After the encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus withdrew from Capernaum, and crossing Galilee, repaired to the hill country on the borders of Phoenicia. Looking westward, He could see, spread out upon the plain below, the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon, with their heathen temples, their magnificent palaces and marts of trade, and the harbors filled with shipping. Beyond was the blue expanse of the Mediterranean, over which the messengers of the gospel were to bear its glad tidings to the centers of the world's great empire. But the time was not yet. The work before Him now was to prepare His disciples for their mission. In coming to this region He hoped to find the retirement He had failed to secure at Bethsaida. Yet this was not His only purpose in taking this journey.

Dette kapitel er bygget op over Matt 15,21-28; Mark 7,24-36
Efter mødet med farisæerne drog Jesus bort fra Kapernaum og begav sig tværs over Galil til højlandet ved Fønikiens grænser. Når han så mod vest, kunne han på sletten nedenfor se de ældgamle byer Tyrus og Zidon med deres hedenske templer, deres pragtfulde paladser og markedspladser og havnene, som vrimlede med skibe. Bag ved dem lå Middelhavets blå flade, over hvilken evangeliets sendebud skulle bringe det glade budskab til de store byer i verdens største rige. Men endnu var tiden ikke kommen. Den opgave, som nu påhvilede ham, var at berede disciplene til deres tjeneste. Han håbede, at han ved at drage til denne egn kunne finde den afsondrethed, som det ikke var lykkedes for ham at opnå ved Betsajda. Dog var dette ikke hans eneste hensigt med denne rejse.