The Glory of His Multiregional Tour

The Faithfulness of Christ · AD 29

Trust in him, and he will act.

Psalm 37:5

Christ is faithful: His nature is true, His promises are sure, and His love is steadfast. He has never turned away anyone who came to Him in faith, and those who hope in Him are never disappointed — though He may not answer in the same way, and may delay for a season. In the late spring and early summer of AD 29 He toured from Galilee up to Phoenicia, then through the Decapolis and back, and everywhere His faithfulness met human faith and human doubt.

Read: Matthew 15:21–39; Mark 7:24–37; Mark 8:1–26; Matthew 16:1–12

Heals a Syrophoenician Woman's Daughter

From Capernaum the Lord traveled north, likely through Chorazin, to the coastal region of Phoenicia, whose great port cities were Tyre and Sidon. It was a thirty-five-mile journey, and He hoped to rest unnoticed — but a Greek woman, a Syrophoenician by birth, spotted Him and came crying out for her demon-oppressed daughter.

At first Christ answered her not a word. The disciples begged Him to send her away, and even when He spoke, His words seemed to push her off: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Still she fell at His feet: “Lord, help me.” Then came the hardest word of all — “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”

Many would have given up at the first discouragement. But this woman had no pretense of being anything more than a dog; she was truly desperate, and she knew Christ could help even the dogs. So in humble faith she answered, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Matthew 15:28

In the Decapolis: A Deaf Man and Four Thousand

From Tyre and Sidon Christ made His way to the region of the Decapolis on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, where a great crowd gathered on the grassy slope, bringing the lame, blind, mute, and crippled. Among them was a deaf man with a speech impediment. Christ, who does not always heal the same way, put His fingers in the man's ears, touched his tongue, sighed, and said, “Ephphatha” — “Be opened.”

For three days the people stayed with Him in that deserted place. Moved with compassion lest they faint on the long way home, Christ purposed to feed them. The disciples — their hearts hardened as quickly as their fathers' in the wilderness — asked where bread could be found; yet from seven loaves and a few small fish, about four thousand ate and were satisfied, with seven baskets left over.

And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well.”

Mark 7:35, 37

The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand a Sign

Crossing to the region of Magadan, Christ was met by the Pharisees and Sadducees — bitter rivals now united in their hatred of Him. They demanded a sign from heaven, but only to test Him. There was no real need; no one was sick. A miracle now would be no better than a party trick, and the Lord would not desecrate the glory of God to satisfy unbelief.

Asking for signs was itself the evidence of their unbelief; God had already given His Word and worked hundreds of miracles. They could read the sky to forecast the weather but could not read the signs of the times to recognize their Messiah standing before them. Christ pointed them instead to Jonah — for the men of Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching, and something greater than Jonah was here.

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

Mark 8:12

The Leaven of the Pharisees and a Blind Man Healed

Sailing on to Bethsaida — the hometown of Simon, Andrew, and Philip — Christ warned His disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. Thinking He meant literal bread, they fretted because they had only one loaf. He rebuked their little faith: had they forgotten the twelve baskets from the five thousand, and the seven from the four thousand? Only then did they see He spoke of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

In Bethsaida a blind man was brought to Him. Christ led him out of the village, spat on his eyes, laid hands on him, and asked what he saw. “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” So Christ laid His hands on him again, and the man saw everything clearly. Deliverance does not always come at once; sometimes it is a step-by-step process.

This two-stage healing pictured the disciples themselves: they saw far more clearly than the Pharisees, yet their vision was still dim. They trusted Christ with their souls but not with their daily bread. Like them, we grow from one degree of faith to another, and Christ is not content to leave us half-seeing — He has promised to complete the good work He began in us.

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Mark 8:25

For Reflection

Down, down, down the Son of God came to us — and having become one of us, He is patient with us. He whose faith in the Father never wavers deals gently with our wavering faith. The Syrophoenician woman showed us the power of earnest faith, knocking though heaven's door seemed locked; the disciples showed us the weakness of doubt, forgetting His past provisions again and again. Yet Christ will not forsake us in our doubts. As with the blind man of Bethsaida, He will give us more and more clarity until we see Him face to face. Until then, we have no reason to doubt His faithfulness.