Gospel of Mark/Chapter 7:1-23/Commentary

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 7:1-23 7:1 “And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around Him where they had come from Jerusalem”: “Another delegation of fact-finding theologians came down from Jerusalem to investigate the Galilean activities of Jesus” (Gaebelein p. 677). According to John 7:1, Jesus went about in Galilee and He would not go into Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. Every city had its population of Pharisees, but these Pharisees came from the capital itself.

“Perhaps the exciting rumors about the feeding of the 5000 men had been spread around at that feast in Jerusalem, spurring the national leaders to move decisively to block Jesus’ mounting popularity” (Fowler p. 327).

7:1 “And had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed”: What the Pharisees and scribes had seen was that Jesus’ disciples were neglecting various ceremonial washings. Their complaint was not that Jesus’ disciples were practicing poor hygiene.

7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders. And when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such 1

as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots)”: Mark here helps the reader of his gospel. The Holy Spirit felt it necessary to explain to future readers the Jewish custom of ceremonial handwashing. This was not found in Scripture, rather it was a oral tradition that had arisen. About 200 A.D. all these oral traditions were written down in what would be called the Mishnah. These traditions regulated every aspect of Jewish life, and they were considered binding upon man. We need to be impressed that the Jews took these traditions very seriously. One Jewish source argues, “It is more punishable to act against the words of the Scribes than against the Scripture” (Sanh. xi. 3).

7:5 “And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?’”: The problem is not over what God had commanded in the Law, but rather, over a violation of human religious tradition. “Belief in the tradition of the elders was the fundamental peculiarity of the Pharisaic system. They held that these traditions, or oral expositions of and additions to the law, and were communicated by him orally to the elders of the people, by whose successors they had been handed down through each successive generation. They regarded these traditions as equal in authority with the written word” (McGarvey p. 394).

7:6 “And He said to them, ‘Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written’”: Jesus does not apologize, for the disciples are doing nothing wrong, rather He goes to Scripture and quotes a passage from Isaiah. Before quoting this passage He says, “Your present attitude is exactly what Isaiah was talking about when he said…”.

7:6 “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me”: That is, their worship is purely external. They are going thru the motions and yet their heart, their love, their desires are somewhere else.

7:7 “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men”: Most people are probably shocked by this statement, for they view religious traditions as a good thing, but Jesus exposed such traditions for what they are. They are often a prideful attempt to get around obeying Scripture.

“Isaiah and Jesus pronounce the unmitigated futility of such hypocrisy, because 2

great zeal for precepts of men can never guarantee anyone that God is pleased or served” (Fowler p. 349). Following human religious traditions will make us into hypocrites, for once people start following human traditions, they will invariably condemn those who do not follow them.

Following human religious traditions is evidence that one’s heart is not right with God. If people really love God, they will want to follow His will (John 14:15), and not their own will or the will of the people. Human religious traditions may look “spiritual”, but God says they are self-serving rather than God-serving.

“Hypocrites have less interest in obedience and loyalty to a revelation than they do their own ideas” (Fowler p. 348).

Remember, human religious traditions will make our worship vain, even if we are sincere and zealous in keeping such traditions!

7:8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men”: Here is one of the big dangers of such traditions, they invariably come into conflict with Scripture. In the next verse, Jesus cites a specific example. Consider the contrast between “neglect” and “hold”. A choice must always been made.

7:9 “He was also saying to them, ‘You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition’”: 7:10 “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’, and, ‘He who speaks evil, of father or mother, let him be put to death’”: This statement is found in Exodus 20:12 and Deut. 5:16. “According to Jesus, the command to honor father and mother is a life-long obligation. No amount of physical maturity can ever release the children from due respect for their parents. In fact, honor means, among other things, to maintain them with daily sustenance (1 Timothy 5:3-17)” (Fowler p. 339). “He who speaks evil”: The penalty attached to verbally dishonoring one’s parents tells us that this is a very important topic and that dishonoring one’s parents, far from being a small infraction, is a terrible sin. See Exodus 21:17, Lev. 20:9.

7:11-12 “But you say”: Here Jesus cites their tradition. ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God)’, you no longer permit him to do anything for his 3

father or his mother”: According to the tradition of the elders, a son could say of that part of his estate by which his parents might be profited, “It is a gift”” (Corban); that is, a gift to God, and by thus dedicating that part of God, he would free himself from his obligation to his parents” (McGarvey p. 396).

Was the “Corban” concept a deliberate ploy to avoid responsibility to parents?

Whether or not, the point is that regardless of the original intention or regardless of the sincerity of the human authors who started this tradition, it was used to subvert God’s commands. The original corban concept could have been started with good intentions (that is, leaving everything to the temple upon one’s death), but sincerity and good intentions do not establish truth. Additions to the Word of God are still additions, even if they come from “good” intentions (2 Samuel 6:1ff).

Human tradition will always conflict with Scripture. The only way that we can know what is truly the “loving thing to do”, is to follow the Scriptures (John 14:15; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). For every command in the Bible can be summed up in either love expressed towards God and love expressed towards others (Matthew 22:36-39).

