GOSPEL OF MARK - CHAPTER 7
The Law and Tradition 7:1-23
v1 The Pharisees and some of the experts on the law who came from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus. v2 They noticed that some of Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands in the special Jewish way before a meal. v3 (The Jews, and especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their hands. In this way they obey the old traditions. v4 When they come from the market place, they always wash themselves before a meal. They obey many other traditions, such as the ceremony of washing cups, jugs and kettles.) v5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, ‘Why do your disciples not live in the way that our ancestors taught us? Why do they eat when they have not carried out the hand washing ceremony?’ v6 Jesus replied, ‘You are not honest! Isaiah prophesied about you. He said, “These people give me honour by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.
v7 Their worship does not mean anything. They teach rules that men have made up instead of God’s rules” (Isaiah 29:13). v8 You take no notice of God’s commands. You obey rules that men have made up.’ v9 Jesus then said to them, ‘You have a good way not to obey God’s law in order to obey your own tradition! v10 Moses said, “Give honour to your father and mother” and, “You must kill anyone who says evil things about his father or mother.” v11 But you allow a man to say to his parents, “Any help that you might have received from me is ‘Corban’. (That means ‘I have given it to God’.)” v12 So you do not allow him to do anything for his father or mother. v13 In this way, you make God’s law have no effect because of the traditions that you obey. And you do many other things like that.’
v14 Then Jesus called the people close to him again. He said to them, ‘Listen, all of you, and understand this. v15 Nothing that goes into a man from outside will make him unclean. What comes out of a man makes him unclean.’ [v16 ‘You have ears to hear with. Make sure that you listen.’] v17 When Jesus had gone into the house, away from the crowd, the disciples asked him about this parable. v18 Jesus said, ‘You do not seem to understand, either. What you eat cannot make you unclean. You should be able to see that. v19 Food does not go into the mind. It only goes into the stomach and it passes out of the body.’ (By saying this, Jesus was calling all food clean.) v20 ‘But what comes out of a man makes him unclean. v21 Evil thoughts come from the inside, from man’s mind. So do wrong sex behaviour, murder and adultery.
v22 Stealing, wicked actions, cheating and desires that are not pure come from inside people too. So does the desire for what other people have, lies about other people, pride and foolish behaviour. v23 All these evil things come from inside a man and they make him unclean!’
Commentary
Verses 2-4
The disciples did not have dirty hands. Mark explained it for his Gentile readers. The Jews had a special way to wash their hands before a meal. It was not in order to remove dirt. It was a ceremony. It made sure that they had separated themselves from anything ‘unclean’. Certain foods were ‘unclean’. Gentiles were ‘unclean’. The Jews had to pour water over each hand in a special way. And they had to wash each hand with the fist of the other hand. They did this when they came in from the town. They might have touched something that a Gentile had touched. They were also very careful to wash anything that they drank from. They washed equally carefully anything that they used to prepare a meal.
Verses 6-7
Jesus said that they were not honest. Many translations use the word ‘hypocrites’ here. This means that they are like actors. They are hiding their real character. They said that they were obeying God’s laws. But they were failing to obey God’s laws. And they were expecting everyone to follow their traditions. Jesus used the words of Isaiah to emphasise that their religion was only a show on the outside. They were not sincere, because they put their own ideas in place of God’s laws.
Verse 9 J
esus said that they had a ‘good’ way not to obey God’s law. He was expressing his disgust when he said that. He meant that they were clever at following their own rules instead of God’s rules.
Verses 10-13
Jesus gave an example of their wrong attitude. The word ‘Corban’ means a gift that someone has promised to God. A man could say that some of his money was ‘Corban’. He could give it to Temple funds or he could use it for himself. But nobody else could benefit from it. When his parents needed his help, he would make this excuse. So he avoided his duty to his parents in order to follow a tradition. He was therefore not obeying the command of God to give honour to his father and mother. Jesus said that they had other ways not to obey God’s laws. They did it in order to obey their own rules.
Verses 14-15
Jesus wanted the people to realise that the Pharisees’ idea of unclean was wrong. The Pharisees thought that in order to be holy they must obey special rules about washing. That was wrong. God wanted people to have good thoughts and to obey his laws.
Verse 16 is only in some copies of Mark’s book. It repeats what Jesus had said after the parable of the four soils (4:3-9).
Verses 18-19
Food goes through a man’s body in the usual way. It goes into his mouth, then into his stomach and, in the end, it passes out again. So it cannot make him ‘unclean’ with God because it does not affect his thoughts and actions. Jesus meant that ‘things’ cannot be unclean. It is people who become unclean. They become unclean because of their own actions.
The Pharisees refused to eat certain food. They believed that this could make them holy. They must not eat with Gentiles. Mark writes a note to say that Jesus was making foods ‘clean’. Jesus showed that sin begins with a person’s thoughts. It would be possible to be holy without worrying about the right kind of food. Later, Peter learned something about food: The food that he ate made no difference to his relationship with God. He could even visit a Gentile and he could share a meal with him (Acts 10:9-29).
