03.18. Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis

Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis From the region around the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples moved north-west, out of Palestine and into the region of Lebanon. They were hoping to get some peace and quiet away from the crowds of Galilee, but this was not to be. Jesus’ fame had spread beyond theborders of Palestine, and soon the local people were coming to him for healing. Jesus was impressed with the attitude of one local woman in particular, whose faith was in marked contrast to the unbelief of many Israelites.¹

After the time in Lebanon, Jesus and his disciples returned to the region around the Sea of Galilee, and from there moved south into the Decapolis. This also was a largely Gentile area, and it seems that for a time Jesus’ ministry was mainly among Gentiles. Crowds came to him and he ministered to them as he had to Israelites. Many Gentiles became believers in the God of Israel, whereas Israelites were increasingly rejecting the one their God had sent to them.²

Once more Jesus showed concern for the crowds of people around him when he saw they had barely eaten for three days. On a previous occasion he miraculously fed a crowd that was largely Jewish, but here in the Decapolis the crowd was largely Gentile.³ Perhaps that was why the disciples doubted whether he would use his messianic power to feed them. Jesus made no distinction, and by his generosity of spirit gave his disciples a valuable lesson. But the disciples were slow to learn. In spite of seeing his two miraculous provisions of food for others, they became worried when they themselves had no food. Jesus corrected their unbelief, and then used the occasion to point out something they had not yet grasped, namely, that the threat to the Messiah’s kingdom was not from the Gentile powers but from the Jewish nation itself. Unbelief, hypocrisy and wrong teaching were leading the nation to disaster.⁴ 1. Mark 7:24; Matthew 15:21-28 2. Mark 7:31; Matthew 15:29-31 3. Matthew 15:32-39; cf. John 6:1-15 4. Matthew 16:5-12; Luke 12:1

Ruins of Bethshean, a city of the Decapolis