The The Faith of a Gentile Woman (Mark 7:27–30)

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

The first Gentile that Mark mentions in connection with our Lord's journey to the region of Tyre and Sidon is the Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter (vv. 25–26). In the encounter between the woman and Jesus, we see that He did not say yes to her request immediately. Instead, He implied that she was a "dog" and did not deserve the bread that belonged to the children of the household (v. 27). This reflects the common view among first-century Jews that the Gentiles were "dogs." The Jews did not mean this positively, as dogs were regarded as unclean animals. Jews did not commonly keep them as pets, and most of the dogs that the Jews knew were wild scavengers (Prov. 26:11; Jer. 15:3).

But did Jesus' use of the term "dogs" mean that He thought of Gentiles in the same way that most Jews of His day did? No. We have seen that Christ did not affirm the Jews' oral traditions regarding cleanness and uncleanness (Mark 7:1–23), so He certainly would not have held to their traditions regarding the inherent uncleanness of Gentiles. Also, the Greek term translated "dog" in Mark 7:27–28 is diminutive in form, referring to small dogs that some Jewish households kept as pets. Finally, the woman did not view Jesus as ordering her to leave. Her reply was that dogs could eat the leftovers of whatever was given to the children (v. 28).

This article was first published in Tabletalk, the Bible study magazine of Ligonier Ministries. Find out more at TabletalkMagazine.com or try it free for three months today at TryTabletalk.com.

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BPCIS UPDATE

30 August 2026

WE ARE NOW TWELVE!

Praise God, we are now twelve—like the twelve tribes of Israel, or the twelve apostles of Jesus. This month, we welcome Bethlehem BP Church as our 12th member church.

Bethlehem, founded in 1960, is a Tamil-speaking church with an English evening congregation. Situated on her own freehold property along Dunearn Road, it hosts a childcare centre, serves a closely-knit community of believers, and reaches out to missions in South India.

Pastor David Ravi wrote: “After sitting in as an observer Church for the past two years, Bethlehem BP Church would like to officially make an application to be part of the BPCIS. The Session of Bethlehem would also like to thank the BPCIS churches for their prayer and pulpit support this year.”

WE ARE NOW FIFTEEN

In the last quarter, our churches came together for our annual events: Retreat (7-8 July), Pastors’ Wives Fellowship (18 July), and Post-Retreat Lunch (4 August). Reflections on the Retreat and Lunch are found on our website.

Next month, BPCIS will observe our 15th anniversary with a thanksgiving service on Saturday 19 September. A commissioned  video  will  tell  the  story of the birth,  dissolution  and rebirth of the BP Church. A shorter version will be shown in our churches subsequently.

Also, an offering will soft launch the proposed Endowment Fund. The principal sum will be preserved with the investment returns going to support lesser resourced churches with personnel needs, both pastoral and administrative. A team led by Elder Ooi Boon Peng of Hebron BP Church is working on this.

This year’s Good Friday offering of over $100,000 was a great encouragement, indicating firm belief and support for BPCIS and its objectives. We desire to see our churches growing and flourishing, led by God-anointed pastors and leaders. Over the 15 years, we have ordained 16 men as ministers of the gospel. On 26 September, we will ordain another, Low Jun Yew, at Shalom BP Church. Praise God.

After two years away, Hebron BP Church returns to her newly renovated and significantly enlarged facilities, a “church without wall”. A thanksgiving service was held on 29 August to celebrate God’s faithfulness and goodness to Hebron. Read the story of their adventure of faith by Pastor Wong Shin Hoe on our website.

Please continue to uphold BPCIS in prayer, and follow us on our website bpcis.org.sg. “Brethren, pray for us.” I Thess 5.25

Pastor David Wong

General Secretary, BPCIS

"Looking Unto Jesus" (Heb 12.2)