Mark 7:24-30 24And from there, after rising, he went away to the region of Tyre. And after he entered a house, he did not want anyone to know, and he could not escape notice. 25But immediately after a woman heard about him, whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, after coming, she fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him in order that he might cast out the demon from her daughter. 27And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.” 28But answering she said to him, “Lord, yet even the puppies under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For because of this word, you may go, the demon has come out of your daughter.” 30And she had come to her home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Jesus embarked on a long trip through Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis, which were heavily Gentile at that time. It could have taken many months to travel through these areas until he returned to Jewish territory. This trip was a pause before the story of controversy would erupt as he headed toward Jerusalem. The disciples still had a lot to learn about Jesus. They had seen many unimaginable miracles and heard the greatest teaching of all time. But they needed to have their vision of Jesus and the world expanded. The position of the story of Jesus in Gentile territory in the context of Mark is significant because it comes right after the controversy with the Pharisees and scribes over trivial religious matters. Jesus needed to show his disciples that his message was for the whole world.
Tyre was an important port city at that time. It was located northwest from Galilee along the Mediterranean Sea. Historically, this area was the enemy of Israel and full of paganism. It was as far from Judaism as one could get in that area. The Jews had never been able to conquer Sidon and Tyre (Joshua 19:28-29). Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility and showed that the kingdom is for all people. Mark does not record why Jesus went to this area or why he went into a house, but possible to escape the crowds like in 6:31.
Jesus could not get far, however. A desperate woman with a demon-possessed daughter heard the rumors of a Jewish prophet can fell down before him as a show of deep respect and worship. Demon possession was not just a Jewish problem. Mark intentionally identifies the woman as a Syrophoenician Gentile. She had three strikes against her as far as the Jews went: her gender, nationality, and race. Jesus did two things that Pharisees would condemn: talking to a Gentile and talking to a woman. Jesus’ ministry was not focused upon the Gentiles, but he never refused any Gentiles who came to him.
Jesus responds to her plea with a riddle. The children in this statement could refer to Israel and the dogs the Gentiles. Dogs were not household pets like today that are treated sometimes better than human children. For Jews, dogs were symbols of dishonor. By this association, Jews showed their contempt toward Gentiles. Jesus uses the term in a diminutive sense, like “puppy.” The riddle shows the Jewish priority and that Israel was the “special possession of God” (Exodus 19:5-6). The children must be fed, and the household pets get the leftovers. People ate with their hands and would wipe their hands on bread scraps and throw them to the dogs.
The perceptive woman understood the nuances of the riddle and responded back with her own riddle. She believed that even the Gentiles deserve something of God’s miraculous power. Jesus saw the faith of the woman and that she would not accept a no answer because her faith was genuine. God’s plan of redemption is based on faith and not ethnicity. The Jews were to be God’s instrument to reach the world and not to be the only recipients of divine favor. When Israel was fed, others were also to be fed. This woman was the first of a great harvest of souls from the Gentiles. The woman responded much differently than the religious Pharisees and scribes in verses 1-13. Many Jews were blinded by their focus on human traditions and missed out on the kingdom, but this woman found the kingdom in Jesus. The proof of this was when she went home and found her daughter whole and free from demons. This story shows that faith and not any race, gender, or economic status is the key factor for being a disciple. Faith in Jesus brings transformation.
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