Mark 7; Reading the Bible Together

Joy: You’re listening to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Episode Number 35.  Today we’ll read the 7th chapter of Mark together: Traditions over God’s commands; defilements from the inside, not the outside; a Gentile mom gives the right answer; and we’re back to the Decapolis for a healing.

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God’s word together.  Some things require discipline and sometimes that’s just not easy to muster by yourself, no matter how badly you want to do it or how much you know you should.  It’s just easier to do it with a friend.  So refill your coffee or tea, get comfortable in your favorite chair and follow along as I read aloud.  I’m so glad you’re here!
Does it feel like Mark is moving a lot faster than Matthew?  Mark really does write from an action-oriented slant.  But have you ever wondered where Mark got all his up-close-and-personal accounts?  I mean, he wasn’t one of the 12.  He is known elsewhere in the New Testament as John Mark and you’ll read more about him in the Book of Acts when we get there.  But it’s important to know that John Mark was a close companion of Peter’s.  So, had Peter written one of the Gospels…this would be it!

Mark Chapter 7:  1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him. 2 They observed that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unclean-that is, unwashed-hands. 3 (For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches.) 5 Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean hands?” 6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men. 8 Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.” 9 He also said to them, “You completely invalidate God’s command in order to maintain your tradition! 10 For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and, Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban ‘ ” (that is, a gift [committed to the temple]), 12 “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.” 14 Summoning the crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!” 17 When He went into the house away from the crowd, the disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated.” (As a result, He made all foods clean.) 20 Then He said, “What comes out of a person-that defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, lewdness, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.” 24 He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but He could not escape notice. 25 Instead, immediately after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Allow the children to be satisfied first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she replied to Him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then He told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone. 31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, He went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to Him a deaf man who also had a speech difficulty, and begged Jesus to lay His hand on him. 33 So He took him away from the crowd privately. After putting His fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, He touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, ” Ephphatha !” (that is, “Be opened!” ). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his speech difficulty was removed, and he began to speak clearly. 36 Then He ordered them to tell no one, but the more He would order them, the more they would proclaim it. 37 They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well! He even makes deaf people hear, and people unable to speak, talk!” 

Okay, can we just stop and review for a minute?  Jesus heals people who can’t walk, who can’t see, who can’t talk.  The demon-possessed have been freed and the dead have been raised.  Huge crowds follow him hoping that they can just touch the hem of his robe and receive a miracle.  Have you ever noticed that Pharisees, Sadducees and other Jewish leaders are always popping up to ask him questions to trap him, and pointing accusing fingers?   This time, they have followed him all the way from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee.  They must have witnessed these miracles because they were always there.  So they have seen these miracles performed, and the best they can say is, why don’t your disciples wash their hands?  But wait…we can do the same thing, can’t we?  How many crazy traditions in the church bar people from feeling welcome?  There is a whole world out there  who are like sheep without a shepherd.  Are we like Jesus, who wanted to gather them up and love them?  Or do we spend more time wondering if they have washed their hands?  Let’s pray.  Oh Father, please help us to be more like Jesus.  What is it that you say in the 8th verse in the 6th chapter of Micah?  He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.  Help us to prioritize what you value, rather than to put our own spin on it.  We ask it in Jesus’ name, amen.

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray God will grow in you what has been planted and watered here.  In this time of unprecedented struggle worldwide, we can look to God for guidance and comfort.  Be sensitive to those in your circle of influence who need a word of encouragement and invite them to join us.  If you like this show, it would be great if you give it a five-star review.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you right here tomorrow.  Be well!