Mark 7:24–30
The Messiah’s grace extends beyond Israel to all who approach Him in faith.
24 From there he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and didn’t want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice.
25 For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet.
26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 He said to her, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
30 She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.
The Messiah’s grace extends beyond Israel to all who approach Him in faith.
To demonstrate that faith, not ethnicity, determines participation in kingdom blessing.
Following the heart-defilement teaching (7:1–23), this narrative anticipates the widening mission beyond Israel.
Tyre was a prominent Phoenician city north of Galilee. Jewish-Gentile tensions were significant. Dogs were commonly unclean animals, though κυνάριον (kynarion) suggests small household dog.
True Defilement and Boundary-Crossing Mercy
Jesus exposes hollow tradition, locates true defilement in the human heart, and extends cleansing, delivering, creation-restoring mercy beyond expected boundaries.