? No, Jesus lived in Israel, the creator of the universe. When he put clothes on, he did it as a Jewish dude in a small rural place in the middle of Israel. He could have chosen the metropolitan places of Rome.

He could have went to Europe. He could have went to places where lots more people were, but God chose to go to a rural place in the middle of nowhere. And that's where his physical presence was.

Why? Because that's where God sent him. That was his calling. His calling was to what? To sit at the table with a group of Jewish people and show them that I've come to save the whole world.

And your job as you sitting at the table is to tell the whole world how much I love them. Do you understand now? So when it says I came for the house of Israel, it does not mean I only came for the Jew. Here's an easy way to describe it.

This is irrelevant, but it's going to make sense. There are times I get phone calls from people saying, hey, Jason, would you come preach here? I'd say once a month or so or twice a month, I get a phone call saying, hey, Jason, will you come to Louisville? Will you come to Phoenix? Will you come to Los Angeles? Will you come to Denver? Would you preach this weekend here? We'll pay you X. Would you preach this here? And do I say, no, I don't care about people in Los Angeles. I hope they burn hot.

Or I say, man, I don't care about those people in Louisville, Kentucky. Deuces, I'm out. Hate you.

See, all these things, if you just listen to those phrases, you'd think, man, that guy's a cold hearted dude. I'm trying to make a point here. No, what would I say? No, God's called me to Champaign-Urbana.

God's called me to lead, love, serve y'all. But God has not called me to lead, love, and serve y'all just for us. You know that, right? Like the moment that we stop mobilizing ourselves to love this city, love this state, love this nation, love this world.

Hear me say, I promise you, Lord, I'll be like, okay, Jace. When I was called into ministry, it wasn't like I didn't have a block eye on my forehead saying, go to Illinois. It wasn't how I roll.

I knew I was called to be a part of showing the world who Jesus is, but this is where God put my feet. This is where I put my boots on now. And so this is the table I sit at, but is anyone else welcome at our table? Yeah.

Do they listen in Los Angeles? They do. Do they listen in Kentucky? They do. Do they listen in Michigan? They absolutely do.

And they need it. Trust me. No, but like, but like all of you understand what I'm saying.

Like, I'm trying to point out the context of this by kind of being abrasive because my heart, you guys know, you know me. Those of you don't know me like, man, this guy doesn't like Michigan. I love Michigan.

The lakes are great. The teams, not so much. So then he says this about the house of Israel.

I just needed to make that point. And then Jesus says this phrase, I'm going to read to you. So in verse 26, it says, now the woman was a Gentile Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter.

Then he said to her, let the little children, this is what he says to her. Let the little children be fed first. Let the people at my table be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread.

It's not right to take all my time and spend time with the people in Rome or the people in Los Angeles. I need to spend my time here with these people. And then he says, these words, I don't want to take the children's bread and throw it to the, here's the phrase, dogs.

Ooh. Now the phrase dogs here does not mean like mangy mutt, but a Jewish person would have referred to anyone outside of the Jewish faith as dogs. That was like their slang term.

Does that make sense? The slang term they would have used would be like, have you ever been in a foreign country? Like when I, when I go to East Africa and there's a dog coming at me, I promise you, I'm not like, Hey, come here. No, I'm like, cause I'm afraid that thing's going to bite me. The phrase here that Jesus uses is not the harsh phrase of that.

It's a sarcastic. It's like a moment of like, even the little puppy that's by the table, but I want to still make this thing. Why would he have said dogs? Let's look at the bigger picture.

Here's one reason. I think that makes sense. I think, I don't know.

I think this woman yelling the whole time and no one paying attention to her. Do you think she could have said, I know you think I'm a dog. Are you with me? I know you think I'm this.

I know that I don't deserve a seat at your table. I know that I've made mistakes. You know that I worship false gods.

I know that I'm a dog. I know that I'm a dog. I know that I'm a dog.

And then when Jesus sits down and says, Hey, you know this, then he refers to her in the nicest of terms. Like, I know you're calling yourself this, but then this is what he's like. That could be the way that happens.

