From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know [it], but He could not be hidden. 25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw [it] to the little dogs.” 28 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

– Mark 7:24-30 (NKJV)

Jesus was intent on getting out of the area for a chance to take a break. He crossed over into a gentile area. Here the crowds wouldn’t be pressing in on him. But even across the boarder there was a gentile woman who had heard of him and what he could do and so she called out to him to deliver her daughter from an unclean spirit.

What Jesus says, may seem mean spirited if we aren’t tuned into a few clues that are offered here. In his conversation, Jesus never says, “no” to this woman. In fact, she walks away with the assurance that her daughter has been healed.

So what does Jesus say to this woman? He says that he has come primarily for the Jews, FIRST. That doesn’t mean that the work of Jesus won’t eventually reach where this woman is… indeed he tells the disciples in Acts 1:8 to ultimately go to the “uttermost parts of the earth!”

He then uses an illustration. You wouldn’t bake bread for your kids and throw it to the pet dog. It’s important what word for dog is used here and it’s for something like a family pet, this is different than the mongrel wild type dogs that roamed the streets. Jesus is saying that there will be a time when his work reaches her region, but his focus is on the Jewish people for the moment.

So here response is spot on when she says that even the little dogs are blessed with the crumbs from the children. The picture is of kids who are sloppy eaters and so bread falls down and the dogs grab it from the floor or even of kids who sneak the bread under the table to the dog. In essence, her response says that she isn’t asking for him to do everything in her region that he did in Galilee, but that since he is here he could at least do one thing, namely cast this demon out of her daughter.

So what does this story teach us? Jesus intends for the gospel to go to the gentiles, which is good news because that’s what most Christians are these days. It also teaches us that this woman had a strong faith in the work of Jesus that even a small “crumb” could provide healing for her daughter. It also shows us that persistence in prayer matters.

That faith the disciples were lacking not long ago, to believe that Jesus can do a lot with just a little... This woman who hadn’t spent all that time with Jesus already knew it to be true and so she was persistent.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. We are grateful for all the crumbs that fall from the table. We are grateful of how you take care of us and meet our needs. Grant us to have stong faith like this woman did. Please guide us in your will and direct our steps. In Jesus Name, Amen.