Jesus in Tyre.

http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/5052

Jesus walked in Tyre and broke the fallow ground. He witnessed in Tyre such that people were saved. They repented and achieved what was right to cancel anger and death.



Jesus in the Region of Tyre and Sidon
Submitted by Gordon Franz on Wed, 10/31/2007 - 05:00 Gordon Franz



JESUS IN THE REGION OF TYRE AND SIDON

Gordon Franz

Introduction

During the summer of 2005, while standing on top of the dump of Area A-5, I had a conversation with the director of the Hazor excavation, Dr. Amnon Ben Tor. He asked me why most Christian pilgrims and tourists visit Megiddo, but not Hazor. I responded that there were two reasons. The first reason is logistics. The pilgrim / tourist lands at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and spend the first night in either Tel Aviv or Natanya. The next day they head for Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Megiddo is just off the road on the way to Nazareth, so they stop there. The second reason is its Biblical connection. Megiddo is mentioned in Revelation 16:16 as Armageddon. With that, Amnon said, “Find me a New Testament connection for Hazor!” I replied that I thought the Lord Jesus walked past the site on several occasions with His disciples. He said emphatically, “Write me an article!”

As I contemplated and researched this assignment, I came to the conclusion that Jesus walked past the ruins of Hazor with His disciples on their way to the region of Tyre and Sidon. But I wondered, “Why did Jesus take His disciples to the region of Tyre and Sidon?” There might have been a handful of Jewish people living in this predominately Gentile area that was outside the territory of Galilee. In fact, Josephus, the First Century Jewish historian comments that “among the Phoenicians the Tyrians, are notoriously our bitterest enemies” ( Against Apion 1:70, 71; LCL 1:191). That does not sound like a nice neighborhood to visit!

The accounts of this visit to Gentile territory can be found in Matt. 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30.

Theme

The Syro-Phoenician woman is used by the Lord Jesus as a test case to expose prejudice in the lives of the Twelve and then teach them a very valuable lesson concerning prejudice. The lesson is this: an exclusive mentality caused by pride; one that says we’re better than you, economically, ethnically, physically, religiously, can result in prejudice and could lead to partiality and discrimination.

Just prior to Jesus’s departure from the Sea of Galilee, He addressed the issue of defilement. His disciples asked Him about His comments. He answered them, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:20-23). Jesus then gave a vivid lesson to His disciples about pride that came to fruition as prejudice.

Matthew and Mark are the only gospel writers that record this event. Mark, hearing this account from Peter, would have recorded it because this was a lesson Peter had to learn the hard way. Even though he was an apostle to the circumcision, Peter came to realize that salvation was for all, both Jews and Gentiles. Mark was also writing to a Jewish audience in Rome. Both record this event because they may have included this event in order to provoke their Jewish audience to jealousy when they realize Gentiles can be part of the Kingdom of God as well (Rom. 11:11, 12).

The Geographical and Historical Setting

Matthew and Mark both record that Jesus and the Twelve departed to the “region of Tyre and Sidon” (Matt. 15:21; Mark 7:24, 31). Commentators are divided as to whether Jesus and His disciples actually visited these Phoenician cities or they just stepped out of Galilee into the region of Tyre. If it’s the latter, they could have gone up the Hulah Valley, just past the ancient city of Hazor and headed up the hill toward Kedesh of Naphtali. Josephus says that Kedesh, or Kedasa, as it was known in the First century, was “a Tyrian village” ( Wars 2:459; LCL 2: 503). The fact that Sidon is mentioned by the gospel writers seems to indicate that they went deeper into Tyrian territory than just stepping outside of Galilee.

http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/article/5052