JESUS FACES UP TO THE SCRIBES FROM JERUSALEM AND WARNS THEM AGAINST A FALSE EMPHASIS ON THEIR TRADITIONS INSTEAD OF ON THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD (7:1-8). Here Jesus makes clear that ‘the traditions of the elders' are not binding on men because they are not a part of the Scriptures, but are the traditi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SCRIBES FROM JERUSALEM RETURN TO LEARN SOME HOME TRUTHS (7:1-16). Jesus' continued impact is now brought out by the reappearance of the Doctors of Law from Jerusalem who have come down to investigate Him again. It may well be that they had heard of the new widespread preaching activity. They re... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS BEGINS TO REACH OUT TO GENTILES (7:1-8:21). At this stage in His ministry Jesus begins to reach out further afield, for from this point on He spends much time preaching in territory which is mainly Gentile, although still containing many Jews. He prepares His disciples for it by His words to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And there gathered together to him the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes who had come down from Jerusalem.' The fact that these men approached in a body demonstrated the official nature of the investigation. They were there to test His orthodoxy and to find out more about the new expansion of H... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands. For the Pharisees and all the Judaisers do not eat unless they ceremonially wash with the fist, holding the traditions of the elders. And when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they do... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Pharisees and the Scribes ask him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” ' We can be sure that the Pharisees and Scribes here were not the most amenable ones like Gamaliel (Acts 5:34). They had not come in order t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.' You desert the commandment of God and hold fast the tradition... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ILLUSTRATES HIS POINT FROM A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE (7:9-13). Here Jesus takes one outstanding example of their attitude which may well have had in mind a recent case known to all which had become infamous. ANALYSIS. a And He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he called to him the crowd again and said to them, “Take notice of me all of you and understand. There is nothing from outside a man that going into him can defile him. But the things that proceed from the man, they are those that defile the man.” ' The crowd had been gathered round listening t... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS CALLS ON THE CROWD TO CONSIDER THE HEART OF THE MATTER (7:14-17). Jesus now turned His attention to the crowd and asked them to consider what was at the heart of the matter. For the fact was that what truly defiled men were not outward things, which simply passed through the body and came out... [ Continue Reading ]
‘If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.' This verse is omitted by a few good authorities (including Aleph and B) but has strong support. It may well have been accidentally omitted in copying (see Mark 4:23), or alternatively introduced to emphasise the importance of what was being said. It will... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he had entered into the house from the crowd his disciples asked of him the saying.' It was quite understandable that the disciples should want His enigmatic statement to be expanded on. They wanted to learn, and never more so than now when they had a responsibility to go out preaching. S... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS EXPLAINS HIS MEANING TO THE DISCIPLES (7:17-23). Once they were back in the house that they were staying at the disciples broached the question again and Jesus explained things in more depth to them. ANALYSIS. a And when He was entered into the house from the crowd, His disciples asked of H... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he says to them, “Are you also so without understanding? Do you not perceive that whatever from without goes into a man cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes out into the latrine, purifying all the food.” ' It is clear from this that Jesus was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “That which comes out from a man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, debauchery, an evil eye, blasphemies, pride, foolishness. All these evil things proceed f... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS MINISTERS IN GENTILE TERRITORY - THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN WOMAN - THE FEEDING OF FOUR THOUSAND MEN (7:23-8:26). Having made His point strongly Jesus now moved to Gentile territory and seemingly remained there until Mark 8:10, where after a brief visit to Galilee He again returned to Decapolis. But... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he arose from there and went away to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house and would have no one know it. But he could not be hidden, for immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet.' ‘From there.' A gen... [ Continue Reading ]
MOVING TO TYRE - THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN WOMAN (7:24-30). That this incident was a turning point in the ministry of Jesus cannot be denied, and there are good grounds for arguing that Matthew's Gospel revolves around it. For from this point onwards Jesus ceased ministering only to the lost sheep of the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she pleaded with him that he would cast out the demon from her daughter.' Mark, like Matthew, makes absolutely clear that the woman was not of the Jewish race. She was ‘a Greek', although not by race for she was a Syrophoenician. So ‘a Greek... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to her, “Let the children first be filled, for it is not the right thing to do to take the children's bread and toss it to the little dogs.” ' Jesus used a well known picture. The family meal, the children round the table and pet dogs waiting for scraps of food to be tossed to them. In... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But she answered and says to him, “Yes, Lord. Even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.” ' The woman recognised humbly that what Jesus said was right and proper. He was a Jewish prophet and His message was to the Jews and concerned the God of Israel. But she had caught on to the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to her, “For this saying go your way. The devil has left your daughter.” ' Jesus recognised her faith, and, what was more, that she acknowledged that her hopes lay in the God of Israel. But He tried her yet once more. Instead of going with her He informed her that He had cast out the d... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And she went her way to her house, and found the child laid on the bed and the devil gone out.' Her faith was up to His test. Believing, she left Him, and found it was even as He had said. His authority had reached over the miles. For such faith compare Matthew 8:5; Luke 7:1; John 4:46). That it wa... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the border of Decapolis.' The strange route taken is often commented on, for Sidon is to the North of Tyre and the Sea of Galilee to the South. It clearly contains a part of His life... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEALING OF THE DEAF AND DUMB MAN (7:31-37). Continuing His ministry in Gentile territory Jesus entered the region of Decapolis where He had exorcised the Gadarene ex-demoniac and there performed a remarkable healing. His method of healing by using physical methods in a public way, draws attentio... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they bring to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech and they beg him to lay his hands on him.' The fact that Mark deliberately brings out that all present expected Jesus to ‘lay His hands on Him' stresses the unusualness of the healing, because He actually did not do that. T... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he took him aside from the crowd privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven he sighed and says to him, “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened”. And his ears were opened and the bond of his tongue was loosed and he spoke plainly.' ‘He to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he charged them that they should tell no man, but the more he charged them the more they spread it widely (published it a great deal).' The restoration in this manner was intended to be a lesson to the disciples, while the miracle was for the man's own good. But Jesus did not want great crowds... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they were astonished above what can be measured, saying “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.” ' The result was huge astonishment all round. This was the first experience they had had of Jesus. ‘He has done all things well'. Mark may intend here a... [ Continue Reading ]