Or it could be the apostles dog get away. And then Jesus using a tender moment to say, everyone's saying this phrase, I'll use this phrase, but then what happens in the next moment? Do you guys know that as a preacher, I do this. Sometimes I'll preach a sermon.

And as I'm preaching the sermon, I'll say something like the goofy things I've said today. And I'll literally say to know where I'll say to Rick, I'll say, Hey, I want to take that out. Why do you want to take that out? Because in the context, if someone just listens to this, they're not going to understand it, but you can understand it.

When you look in my eyes, you can understand it. When we're laughing together, you can't understand it. When you're in your car listening, as you're driving down the road, the context matters.

I promise you, like, I promise you that when Jesus looked down at this girl, she knew she was loved. Why do I believe that? Because that's what this tells me. That's what the spirit of God does inside of me.

When I'm listening to the spirit of God, I'm not using slang terms and diminishing people. Am I? I'm walking in the heart of the father, this woman, by the way, I'm telling you, I'd hire her. Like, I'm just telling you, I would hire this gal in a half a second and y'all should hire her too, because this is what she says.

But she answered him. Yes, Lord. But even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

Like it wasn't a, how could you call me that? It's like, I know we've been referring to me as a Gentile, as an outsider, but even the outsider gets the crumbs from the table. And he said to her for this statement, you may go on your way. The demon has left your daughter.

In the book of Matthew, it's like, that was a beautiful response. He literally tells her you're amazing. Sometimes I think Jesus said it so she could respond so that the disciples could learn.

And she went home and found the child lying in the bed and the demon gone. I don't want you to forget this because we're going to go to another story here, but I want to just say these words. How did this woman come to Jesus? She could have done this.

She could have done this. Hey, Jesus, would you please heal my daughter? I know I've been going to these places. I know I'm in these places, but I serve the poor every week.

Hey, Jesus, would you heal my daughter? I've done all these good things. Hey, Jesus, would you heal my daughter? I'm a great mom. Hey, Jesus, would you heal my daughter? My husband's a deadbeat.

There's just a lot. You with me? She could have given him a list of reasons why she deserves her daughter to be what? Healed is the right answer. But she actually comes to the table saying, Jesus, the only thing I deserve from your table is crumbs.

How do we approach Jesus? Because no matter what things I've done in my life, wrong or right, I don't even deserve the crumbs from his table. And yet he doesn't make me eat the crumbs. He invites me to sit at his table.

So many of you in this place think that something you've done in the past or even something you're doing right now or or a thought you have or a struggle you have, like separates you and you just, there's no way you can sit and dine with him. You with me? And what he's saying is, no, I conquered death and I conquered sin. So everyone has a seat.

So join me at the table. You know another thing I think is cool? You know why churches, like denominations, we struggle so much is because we try to put God in a clear box that everyone can understand. Hear me say this.

I don't understand at all. And this is why it's so hard to understand him because God actually interacts with you and with me and with you and with me and with you and with me differently. He is unchanging, but we're different, aren't we? We're different.

And God in his knowledge understands the best way to interact with you, the best way to interact with me, the best way to interact with you, and the best way, he understands the best way to interact with you. And so I think even in this moment as he looks at that woman and the sarcasm that he uses in that moment as he touches her cheek and phrases it as a dog was the exact thing she needed to hear. This is how he talks to her.

The Lord talks to my wife different than me. A lot of you in this room, like the Lord talks to you in like abstract, cool, like imagery, like you're an artist. It's like when you talk about God, I'm like wow, even the songs we sing, I don't even know what half those words mean.

And so for me when I'm singing those songs, that's just not how God communicates to me. But he communicates to lots of you in ways just like that. Like all of us are communicated to by the creator of the universe in the language that we best understand.

Do you know how God communicates to me, Jason? You best get on the, like you got to get up. He coaches me. He's like Jason, what you thinking? Come on.

Like how can you say that? Tell her you're sorry. That's how he talks to me. He's not like oh Jason, you're so pretty.

He never said that to me. He's like get your chubby self on your feet and go tell someone about Jesus. But hear me say that.

That's not how he communicates to everybody in this room. To some of you, you desperately need a father's love and care and tenderness, and that's how he communicates. Praise God.

