From a Jewish perspective, this may be the most challenging chapter in Mark. Here Jesus clearly overruled the law of Moses by declaring all foods clean. He then exorcised a demon from a "gentile dog", indicating that the Jews no longer had exclusive rights to God's power.
Both of these would be major blows to 1st century practicing Jews. The law set them apart as God's chosen people. If the law was being changed the person who changed them gave equal (or nearly equal) treatment to gentiles when Jews were present, that would be offensive. More than offensive, if one was a follower of Jesus, it could be disruptive to ones self-identity because Jesus just took away the thing that make your people unique. The floodgates to the rest of the world were just opened.
This may seem odd to hear from a 21st century gentile perspective, but we should not belittle the paradigm shift this was to its audience.
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