Mark 7

Traditions and Commandments

7 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And 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?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

  “‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
  in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

What Defiles a Person

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And 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. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

(ESV)

Mark 7 Commentary

by Brad Boyles

Judaism during Jesus’ time not only put an emphasis on the written law (the Old Testament) but also the oral law. The oral law would have been man’s interpretation of the written law passed down through the generations. Simply put, this meant more rules.

The P’rushim had interpreted the Written Torah, and their sages and rabbis had decreed additional rules. Together, these came to be called, at first, the Tradition of the Elders and later the Oral Torah.

Jewish New Testament Commentary

Essentially, the oral law required additional cleansing. They even had a supplementary prayer which was to be said during the ritual. The important aspect here is that the washing was not necessarily for hygiene. Once again referencing the Jewish New Testament Commentary, the hand-washing was based on the idea that “a man’s home is his Temple, with the dining table his altar, the food his sacrifice and himself the cohen (priest). Since the Tanakh requires cohanim (priests) to be ceremonially pure before offering sacrifices on the Temple altar, the Oral Torah requires the same before eating a meal.”

“The rabbis were deadly serious about this. They said that bread eaten with unwashed hands was no better than excrement. One rabbi who once failed to perform the ritual washing was excommunicated. Another rabbi was imprisoned by the Romans, and he used his ration of water for ceremonial cleansing instead of drinking, nearly dying of thirst. He was regarded as a great hero for this sacrifice.”

David Guzik

With all that context, it is understandable why Jesus was so furious with the teachings of the religious leaders. His point is well taken. If they were this obsessive and unbending about cleansing their hearts, Jesus would consider them to be faithful and godly men. Their priorities were on the outward rituals they could do for themselves instead of the mysterious, inward work of God. This does not mean he was removing the Levitical laws concerning foods, but that He was illustrating that no food can successfully change the heart and the mind from a spiritual perspective.

The question I always like to ask is, what does this mean for us today? Do we rely on traditions and rituals to produce heart change? There are still many people today who believe they are getting to Heaven based on their works. There are others who believe they are saved because they are “good.” Some believe they are saved because they were baptized as a child or because they attend church every week. I recently attended a funeral where the pastor, in his sermon, stated that the woman who had died was saved by the water sprinkled on her head at baptism.

Just like the Jews, who had good intentions, we would say these are all beneficial to a Christian life. Baptism, church attendance, and good works are all important. However, they become a hindrance when we rely on them to cleanse us from our sin and create in us a new heart. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward heart change that can only take place through faith in Jesus.

Ask yourself – do you go to church to be saved or because Jesus has already saved you? Do you perform good works to earn Salvation, or because Jesus has already changed your heart to obey Him? We must remember that there is no amount of human cleansing that can make our hearts right with God. It is only through Jesus’ grace!