Settling for Crumbs

Mark 7:24–30

²⁴ 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. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ 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.” ²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

I grew up in a house with dogs. We never had more than one at a time, but we always had one. My mother had to chide me almost every night not to feed the dog from table during dinner. Inevitably I would secretly share my meal with the dog or maybe food would just “fall” on the floor. For reasons I can’t explain, the dog would always sit under my feet. What can I say, I like to share.

After a lengthy discussion with the Pharisees about what makes a person clean or unclean, Jesus heads straight into “unclean” territory. Tyre and Sidon are found on the coast, slightly northwest of Galilee. This was the region that spawned the evil Queen Jezebel and was the sight of the epic battle between Elijah and the worshipers of Baal (1 Kings 18).

Jesus now moves to the area of Tyre and Sidon (old Phoenicia), which is Gentile territory. With little exception, he remains outside Israel until Mark 9:30. His sustained presence among and ministry to Gentiles immediately following the discussion with the religious leaders concerning foods and defilement is significant, for traditionally, Gentiles were seen as unclean in all respects—they were not under the reign and rule of Yahweh, and they regularly dealt with things and engaged in activities that would marginalize or exclude them from that kingdom. In this pericope Jesus puts the insights of the previous discussion into practice.

Voelz, J. W. ©2013. Concordia Commentary: Mark 1:1–8:26. (p. 475). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

Now Jesus is approached by a woman with a desperate need. Her daughter is possessed by an “unclean spirit”. (I’ll let you make what you will about the usage of that word again.) This woman, who is quite outside of Jewish circles seems to have some tremendous insight into the power and identity of Jesus. She rather boldly goes to Him, seeking a solution to her most desperate problem. We are a little startled by Jesus immediate response. He seems to initially deny her, for His message is first for the Jews. Her reply is equally surprising as she actually challenges Jesus with an insightful argument. Somehow she understands that His message is not only for the Jews, but for the whole world. But note that, as good as it is, the woman’s vision is not large enough! The woman is willing to settle for crumbs. But God never reduces his grace to “crumbs” when he gives! Israel receives overflowing bread with myriad crumbs left over in the feeding of five thousand men. And in a story that will follow shortly, the Gentiles are also the recipients of such a meal.

How often do we foolishly settle for crumbs when God holds all the universe in His hands? Why do we ask for so little? This woman was not asking for a little thing, but she did relegate her request to that of the crumbs that would fall from the table. If all that my dog had to eat were the little scraps I was able to sneak off of my plate, she would have starved to death. In truth, Jesus did not offer the woman scraps of grace, but fulfills her request because He is abundant with His love and while she may have forced His hand (or not) she received her daughter back from a terrible place. We never need to approach God like people who are on the outside of His loving circle. His grace extends to all because He shed His blood for us and so we come to Him as His children, free to ask Him for whatever we need.