Mark 7 (Traditions)

Mark 7 NRSVue

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders, and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash, and there are also many other traditions that they observe: the washing of cups and pots and bronze kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God), then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus nullifying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.” Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “So, are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” And when she went home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

The woman from Tyre

Bitter enemies of Israel

Ezekiel 28 describes a ‘prince’ and ‘king’ of Tyre that is linked with a most wicked human king and divine rebel.

So, to have this woman willing to follow Jesus, a Jew out of place, after what scripture says of her and her leaders

Is STRIKING!

It is an extreme act of faith!

Jesus just healed in the marketplaces (previous chapter)

Yet the leaders don’t eat anything from the market

The leaders decide to challenge Jesus through his people

As if to say, your disciples are going to be exiled from the community too

They play on the heart of Jesus

They use his mercy and compassion against him

So there is a clear distinction between the regulations of the doctrine

And how Jesus and his disciples live and function in the communities

I want to concentrate on Mark 7:6-10.

Aside from chapter one, this is the only other direct reference from Isaiah

Mark 7:6–9 NRSVue

He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!

Here, the leaders are trying to wash the outside to be acceptable

Jesus is seeking to explain that there is nothing they can do on the outside

That will fix what is wrong on the inside

There are many forms of unacceptable practices when it comes to following God

It would seem that adding to the law is equal to breaking it

Mark 7:10–13 NRSVue

For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God), then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus nullifying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

The part in Mark 7:10-13 is interesting to.

Honor your father and mother, comes in the ten words

Notice: It equals father and mother (male and female)

Also, the ten words opens with “The LORD your God”

And closes with “Your neighbor”

Speaking evil of them is a form of abuse

It does not mean what some think…

That is, that you must remain silent

If you have a case, then you have permission to bring it

The truth, when their actions violate Torah, is acceptable

Speaking evil is equated to actions

It means you must care for and support your elderly parents

You are not allowed to leave them

In fact, in Lev 19:3, we are again commanded to care for mother and father

The order is reversed, almost intentionally

And it is linked with the command to obey the Sabbath

And when you look at Lev 19:3, you will understand that we are not talking about a child, like a young man or woman

We are talking about adult children and how they behave towards their mother and father

And its corresponding passage in Deut 5:16, directly links this command with Israel’s staying in the land.

What is Jesus doing specifically:

Mark 7:11-13, tells us specifically what is going on.

Remember, who he is speaking to:

Leaders

Instead of helping their parents, people are ‘designating’ their wealth to God.

That is what makes it a corban, and offering.

Then, the parents cannot get to it because it is vowed to God

And they do many things like this!

Here is the long and short of it:

The leaders are teaching people how to use the law for their selfish gain!

And they are using it against their own parents

The leader would often receive the inheritance before the parents die

Then they ‘dedicate’ it to God

And the parents become poor

Mark 7 (Traditions)