1. 1. Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18) Copyrighted material that appears in this article is included under the provisions of the Fair Use Clause of the National Copyright Act, which allows limited reproduction of copyrighted materials for educational and religious use when no financial charge is made for viewing. Catholic Lectionary. (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
2. 2. 1 Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles (and beds).) 5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?
3. 3. 6 He responded, Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7 In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. 8 You disregard Gods commandment but cling to human tradition. 14 He summoned the crowd again and said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. 21 From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from within and they defile.
4. 4. 7:1-7 Tradition of the Elders The religious leaders were sent from Jerusalem to investigate Jesus. The Pharisees had elevated their laws to the same status as Gods law. Jesus scolded them for keeping their law and the tradition in order to look holy instead of honoring God. The hand washing ritual was a man-made law. Mark carefully explains, For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the traditions of the elders Why did Mark so carefully explain these traditions? Remember, Mark is writing to a Gentile, a Roman, audience who would not have understood the hand washing ritual.
5. 5. Law and Traditions Originally, for the Jews, the Law meant observing two things; it meant, first and foremost, the Ten Commandments of God, and, second, the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah or Pentateuch. There was another law called the Oral Law; it is also called the tradition of the elders.
6. 6. Oral Tradition These oral traditions, these rules and regulations were not written down until long after the time of Jesus. It wasnt until the third century that the summary of these rules and regulations were written down, and became known as the Mishnah. There were definite and rigid rules for washing of hands. Note that this hand-washing was not in the interests of hygienic purity; it was viewed as a spiritual or ceremonial cleansing a tradition which demonstrated holiness. Before every meal, and between each of the course of the meal, the hands had to be washed, and they had to be washed in a certain way.
7. 7. Ritual vs. Moral Religion To fail to follow this ritual was, in Jewish eyes, not to be guilty of bad manners, not guilty in the health sense, but to be unclean in the sight of God. The man who ate with unclean hands was subject to the attacks of an illness demon. To the Pharisaic and Scribal Jew religion was the following of God laws and man made rules. Ritual and ceremonial regulations like hand washing were considered to be evidence of being of service to God. Moral religion was buried under a mass of taboos and rules.
8. 8. Religion of Love not Regulation Jesus had no use for all these regulations thus they considered Him to be a an evil person. There is a fundamental separation between a man who sees religion in legalistic terms, and the man who sees religion as honoring a loving God and loving his fellow-men. One seeks to control and the other is a humble giver.
9. 9. The Heart As we can see from Jeremiah 17:9-10 what comes out of the heart is most important. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? 10 I the LORD search the mind and try the heart, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing. The Pharisees are hypocrites for two reasons. 1. Their actions are merely external, a show of piety rather than coming from the heart. 2. Their teaching of traditions are not Gods law and thus are not of equal value.