Jesus has just finished teaching about what truly makes a person unclean. It is not what is on the outside that makes a person unclean, but it is the heart that defiles a person (ref. Mk. 7:15). In an area where He should have found faith, Jesus saw those who honor him in word only, and their hearts were far from Jesus. (ref. Mk. 7:6). However, it is in this Gentile region that Jesus finds people of great faith. A woman whose daughter has an unclean spirit and a man who is deaf and mute. Could it be that Jesus is providing a valuable, practical, hands-on lesson for His disciples about the kingdom of God? I can only join others in speculating. I do believe there is a connection, and a reason Mark is pointing us to these accounts. 

Links:

simplyrevised.org 

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Music provided by Eric Gwin