Jesus has just crossed the border leaving Israel, leaving behind the conflict with the Jewish leaders:
“And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden” (Mk 7:24).
Fascinating – Jesus does not have to worry about being followed by the Jewish leaders – they are much too holy to leave Israel! But he knows that what has just happened in Israel will happen here: word will get out quickly, neighbor to neighbor, whisper to whisper, that the Messiah of Israel has come!
Remember, too, that Jesus is traveling with his disciples, who are very Jewish indeed, and must be feeling much like the Jewish leaders. So this passage must be read in parallel, noting carefully how Matthew writes for the Jews, while Mark is an evangelist to the Gentiles.
Word reaches a Gentile woman whose daughter is “severely oppressed by a demon” (Mt 5:22). Until I began writing this morning, I have never understood Jesus’ initial response to the woman, who begs Jesus to heal her daughter:
“But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us” (Mt 15:23).
Why would Jesus ignore this pathetic woman? He certainly did not ignore the Samaritan woman at the well, remember? It gets worse:
“He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Mt 15:24).
My Jesus is this crass with a desperate woman who believes in him? The disciples are acting like scribes and Pharisees?
Now for the first time I suddenly realize that Jesus has two things in his mind: one, that he already knows he will respond to the woman’s pleas; but two, he is testing his disciples and broadening their purpose – the good news of the risen Savior of Israel has come for all people!
What he is doing, knowing that the woman will not give up, is teaching the disciples that the law of Moses – given to Israel as horrendous sinners in the wilderness – has been superseded by God right here in front of them.
Jesus continues with one more shot exposing the hypocrisy of Jewish isolation from Gentiles:
“And he said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs’” (Mk 7:27).
The children, of course, are the children of Israel, and the prevailing Jewish attitude is that Messiah will come for them and only them. The “dogs” of the Gentiles may get a scrap or two, but they are not part of the blessing of God upon the Jews.
But remember, Jesus already knows what is coming next, and it is beautiful:
“But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs’” (Mk 7:28).
Check mate. Jesus has just taught his disciples that no one should be prevented from coming to the Messiah of Israel!
“And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.’ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone” (Mk 7:29-30)
What does all this have to do with the perfect unity among all believers that Jesus prays for later?
I have never heard this proposed before, but I boldly propose it now:
Metaphorically, think of the original Roman church for its first 1,500 years, which we would call the Roman Catholic Church today. Did they and do they believe in Jesus and Lord and Savior? Yes, of course!
But think of Martin Luther as the original dog under the table, as the woman begging and pleading for her own daughter. What followed from October 31, 1517 to the present day has been disunity among Christians.
Yet do we not have this in common as the foundation of perfect unity – that all who call upon the name of Jesus shall be saved?