Mark 7:9-13

B. CONFLICT OVER PARENTAL CARE. 7:9-13

TEXT 7:9-13

And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death: but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God; ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 7:9-13

330.

What is meant by the expression full well as in Mark 7:9?

331.

Did these Jews accept the fact that they had rejected the commandment of God? Does this carry any warning for us today?

332.

What were the two areas of respect for parents? i.e. what is involved in the word honorand speaking evil?

333.

Was there a death penalty for speaking evil of father or mother?

334.

Explain in your own words the use of the expression Corban.

335.

What possible advantage was there in the use of Corban?

336.

If any belief or practice today makes void or meaningless the word of God can we expect the same rebuke? Cite examples.

COMMENT

TIMESummer A.D. 29.
PLACEIn or near Capernaum.

PARALLEL ACCOUNTSMatthew 15:3-6.

OUTLINE1. Jesus-' accusation:you reject the commandment of God, Mark 7:9. Mark 7:2. The fourth commandment is a specific example, Mark 7:10-12. Mark 7:3. The word of God is made void by your tradition, Mark 7:13.

ANALYSIS

I.

JESUS-' ACCUSATION:YOU REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, Mark 7:9.

1.

In a fine, beautiful, admirable sense you reject the commandment of God.

2.

You prefer your tradition to the commandments of God.

II.

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT IS A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE, Mark 7:10-12.

1.

Moses was very plain (Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17) about the honor to parents.

2.

You have set aside the law of God by your traditionwhat belongs to the parents is supposedly given to the temple (or the priests).

3.

Your mother and father can starve while you justify your selfishness and disobedience by tradition.

III.

THE WORD OF GOD IS MADE VOID BY YOUR TRADITION. Mark 7:13.

1.

The authority of God's word is set aside by your tradition.

2.

There are many other examples that could be cited.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

I.

JESUS-' ACCUSATION:YOU REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD.

Mark 7:9. And he said unto them probably indicates a break in the discourse; caused, perhaps, by indignant interruptions, or by a call for particulars to illustrate so broad and fearful a charge. So their ancestors asked, Wherein have we despised thy name? (Malachi 1:6; Malachi 3:8; Malachi 3:13).Whether called for or not, he was ready with particulars to illustrate the substitution of tradition for command. Full welli. e. finely, beautifully, admirablyye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. The adverb is the same as in Mark 7:6: Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you. The repetition is intentional, and the word this time is scathingly ironical: Admirably do you fulfill the word that Isaiah so admirably spoke concerning you. The holy indignation is thoroughly aroused, and he cares not how heavily he lays on the lash. (W. N. Clarke)

II.

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT IS A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE.

Mark 7:10-12. Yet his first illustration is not the one that called out the question. Instead of beginning with the traditions respecting defilements by contact and the necessary cleansings, he goes at once to the Decalogue, and convicts them of setting aside the fundamental law of God to Israel. Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother. An exact quotation from the LXX. of Exodus 20:12.He adds a second extract, giving the same law as expounded and applied in the legislation of Moses. Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death. Emphatic way of saying, Let him die. Exodus 21:17 quoted almost exactly from the LXX. Both passages are quoted from what Moses said, but both are adduced as the commandment of God (Mark 7:9) and the word of God (Mark 7:13). Thus, Jesus recognizes the Mosaic legislation as the law of his Father; and not merely the milder parts of it, but even the provision for the execution of the disobedient and insulting child. This he brings forward as a part of that law that he has come not to destroy, but to fulfilli.e. to exhibit and establish in the fullness of its spiritual meaning. The principle of honor to parents he recognizes as of perpetual and universal force, and he intends to set up for universal obedience and reverence the truth that was honored by the Mosaic provision of death for the disobedient. Incidentally, his mode of citing the second passage is itself exegetical. Viewed in the light of the context, that passage must mean that the spirit of the prohibition can be violated without a profane or blasphemous word, and that not to bless parents by such care as a child can give is to curse them, according to the true intent of this law. Such, then, is the commandment of God respecting parents: they must be treated with honor, and no one is at liberty to withhold from them what blessing he can give.But now for the tradition of men respecting parents which the Pharisees are diligently keeping. Translate Mark 7:11-12, But ye say, If a man say to his father or mother, Whatever thou mightest receive in aid from me is Corban, that is, a gift (to God), ye no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. Corban is a Hebrew word meaning gift, but appropriated to use with reference to sacred gifts, acts of devotion to the service of God. The simple uttering of the word CorbanSacred giftover a thing that was supposed to set that thing apart from all ordinary uses and give it the character of a consecrated thing. (See Ewald, Antiquities of Israel, p. 81.) Now, Jesus affirms that they apply this mode of consecration to the unholy purpose of escaping duty to parents. If a man utters the magical word Corban over his relation to his parents, and so declares that it is devoted to God, he is no longer held under obligation to them. The Corban carries no real consecration to God in such a case; it gives no new character to the man's life: it is only a fictitious arrangement for releasing him from a duty that has become irksome. Thus the tradition of men enables them to annul or virtually repeal the commandment of God. The liberty which the tradition gives them is more agreeable to their selfish hearts than the duty to which the commandment binds them; and so they set aside the commandment, in order that they may keep the tradition. To accept such a tradition was to dethrone Jehovah. (See Proverbs 28:24.) One is reminded here of Luther's sore conflict as to whether the monastic vow which was urged upon him was consistent with his duty to his aged father, and of innumerable similar cases in the long history of monasticism. True consecration is not the escaping from obligations, but the reacceptance of all genuine duty from the hands of God. Consecration to God never releases from duty to man. He who consents to an obligation to God thereby consents to all obligations that God has placed upon him. To suppose the contrary, as these men did, is to trifle with all obligation.

III.

THE WORD OF GOD IS MADE VOID BY YOUR TRADITION.

13. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition. The word translated making of none effect (akurountes)is found in the New Testament only in this discourse and at Galatians 3:17: it means to deprive of authority or lordship, and so, of a law, to annul. It implies more than neglect: it tells of actual nullification.And many such like things do ye, which is not genuine in Mark 7:8, is genuine here, and may possibly be the reporter's summary of a further discourse, in which other abuses of a similar kind were treated as sharply as the intrusion of Corban to the family. The subsequent discourse seems to imply that something had been said at this very time of the distinction between clean and unclean food. There were abuses enough within reach to justify a long and terrible discourse. (W. N. Clarke)

FACT QUESTIONS 7:9-13

369.

Do you imagine someone called for specific examples for the general principle laid down in the fearful charge.?

370.

Is Jesus being ironic or sarcastic in the way in which He speaks of Isaiah's prophecy and its fulfillment? Discuss.

371.

Jesus does not deal with traditions respecting defilement firstwhy?

372.

Did Jesus recognize the law of Moses as the law of God? Specify.

373.

Did Jesus quote from the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures? i.e. from the Septuagint?

374.

Jesus gives an exegesis of Exodus 21:7 in the manner of citing the passagewhat is it?

375.

Explain in your own words the tradition invented by the Pharisees called Corban.

376.

What was the problem Luther had with the monastic vow?

377.

Can you cite an example in your own experience?

378.

What does the expressionmaking the word of God of none effect mean? Cf. Galatians 3:17.

379.

Can we make the word of God of none effect by our busy schedule of living?