From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre.£ He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
                  Mark 7:24-30

I think we will need to discuss sometime exegesis of the encounter with the Syrophoenician woman.  In my reading, it’s not harsh at all, but rather filled with grace.  It’s a delight to preach.  And it’s not without reason that we allude to it in our prayer of humble access.

I thought I’d start a thread to further dig on this topic.

Of course I have heard many exegeses of this text. I have heard people claim that Jesus had a “growth moment” in his understanding of who the grace of God is meant for.

I have heard it claimed that Jesus said the words he did with a twinkle in his eye. It is a test to see if she will rise to occasion and be a person of faith (this explanation has force because she *does* rise to the occasion, and her daughter is healed).

And it seems clear the the people who are supposed to have a growth moment are we the readers!

Why does Jesus say things to people that sound harsh? And if you’ll notice, he does it all the time (It is frequently pointed out that Jesus says harsh things to “judgmental people.” This seems more to be a screen to avoid admitting sin or error than a gracious call to judgmental people to be grace-filled. Ironically, it sounds judgmental!).

Are harsh and grace-filled mutually exclusive? How does the harshness of some of the things Jesus say actually the doorway to grace?

What do the times when Jesus says nothing harsh tell us about Jesus and ourselves (I’m thinking particularly of the repentant people Jesus interacts with)?

I have been wont to point out that this woman is the only person in scripture who wins a theological point with Jesus. I always think of this incident in connection with the woman at the well and with Nicodemus.

Your mention of the possibility that Jesus said these words with a twinkle in his eye (which I am inclined to doubt)makes me wonder, how did the woman utter her response? Was it a snappy comeback—“so I’m a dog, am I? well the dogs get to eat the crumbs” (badda bing)? Or perhaps it was more of a near-despairing wail: “even dogs don’t get sent away with nothing”.