{"id":51854,"date":"2014-12-16T16:35:16","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T23:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?page_id=51854"},"modified":"2014-12-16T17:49:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T00:49:39","slug":"chapter-7","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/commentary\/mark\/chapter-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tradition of the Elders<\/span><\/h3>\n

7\u00a0<\/span>Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, <\/span>2\u00a0<\/sup>they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. <\/span>3\u00a0<\/sup>(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands,\u00a0observing the tradition of the elders;\u00a0<\/span>4\u00a0<\/sup>and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify\u00a0themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Note that Mark explains to his Gentile audience what it means to eat with “hands defiled”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0<\/sup>And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, \u201cWhy do your disciples not live\u00a0according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus’ detractors don’t like the fact that His disciples don’t follow this tradition.<\/p>\n

<\/span>6\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to them, \u201cWell did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018This people honors me with their lips,<\/span>
\nbut their heart is far from me;<\/span>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>in vain do they worship me,<\/span>
\nteaching as doctrines the precepts of men.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus rebukes them using the prophet Isaiah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

8\u00a0<\/sup>You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus explains that they violate divine law with human tradition.<\/p>\n

9\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to them, \u201cYou have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! <\/span>10\u00a0<\/sup>For Moses said, \u2018Honor your father and your mother\u2019; and, \u2018He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die\u2019; <\/span>11\u00a0<\/sup>but you say, \u2018If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban\u2019 (that is, given to God)[f<\/a>]<\/sup>\u2014 <\/span>12\u00a0<\/sup>then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, <\/span>13\u00a0<\/sup>thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus now uses another example to show how they use their human traditions to get out of their divinely-mandated responsibilities.<\/p>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup>And he called the people to him again, and said to them, \u201cHear me, all of you, and understand: <\/span>15\u00a0<\/sup>there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus now turns to the people and teaches them.<\/p>\n

17\u00a0<\/sup>And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In private, they disciples ask more about this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

18\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to them, \u201cThen are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, <\/span>19\u00a0<\/sup>since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?\u201d\u00a0(Thus he declared all foods clean.) <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus explains that what a man eats enters the stomach not the heart and is then expelled.<\/p>\n

20\u00a0<\/sup>And he said, \u201cWhat comes out of a man is what defiles a man. <\/span>21\u00a0<\/sup>For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, <\/span>22\u00a0<\/sup>coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.<\/span>23\u00a0<\/sup>All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus contrasts this with all the things which come out of the heart.<\/p>\n

The Syrophoenician Woman\u2019s Faith<\/span><\/h3>\n

24\u00a0<\/sup>And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Gentile territory.<\/p>\n

And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hid. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Even here, trying to keep a low profile.<\/p>\n

25\u00a0<\/sup>But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. <\/span>26\u00a0<\/sup>Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoeni\u2032cian by birth. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A gentile woman finds him. Mark calls her a “syrophonencian”, whereas in Matthew’s Gospel she’s called a Cannanite, because Mark’s Roman audience wouldn’t know what a Cannanite was.<\/p>\n

And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The woman wants her daughter healed.<\/p>\n

27\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to her, \u201cLet the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children\u2019s bread and throw it to the dogs.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus uses this as a teaching moment.<\/p>\n

Adopting the language of the Pharisees, he refers the gentiles as “dogs”<\/span>. The “children”<\/span> he speaks of here are the children of Israel.<\/p>\n

<\/span>28\u00a0<\/sup>But she answered him, \u201cYes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children\u2019s crumbs.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The woman is humble and basically says that she’ll take whatever she can get.<\/p>\n

29\u00a0<\/sup>And he said to her, \u201cFor this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.\u201d <\/span>30\u00a0<\/sup>And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This humility pleases Jesus and the healing takes place.<\/p>\n

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man<\/span><\/h3>\n

31\u00a0<\/sup>Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decap\u2032olis. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus is heading down south again.<\/p>\n

32\u00a0<\/sup>And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand upon him. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Note that they wanted Him to “lay his hand upon him”<\/span>. However, Jesus has something far more invasive in mind…<\/p>\n

33\u00a0<\/sup>And taking him aside from the multitude privately, …<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Again, he tries to perform the miracle in secret.<\/p>\n

…he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; <\/span>34\u00a0<\/sup>and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, \u201cEph\u2032phatha,\u201d that is, \u201cBe opened.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is very real and sacramental.<\/p>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The man is healed.<\/p>\n

36\u00a0<\/sup>And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The man can’t help but proclaim what’s happened.<\/p>\n

37\u00a0<\/sup>And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, \u201cHe has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This was the mission of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

Return to Chapter Index<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tradition of the Elders 7\u00a0Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, 2\u00a0they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. 3\u00a0(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands,\u00a0observing the tradition of the elders;\u00a04\u00a0and when they come<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":51781,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-51854","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51854"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51895,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51854\/revisions\/51895"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}