Verse 21
‘Evil thoughts’ produce evil actions. ‘Wrong sex behaviour’ means every kind of wrong sex act. ‘Adultery’ is a particular kind of wrong sex behaviour. It is when one person has sex with another person’s wife or husband. Herod Antipas was guilty of ‘adultery’ when he took his brother Philip’s wife.
Verse 22
‘Cheating’ means when a person does not speak the truth. He loses the confidence of other people. ‘The desire for what other people have’ makes a person unhappy. The ‘unclean’ person is not pleased about other people’s happiness or success. Instead, the ‘unclean’ person hates them.
‘Pride’. A proud man thinks that he is better than anyone else. He cannot see it when he is wrong. He even expects God to respect him. But God ‘opposes proud people’ (James 4:6).
‘Foolish behaviour’. This can mean to spend time on activities that have no worth. But some people do wrong things whenever they want to. The words ‘foolish behaviour’ describe the actions of those people also.
Verse 23
All these evil actions come from what a man thinks about. Paul told the Christians at Philippi to think about what is pure and right (Philippians 4:8).
Jesus Cures the Daughter of a Gentile 7:24-30
v24 Jesus left there. And he went away to the region called Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, and he did not want anyone to know about it. But they could not keep it a secret. v25 Immediately, a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and she fell at Jesus’ feet. v26 The woman was a Gentile. She was born in Syro-Phoenicia. She asked Jesus to send the evil spirit out of her daughter. v27 Jesus said to her, ‘First of all, the children must have their food. One should not take food from the children and throw it to the dogs. That is not right.’ v28 But she answered Jesus, ‘That is true, Lord. But even the dogs under the table eat the bits of bread that the children throw away.’ v29 Jesus said to her, ‘Because of what you have said, go on your way. The evil spirit has gone out of your daughter!’ v30 And she went home. And she found that the child was lying in bed. The evil spirit had gone.
Commentary
Verse 24
Jesus went north, probably in order to obtain some peace and quiet. He had made many enemies in Galilee, and the crowds were always demanding his help. Tyre and Sidon were two important harbours north of Capernaum. They were not on the Sea of Galilee. They were on the Mediterranean Sea.
Verse 27
Jesus’ answer to the woman sounds like an insult. ‘Dog’ was a word that people used as an insult. The Jews sometimes called Gentiles ‘dogs’. But Jesus did not use the usual word for wild, dirty dogs. He used a word that describes a family pet. The kind of voice that Jesus used would also make a difference. He was probably smiling as he spoke. He said that the children must have their food first. He meant his own people, the Jews, must receive the first offer of the gospel.
Verse 28
People threw bread that they did not want to the family pets. Perhaps the woman could get the pieces that the children had thrown away. That is what she thought.
Verse 29
Jesus was pleased with the faith that she had shown in her reply. Jesus was at a distance and he could not see the woman’s daughter. But she became well. Jesus cured a Roman soldier’s servant without going to see him. Luke records that (Luke 7:1-10).
Jesus began his work among the Jews. He would reach the Gentiles by means of the Jews. The woman was a sign of the Gentiles who would accept the gospel. They would believe the gospel that most Jews refused. Mark had described how Jesus removed the difference between ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ food (7:14-23). In this incident, he removed the difference between Jew and Gentile, between ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ people.
Jesus Cures a Deaf Man 7:31-37
v31 Jesus left Tyre and he went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, and the region of the Ten Towns. v32 They brought a man to Jesus. The man was deaf and he could not speak clearly. They asked Jesus to lay his hands on him. v33 Jesus took him away from the crowd to a private place. He put his fingers in the man’s ears. He touched the man’s tongue with liquid from his mouth. v34 He looked up to heaven. He sighed and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’. That means ‘Be open!’ v35 He could hear. His tongue became free and he could speak clearly. v36 Jesus told the people not to tell anyone. But the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. v37 They were completely astonished. They said, ‘Everything that he does is wonderful. He even cures those who are deaf and dumb.’
Commentary
Verse 31
Jesus made a long journey back to Galilee. It may have taken several months. He may have used the time to teach his disciples.
Verse 32
Because the man was deaf, he had not learnt to speak clearly.
Verse 33
Jesus took him away to a quiet place. When a deaf person starts to hear again, every sound seems very loud. It would not be pleasant for the man if he were in a noisy crowd. So Jesus thought about how the man would feel. Jesus showed the man what he was going to do. He touched the man’s ears. Jewish doctors used liquid from their mouths. They believed that it could cure people. Jesus touched the man’s tongue. Then the man would know that Jesus would make a difference to his speech. Jesus showed where the power to cure would come from. He looked up to heaven. ‘Ephphatha’ was an Aramaic word. Mark explained it in Greek.
Verse 36
The people did not obey Jesus. So, it was difficult for him to have the peace to train his disciples.
Verse 37
Jesus made the words of Isaiah come true. Isaiah said that, when God comes to rescue his people,
‘He will open the ears of those who cannot hear.
And those who cannot speak will shout for joy’ (Isaiah 35:5-6).
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