Mark 7

Mark 7:24 Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. 25 But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children's crumbs." 29 And He said to her, "Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter." 30 And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

Its interesting to notice here Jesus is referring to this womans daughter as a dog. Doesnt this seem out of character that jesus would resort to name calling? What Jesus was trying to do was put her off to avoid publicity. Undeterred, the woman responds in a way which moves Christ to heal her daughter of this demon. What has happened?

Remember, Christ came announcing a Kingdom accessible to all. Jews had this exclusive right to the Temple and Gentiles werent allowed to enter the inner courts. At this point in Mark, Christ has a following of people who want healed and delivered. This woman approaches and Jesus tries to avoid the publicity by comparing her child to a dog. This title of dog was given to gentiles and puppy to gentile children by the Jews. So insert dog and Jew in the following and it reads,
27And He was saying to her, "Let the Jews be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the Jewish bread and throw it to the gentiles." 28 But she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, but even the gentiles under the table feed on the Jewish crumbs."

The woman latches onto his use of the term puppies and conceives the deliverance of her daughter might count as a mere crumb. This revelation of Christ moves Him to see this womans daughter delivered He doesnt even go to see her, He just says it. He exorcises the demon at a distance without a word. A mere crumb or a mere understanding of Christs teaching is enough to deliver us all from whatever anguish we are in. He is not exclusive. He is an all inclusive teacher who never intended for us to feel unworthy of what He offers. I encourage you if you are feeling unworthy to read this chapter of Mark and see yourself as this woman, willing to take just a crumb. It is more than enough.