7:13 “Thu invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that”: Some of the scribes had taught that the Corban vow superseded the necessity of obedience of the fifth commandment. It is dangerous reasoning to think that certain commands override other commands. God is all wise, God doesn’t contradict Himself and neither does God give commands that conflict with each other. Hence, if we encounter a situation in which we think that two commands conflict, we have interpreted either one or two of these commands. Remember, every command is a demonstration of our love for God (John 14:15). In addition, it is a mistake to assume that one command is more loving or merciful than another. A loving and merciful God is behind every command in Scripture, how could one command be more merciful than another?

7:14 “And after He called the multitude to Him again, He began saying to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand’”: Observe that Jesus expected everyone to be able to grasp His teaching. He wants the multitude and not just the scribes to get the point.

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7:15 “There is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man”: The Pharisees assumed that eating with unwashed hands defiled a person, Jesus disagrees. In addition, Jesus is not contradicting what the Old Testament taught about clean and unclean foods. God had His reasons for food laws in the Old Testament, to eat such food was defiling, because it violated God’s will on the matter. Seeing that such laws would end reveals that these foods were not inherently defiling in and of themselves.

7:16 “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear”: This would include being courageous enough to recognize the difference between the traditions of the elders (7:3) and the word of God. 7:17 “And when leaving the multitude, He had entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable”: As long as you keep asking questions, there is hope.

7:18 “And He said to them, ‘Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand’”: Jesus did not believe that His teaching on this point was obscure or unclear. In fact, He is offended that the disciples needed an explanation at this point. The disciples may have clearly understood what Jesus said, but didn’t want to accept it. Often people do the same thing today, they read a verse that is clear and then say, and “But God couldn’t be telling me that I must…….”. It is good to ask questions, it is better to have grasped the concept the first time and act upon it.

7:18 “Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him”: Man’s moral and spiritual state is not dependant upon what he eats. Even today Christians need to be careful in assuming that a particular diet makes one more spiritual.

7:19 “Because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated”: Here is the basic reasoning why food isn’t defiling---it does not touch a man’s heart for good or bad (1 Corinthians 8:8).

7:20-23 “And He was saying, ‘That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil 5

thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.

All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man”.

Therefore, we see the great need of carefully watching what we allow ourselves to see and think (Proverbs 4:23). The good news is that a sinner can renew his heart or mind (Ephesians 4:22-24), but such a renewal is only possible in Christ.

“Evil thoughts”: Evil thoughts are the father of the deeds that make up this defiling catalog. “Since the sins listed begin with, and are the expression of evil thoughts, we must beware of an ‘itching interest’ in them” (Fowler p. 370) (James 1:13). We can’t emphasize enough the importance of controlling our thoughts and making sure that we are thinking and dwelling upon things that are right, true, and pure (Philippians 4:8). It is simply impossible to have a mind that is accepting all kinds of evil and false thoughts and at the same time be happy in living the Christian life. The battle is for your mind!

Hateful Thoughts: Murder is but the external manifestation of hate that is in the heart (Matthew 5:21; James 4:1ff; 1 John 3:15).

Sensual Thoughts: Adultery and fornications are both the natural products of a heart that chooses to harbor lust (Matthew 5:28). By such thoughts both the married and the single can be tempted. The answer to “lust” isn’t marriage, for one can lust just as much before marriage as after being married. The remedy for lust is a mind that chooses to dwell upon what is right and pure.

Discontented Thoughts: Theft is born of a desire to possess something without which it cannot rest content until it is taken. Mark (Mark 7:22) adds, “coveting”, which is the evil desire that leads to theft and many other evils as well (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Remember, “theft” can manifest itself in many ways. Outright stealing, cheating on income taxes, employee theft, lying on an expense account, and so on.

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Unloving Thoughts: False witness can be motivated by hate, that is, the desire to hurt someone. Mark (7:22) adds “deceit”, which points to that cunning treachery and stealth by which one intentionally deceives others. Note, God believes that all deception comes from evil motives and not good motives. At times people try to argue that in a number of circumstances a “lie” would be a good thing. Be impressed that adultery, fornication, murder, and deception are always sinful things, for they always come from sinful motives. There isn’t any such thing as a righteous case of fornication or adultery.

Blasphemous Thoughts: Slander is a kind of speech that is produced by maliciousness or bitterness, whether directed at God or man (James 3:9).

Perverse Thoughts: Wickedness (Mark 7:22) is in the plural and speaks of various kinds of evil-mindedness and individual expressions of it, i.e., malicious acts.

Vain Thoughts: Pride (Mark 7:22) refers to arrogance and human overconfidence, which includes insolence, contempt, and scorn.

Thoughtless Thoughts: Foolishness (Mark 7:22) speaks of a lack of moral and intellectual sense, and is often caused by laziness, indifference, apathy and presumption. “Moral recklessness is not merely foolish; it is sin” (Proverbs 24:9) (Fowler p. 372).

“From the above it is evident that, whereas human law can judge a man on the basis of what he actually does, never on the basis of his attitude except as this expresses itself in deeds, God’s judgment tests everything by man’s motives or intentions before they ever lead him to act or speak” (Fowler p. 372).

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