Guys, think about that. And don't feel diminished because you don't have the same thing. He knows how to talk to you.

That's how the passage goes. It goes on and says this. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Decapolis.

And so basically he goes back south. He's going into an area where there's Jewish people and Gentile people. And it says this.

And they brought him a man who was deaf and had speech impediment. And they begged him to lay his hands on him. So Jesus once again is in this moment.

Everyone wants to be healed. By the way, do you know the purpose of Jesus coming to this earth was not to heal everybody he came into contact with. I need to make this real clear.

Jesus went to a pool of Bethesda. He goes to this pool. There's hundreds of people around this pool that need healed.

Hundreds of people around the pool that need to be healed. How many people did Jesus heal at the pool? Not 11. One.

It's mysterious. Why in this room do one of you experience healing and you don't have to walk down this painful path? And the others in this room, we have to walk down a painful path. Like, I don't know.

This is what I know. The mission of God is conquering death and conquering sin is priority one. And he did it.

So this man comes to him. He's deaf. He has a speech impediment.

Jesus pulls him away from the crowd. Why would he pull him away from the crowd? Because he doesn't want everyone to know who he is. He doesn't want everyone to be standing in line to heal someone because he's got to teach, train, and show the people who he is.

Does that make sense? It's not just he's like, he ain't Santa Claus, y'all. And then it goes on to say, so this is what Jesus does. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting, touched his tongue.

And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, be opened. So this is how Jesus heals him. Jesus gives the brother a wet willy.

And then it says he opened up his mouth and goes, I love it. This is why I love it. Do you know what all these people around Jesus are wanting to do? Don't miss this because we do the same thing.

Okay. What procedure do I need to figure out? What is the procedure in order for me to heal someone that's deaf? What is the procedure for me to walk into someone so I can be the one to heal them that they're deaf and I can be the one who can untie their tongue and allow them not to have speech? How can I walk with this power? Like, okay, God, I'm trying to learn exactly how to do these things versus Jesus is the answer. And so Jesus with all that swagger is like, okay, you want to copy this? Boom.

I love it. You know how many brothers probably got spit in the face and wet willies for the next 20 years thinking this is how Jesus did it. Hey family, Jesus is the one that heals, not the procedure of the healing.

You didn't pray something the wrong way. I want to set you free right now. You didn't pray something the wrong way when that bad thing happened.

Well, if you would have asked him this way, it would have worked. You need to say it this, listen to me. No, the one who healed the one at Bethesda was Jesus.

The one who healed this man was Jesus. The one that healed this daughter was Jesus. And we need to chase after Jesus, not after the procedures.

I just think he's awesome. Like, I just love this passage because Jesus knows how to talk to us. And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. I just need to mention this real quick before we're done.

Jesus said, don't tell anybody, trust me. So the one who's just healed the demon for this girl, the one that raised the dead, the one that just healed this dude with a wet willy and spit in his face, like all that just happened. And this is what he says to you, Nate.

He says, hey, I don't want you to tell anyone, trust me. And then all the people around him, instead of trusting Jesus' words, do what? Like, we need to help. He's not really good at this publicity thing.

Like, in order for us to really take over the world, we need to let the world know. And all that did was make his job harder. How many of us in this room think, oh no, like, I know I'm supposed to love my enemies, but I've got to comment on this.

Oh, I know that he tells me, like, I need to just turn the other cheek, but they need to know what's true. Hey, y'all, do you believe he is who he says he is? Do you believe he actually has got this thing? Or do we think, like, okay, God, you might need a little help with your promotion. Like, Jesus, I think, like this is what pastors in my world say, Jesus, I think if you can grow my brand, I can grow your brand.

Do you hear the darkness in that statement? Oh, Jesus, if you can just give my platform a little bigger, then I can make your plan. Do you think Jesus needs five foot ten inch or 240 pounds of rope? He don't need me. I just want the crumbs.

Just let me sit at your table, man. He loves you. The Spirit of God actually knows how to communicate to you, and he's doing it right now.

So let's listen to the coaching, to the fatherly advice, to a mentor, to a friend, to a compassionate physician. Let's see where he takes us.