loudandclear

Mark 7:1-30

Notes by Niko Gruber

1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

 6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

   ‘These people honor me with their lips,
      but their hearts are far from me.
    7 Their worship is a farce,
      for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

 8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

 9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

 14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

 17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

 20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

The Faith of a Gentile Woman

 24 Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. 25 Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, 26 and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.
   Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27 Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

 28 She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

 29 “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

(((Jesus calls out the Pharisees for their self-righteousness.  While they may claim that God is at the center of their lives and that they do everything to bring Him more glory, their heart says different.  God doesn’t look at the outside of a person, He is the only one who can see our heart.  He doesn’t want us to make up new rituals and rules so that we can feel good when we complete them.   These man made things mean nothing to God.  If we obey His commands out of obligation so that we can look and feel good about ourselves, then we have missed the point.  God wants more than for us to obey Him, God wants our hearts.  When our heart is centered in Christ we can’t help but change our actions from selfish to honoring Him.  God wants our whole heart, not just part of it.  People hold back parts of their heart because they think they know how to run their lives better than God.  Sometimes it’s a relationship, money, or even what they say about others.  Are there parts of your heart that you are holding back from God?)))

(((Jesus then says that the Pharisees have even created laws and rules for themselves that they put over God’s rules.  This sounds like an obvious no-no, but we all do this sometimes.  Every time we pick homework, sports, work, or whatever else over reading our Bible and praying to God we are saying that those things are more important.  We have a rule that they need to be done, but our Bible or God can wait.  While physical health, school, and work are all important they need to be balanced with our relationship with God.   If you say that following Jesus is the most important thing in your life, then make Him a priority over all the other things in your life.  Like any healthy relationship we need to talk to Him (prayer) and listen to Him (reading the Bible).)))

(((To understand the Gentile woman we need a quick history lesson.  Throughout the Old Testament the nation of Israel was God’s people.  He chose to use them as the model nation for the rest of the world.  The Gentiles were anyone who wasn’t an Israelite.  So when Jesus arrived on the scene He was coming to bring His Good News to the Israelites first then the rest of the world.  The woman knew this, so when she says her bizarre quote she is referring to Israel as the children and herself as the dog.  She knew that while Jesus came first for Israel that He was powerful and loving enough to save all people and would spare time for her.  Jesus rewarded her persistent faith in Him even when His original answer wasn’t want she wanted to hear.)))