Welcome to Week 7 of our study in the gospel of Mark on the identity and mission of Jesus. This week as we study Mark 7, we will see Jesus again face off with the religious elites with questions pertaining to clean vs. unclean, what really defiles a person, and by whose authority we answer those questions. We will also see Jesus performing more miracles all while proving who he is!
Study notes and prayer guides by Will Buschmann.
Index to Days 2 through 5
Day 1
Hypocrites?
Observe
Coming off the miraculous acts in Mark 6, who is there waiting for Jesus? The Pharisees and the scribes are back, not to worship or praise Jesus, but they arrive questioning. Jesus doesn’t hold back when he rebukes them.
{Mark 7:1-7 ESV} {1} Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, {2} they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. {3} (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, {4} 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.) {5} 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?” {6} 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; {7} in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
The Pharisees were masters at making rules about rules, laws about laws, and commands about commands. They were excellent at building a fence, then another fence, then another fence to make sure they never even got close to what the first fence was surrounding. As an example, in the Torah there is the law that priests need to wash their hands before entering the tabernacle (Ex. 30:19; 40:13; Lev. 22:1-6). There’s also the law that everyone has to wash their hands if they touch any bodily discharge (Lev. 15:11). Now the Pharisees are questioning why the disciples’ hands remain unwashed and defiled before they eat. That is a created ritual based off of rabbinic developments more than actual Torah prescriptions. So why did they do this?
Benefit of the doubt would say that it keeps them far from breaking the commands of God.
Jesus rebukes them for their hypocrisy though. They wanted their exterior actions to look obedient and to be seen by others. They wanted their exterior obedience to be noticed and applauded. They wanted the ability to separate people and divide people into categories of clean and unclean based on what can be seen. The whole time their heart, though, is far from God. All of it is a facade. The truth is this is not a Pharisees-only problem, but a humanity problem. We all have created facades and we all have blindspots. We all have times where our heart doesn’t match what people can see. We are all hypocrites.
- Where do you see hypocrisy in our world? Where do you see it in our country? Where do you see it in our city? Where do you see it in your workplace? Most importantly, where do you see hypocrisy in yourself today?
- Why do you think Jesus saves some of his harshest rebukes for the Pharisees and the scribes? What was it about how they lived that made Jesus respond like he does on a consistent basis?
Grab your journal and pen. Write down:
- One thing that is praiseworthy about Jesus from this text
- Three areas or situations in your life where hypocrisy has crept in
Spend some time in prayer praising Jesus for what you wrote down in #1. Take what you wrote down in #2 to his feet in confession and ask him for forgiveness for your hypocrisy.
Day 2
Tradition of Men
Observe
The second half of Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees focuses on how they hold the tradition of men higher than the commands of God. That they have actually let go of God’s commands and held tight to the tradition of man.
{Mark 7:8-13 ESV} {8} You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” {9} And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! {10} For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ {11} 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)– {12} then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, {13} thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
It’s easy to let myself off the hook when I hear that I leave the commandment of God for the tradition of men. Tradition of men means almost nothing to me. When I modernize it though and use a little different language it hits me hard. Oftentimes, I leave the commandment of God for the world and the culture I’m in. I take the beliefs, the strategies, the ideas, the opinions, the attitudes, the disposition of my culture and I hold fast to them. Oftentimes all of those things can become contrary to what the Bible says. I feel this tension most when I find myself not reading and meditating on the Scriptures. When I’m making decisions big and small and the Word of the Lord has not even been a thought or a factor in the decision.
- What is your process when making a difficult decision? What is your order of what you turn to first? Where’s the Bible in that process?
- Why is it so easy and tempting to turn to the “traditions of men” as a way of life?
Grab your journal and pen. Write down:
- As many examples you can think of where you have held fast to the “tradition of men” instead of the Word of the Lord and whatever temptations you have currently to do so.
Confess and ask for forgiveness for those things you wrote down. Then rest in this verse from Isaiah 40:8 – “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Day 3
Our Hearts
Observe
Jesus calls the crowd over for a lesson about the heart.
{Mark 7:14-23 ESV} {14} And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: {15} 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.” {16} {17} And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. {18} 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, {19} since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) {20} And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. {21} For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, {22} coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. {23} All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Jews believed that it was the exterior things entering the body that caused defilement and the need to be purified. So they set up all the rules for that. Jesus reverses the direction . He says it’s the stuff in the heart that defiles a person. It is the evil inside all of us due to the fallenness of our souls and the sin that entangles us. Our hearts are the problem. It’s not as simple as avoiding some foods and washing our hands. That we find ourselves in desperate need of purification that a bath cannot give us. We need Jesus.
