Mark 7:27

And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs.

Some have been puzzled by our Lord's attitude of discouraging this appellant for his mercy by such a reply as this; but we may readily believe with Trench that:

He saw in her a faith which would stand the test and knew that she would emerge victorious; and not only so, but with a mightier and purer faith than if she had borne away her blessing at once and merely for the asking.[12]

To this, it may be added that this miracle was performed in the presence of the apostles; and there can be no doubt that Christ's words were designed for their instruction. By giving voice to the common Jewish prejudice against Gentiles, and in the light of the woman's response to it, Christ gave his apostles a never-to-be-forgotten example to prove God's wisdom in extending salvation to Gentiles. At a time when the leaders of Israel were plotting Jesus' death, this lowly Gentile, despite the Lord's apparent rebuff, persevered to claim his mercy. For more on this aspect of the miracle, see my Commentary on Matthew, pp. 231-233.

Children's bread ... the dogs ... What Christ referred to by these expressions was the fact that his primary mission was to Israel, not to Gentiles, to God's "children," not to the "dogs," as the Gentiles were called by Jews. See Matthew's account (Matthew 15:21-28). Now the significant thing about that woman's faith was her perseverance in the face of such a reply. Would not most mortals have departed the scene with anger and resentment? The average person would have said, "He called me a dog; I hate him!" Such was the desperate hope of that poor woman, and such was her astounding faith, that she at once accepted Christ's judgment upon her and made his very words the basis of her continued appeal.