Jesus Healed a Child and a Man

Jesus Healed a Child and a Man

Matthew 15 Mark 7

Dear families,

Jesus often called His disciples to follow Him outside their comfort zones. In both Matthew 15 and Mark 7, Jesus intentionally stepped into Gentile regions, places considered far from the center of God’s covenant people. Yet these “outside” spaces became the grounds where faith sprang up and healing flowed.

When Jesus healed the Canaanite woman’s daughter, He was in the region of Tyre and Sidon—territory no faithful Jew would deliberately travel through. Jesus was purposely moving into spaces that were likely unfamiliar and uncomfortable for His disciples.

But then came an astonishing expression of faith—not from a disciple or a religious leader—but from a desperate Gentile woman. Her theology was simple but profound as she pleaded, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:27). She understood something essential about Jesus: He is the Savior whose grace overflows into places everyone else has written off.

Mark’s account of the deaf and mute man who had difficulty speaking shows something similar. Jesus traveled through the Decapolis—another Gentile region—and again performed a healing. He pulled the man away from the crowd, put His fingers in the man’s ears, touched his tongue, and said ephphatha—“Be opened.” This healing was deeply personal as Jesus literally touched the areas that needed healing. Once again, Jesus was not ministering in spaces that were considered safe or familiar to Jews. Jesus was stepping across human boundaries to open what had long been closed.

Jesus is the Savior who moves toward people when they feel furthest from His presence. He is not threatened by people’s confusion or weaknesses. And He is not hesitant to enter the messy or overlooked corners of one’s life.

This week, help kids see that Jesus longs to meet them where they are and provide for their greatest need, the forgiveness of sin, to bring them into a right relationship with Him.

Check out The Gospel Project At Home for resources designed to help you lead a family worship experience as well as suggestions for morning and evening prayer times and family activities.