Mark 7
Discourse on Uncleanness (Mark 7:1-23)
Though Jesus did not go to Judea, some scribes and Pharisees came up from Jerusalem to see him. This indicates that the Passover feast has passed, but whether it was soon or several months past, we do not know.
Noticing that Jesus’ disciples did not ceremonially wash their hands before eating, they faulted Jesus for not properly instructing his followers in the traditions of the elders. Mark explains that it was the custom of the Jews to wash in a particular manner when they returned from the marketplace. They washed not just their hands but also various vessels. The source of this tradition is the avoidance of uncleanness. Since touching something unclean would make a person unclean, and you don’t know who touched before you what you have touched, the Jews would wash – just to be sure. The problem is that this is not what the Law requires. A person made unclean by being in contact with something unclean did need to wash, but they remained unclean for the remainder of the day. They had modified God’s law, keeping parts and adding new facets to it as it suited them.
Jesus pointed out that they had discarded the law by elevating their traditions to the level of the law. They spoke of following God, but their actions show that they prefer to follow men. He illustrated this with another example. If a person gave money to the Temple that could have gone to support his elderly parents, the Jews, by their tradition, allowed him to dismiss his obligation to his parents because that money was given to God. Thus, they allowed men to avoid fulfilling the command to honor their mother and father. They created a tradition and told people that following that tradition, created by men, allowed people to ignore the law of God. This was just one example of many Jesus could have mentioned.
Rather than limiting his words to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus called to the people and gathered a crowd around him. He told the people that true uncleanness does not come from external things but from a man's thoughts.
Later, Jesus enters a home, and his disciples ask him to explain his words, calling them a parable. Yet, Jesus was not speaking in a parable at this time. The disciples took it that way because they did not understand what he meant. It wasn’t that Jesus' words weren’t clear, but the fact that they went so much against everything they had always known that they were certain they did not understand him.
Jesus points out that whatever is eaten doesn’t remain in the body. Food doesn’t change the person. Mark points out that by this, Jesus declared that all food was clean (Mark 7:19) and showed his disciples a change that would come to the covenants. Immorality comes from within a person, from his thoughts, and thus makes him unclean. This is because all sins originate from the thoughts of a person. People think about the sins they are about to commit before actually committing them. It is their consideration of sins that clears the pathway for the committing of sin.
The Canaanite Woman (Mark 7:24-30)
Jesus travels to the region of Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia. This is the second time Jesus has left the borders of Israel; the first time was when he was taken to Egypt as an infant. It is the only time the Gospel accounts indicate that Jesus left Israel during his ministry. Mark tells us he went there to avoid being known, but it wasn’t possible. His reputation had spread too far by this time.
A Canaanite woman who lived in that region approached Jesus, begging him to free her daughter from a demon. Mark’s account refers to her as a Greek, but the Jews used this term loosely to refer to any non-Israelite as a Greek. Strangely, Jesus ignores her.
Eventually, Jesus said the miracles he had the right to grant were for God’s children and not little dogs, thus insulting both her and her people. Dogs were not respectable animals in that society. Still, she preserves in her plea, acknowledging that what Jesus said was true and responding that even dogs get crumbs from the master’s table.
At this point, Jesus shows us that he was testing her faith (Lamentations 3:32). He praises her for her answer and states that her daughter would be made well (Psalms 145:19). Though Jesus did not go to the daughter, it is noted that she was made well at that very hour. The woman’s faith was demonstrated again in that she left at Jesus’ word, and when she arrived home, she found her daughter well.
This event illustrates a recurring theme in the Bible. God wants His people to show persistence, even in adversity. The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel is an early example (Genesis 32:24-30). Jesus will later tell the parable of the unjust judge to make the same point in Luke 18. The Canaanite woman’s persistent faith contrasts Peter’s weak faith when walking to Jesus on the water.
Healing of Man Deaf and with a Speech Impediment (Mark 7:31-37)
Jesus returns to the area around the Sea of Galilee, stopping at the far side of the sea at Decapolis. He appears to continue to avoid King Herod or the territory he rules. In Decapolis, Jesus cast out the legion of demons from a man and was asked to leave.
Soon a great multitude came to him bringing their ill and injured. His reception is drastically different from the last time he was in the area and is probably the result of the preaching in the area of the once demon-possessed man (Mark 5:19-20; Luke 8:38-39).
Mark records one particular healing of a man who was deaf and had an impediment to speaking. Since he appeared to have some limited ability to speak, it is assumed that he lost his hearing later in life. The method Jesus used is different than the other healings we have seen. He took the man apart from the crowd, put his fingers in his ears, spat, and touched his tongue. The reason may be as simple as that since the man could not hear, Jesus demonstrated what he was doing by touching the parts of the man that were not working so that the man would understand. Looking up to heaven, Jesus said, “Be opened.” As happened in other miracles, the effect was immediate and complete.
Though Jesus healed many, he continued to insist that word of what he did not be spread. But the more he insisted, the more widely people told others. His desire to avoid publicity made him appear more marvelous in the people’s eyes.
