Details

In transitioning to a new section in Mark 7 and Matthew 15, there are subtle details that raise questions about the mind of Christ. I find myself asking "why did Jesus do this or that" or "why did Jesus say this or that?" The answer is not always clear. People and Jesus do things for reasons. This may not seem significant, and perhaps it is not compared to other matters in Scripture, but it is interesting. If you put Matthew and Mark's accounts together we see something of the route Jesus took from one place to another. His beginning point was the region around Tyre in Phoenicia. This is the northwest corner of Israel along the Mediterranean Sea. It was primarily a Gentile area. Tyre was the southernmost major city of the region, and Sidon was the northernmost major city of this area. Jesus' destination was the east side of the Sea of Galilee. So he wants to go southeast from where he is but instead he travels almost due north, and then takes a sharp right turn through the mountains to THE mountain, the highest point in Israel, Mt. Hermon. Mt. Hermon is over 9000 ft above sea level. This is not a major mountain in the world, but in that region it is the highest. So when Matthew said in Matthew 15:29 that Jesus went up to the mountain, the mountain was Mt. Hermon. After leaving there he took another right hand turn and traveled south to the Decapolis (the ten cities) which is on the east side of the Jordan. If this is confusing get a map of this area during the time of Christ.

Having traveled to the holy lands and seeing Mt. Hermon I am more aware that not only is this not the most direct route to where He was going, but it is a difficult route. For Jesus and His apostles this would not be easy, and it would take some time to walk, and climb. This would be like walking through the Smokey Mountains. Again, why would he do this? What motivated him to take such a roundabout way to get to his destination? Was he trying to avoid large cities and crowds so that he would not have to face unnecessary controversy? Was he just wanting to spend some time in the mountains with His apostles? Was he killing time so that he would not be killed prematurely? All of these have merit, but how can we be sure? When Jesus called his apostles to come follow Him they had no clue where it would take them. But follow they must, even  in the details that may seem so, well, "detailed" to us.