- Why do you think life would be easier if the things that defile a person are from the outside and not the heart?
- What’s going on in your heart right now that defiles you?
Grab your journal and pen. Write down:
- What is praiseworthy about Jesus from this passage.
- What you answered for question #2.
Take those things to Jesus in confession and ask him for forgiveness. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you away from the things that defile you. Trust that when we confess he is faithful to forgive and that the Holy Spirit has the power to transform anyone and anything that seeks to defile us.
Day 4
A Gentile Woman who Understands Parables
Observe
In a stark contrast to the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus meets a Syrophoenician woman who’s resume would have proved how unclean she is. In a shocking turn though she understands and agrees with the parable Jesus will tell her, which is funny because his own disciples had to ask for clarity about his last parable just a few verses before.
{Mark 7:24-30 ESV} {24} 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. {25} But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. {26} Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. {27} 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.” {28} But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” {29} And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” {30} And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Verse 26 reads like a list of demerits against this woman. She is a woman, a Greek Gentile and she stems from the infamous pagans of Syrophoenicia. So what will Jesus do after his large talk on what actually defiles a person? Is she defiled just because of who she is and where she comes from? How will Jesus respond to her in her moment of need? She fell down just like Jairus and asks for her daughter to be healed of her uncleanness. Jesus answers her with a parable about children, dogs, and some food. In rabbinic tradition dog remained a term of reproach. Is Jesus insulting this woman just like the Pharisees would have? The Greek word used here (kynarion) is the term for a small dog that can be kept as a house pet, not an unkempt street dog (Gk. kyon). She also repeats the parable back to herself while calling herself a dog as well. So it seems that she was not insulted. Dogs traditionally signified the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. So what is this parable saying? The children refer to the people of God, Israel. The food is salvation. The dogs are the Gentiles. This woman understands that salvation first came to the Jews, but it hasn’t stopped there. Because of who Jesus is now salvation comes to the Gentiles. God’s mercies now go past just ethnic Israel. She understands the purpose of Israel’s Messiah better than any of the religious elites or the disciples up until this point. This passage is weird, but is absolutely beautiful when we understand how inclusive the Gospel of Jesus is. Jesus has the power and does make unclean things clean, purely through his own work.
- Do you believe that there are some people that are beyond the reach of Jesus’ salvation? Should anyone be excluded? And don’t just think theologically, but think about if your life’s actions show that there’s someone or some group that is beyond.
- What in your life feels beyond the point of Jesus’ salvation and power? Something that you have maybe given up on being redeemed.
Grab your journal and pen. Write down:
- The doubts you have about how high, wide, and deep the love and the salvation of Jesus goes in other people and in you.
Take those things to Jesus and ask for faith to believe and understand the height, width, and depth of his love for you and for the world.
Day 5
The Glory of the Lord has arrived
Observe
Mark ends this chapter with the healing of a deaf and mute man. A healing that is beautiful in and of itself, but we will see that Jesus is claiming to be far more than just a healer when we look back to Isaiah 35.
{Mark 7:31-37 ESV} {31} Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. {32} 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. {33} And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. {34} And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” {35} And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. {36} And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. {37} And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
{Isaiah 35:1-10 ESV} {1} The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; {2} it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. {3} Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. {4} Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” {5} Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; {6} then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; {7} the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. {8} And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. {9} No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. {10} And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35 is a shift in Isaiah from judgment to future salvation. It says behold your God will come and he will save you. And what will the result of his arrival be? Blind shall see. The deaf shall hear. The lame will walk. Mark is pointing us to the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything they have been waiting for. The Glory of the Lord now walks the earth. That we find all of our hope and joy in Him. He has come to rescue us and takes us to Zion with singing.
- How would you define the glory of the Lord? What does that mean to you? How do you respond to the glory of the Lord?
- Where do you need the glory of the Lord to move in your life right now? Where do you need Jesus to move and rescue?
Grab your journal and pen. Write down:
- Describe the Glory of God in your words.
- 3 places where you need Jesus to move right now.
Praise him and rest in him. Take to him in prayer everything you’ve written down, because there’s no better place.