Having just rebuked the Pharisees and their hypocrisy over declaring things clean vs unclean, Jesus travels to the "unclean" Gentile regions where he encounters a woman with a demon-possessed daughter and a deaf man who couldn't speak. These stories in MArk 7:24-37 have odd and strange elements in them but help form a picture of what it looks like to draw near to Jesus. In these accounts, we see that drawing near to Jesus will give us a persevering faith and a praiseworthy message.
