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| Chapter 7 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ Then came together unto Him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled (that is to say, unwashed) hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat, unless they wash their hands oft, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, they eat not unless they wash; and there are many other customs which they have received and hold to, as the washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels and of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?" 6 He answered and said unto them, "Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 Therefore, in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold to the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other like things ye do." 9 And He said unto them, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ and, ‘Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.’ 11 But ye say that if a man shall say to his father or mother, ‘It is Corban’ (that is to say, a gift of whatsoever thou mightest have profited from me), he shall be freed; 12 and ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother, 13 thus making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered. And many like things do ye." 14 And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, "Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing from outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. 16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." 17 And when He had entered into the house away from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 And He said unto them, "Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from outside entereth into a man, it cannot defile him, 19 because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly and goeth out into the drain, thereby purging all meats?" 20 And He said, "That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 all these evil things come from within and defile the man." 24 ¶ And from thence He arose and went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have no man know about it; but He could not be hid. 25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by nation, and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, "Let the children first be filled, for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and to cast it unto the dogs." 28 And she answered and said unto Him, "Yes, Lord, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs." 29 And He said unto her, "For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter." 30 And when she had come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. 31 ¶ And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, He came unto the Sea of Galilee through the midst of the region of Decapolis. 32 And they brought unto Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they besought Him to put His hand upon him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude and put His fingers into his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to Heaven, He sighed and said unto him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed and he spoke plainly. 36 And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more He charged them, the more widely they proclaimed it 37 and were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." |
v1-23 Hostile Pharisees. Matt 15:1-20. v1-5 The religious leaders were now openly working against the ministry of Jesus, they often followed Him around waiting for the chance to catch Him out. On this day they try to accuse the disciples of not practicing the Jewish ceremonial washing, these had nothing to do with the cleanliness and hygiene of a person, neither were they part of the Law, just tradition created by the scribes and Pharisees. Why were the religious men so worried about the disciples not ceremonially washing their hands? It was tradition, and it was being used to protect the Law, even though it was not part of the Law. In addition the Jew was telling the non Jew that they were a special race, a chosen people, everyone else was "unclean," what had started out to remind the Jew they were chosen of God had now turned to pride. The Pharisees thought that by following the Law and all these traditions they were making themselves holy. What the Pharisees could not accept was that being clean on the outside does not make the heart and behaviour of the person clean and pure. v6-13 Jesus now challenges their traditions, exposing their hypocrisy. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13, then from the Law Exodus 20:12; Exodus 21:17 and Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 21:18-21. The Pharisees could not argue against the Law, it would destroy their own traditions, they were also destroying the power of the Law and the Word of God. v7 They were teaching their traditions in place of God’s Word. v8 Putting aside the Word of God. v9 Rejecting the Word of God. v13 Taking away the power of God. Today’s church leaders can also replace The Word of God with traditions. v10-13 Jesus picks up one area of the Pharisees hypocrisy, the fifth law of taking care of parents. The Pharisees, instead of using their wealth to look after their parents, were dedicating it as an offering to God, "Corban," to be used for spiritual purposes, but they were still using it for themselves. They claimed to love God but had no love for their parents. Jesus now calls the crowd to Him and tells them that holy living comes from the inside, the desires and heart of a person, not by ceremonial behaviour and washing of the outside. This statement also indicates that the Mosaic laws on clean and unclean, which makes the Jew special from the Gentile nations, do not really apply if holiness comes from the heart. This has always been true, but was to become really true after His sacrifice on the cross, Gal 3:28. v18-25 Jesus explains to the disciples. The meaning of His words are privately explained later to the disciples. The disciples had been brought up under the very strict Jewish Laws, food was either "clean" or "unclean," Leviticus 11:1ff, to them these thoughts were totally wrong. The desires of a persons heart produces all manner of evil, thoughts and actions. Many people think they can change a person but only Jesus can do it through His sacrifice. v24-30 Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. Matt 15:21-28. Jesus moves into the area of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile area, about 40 miles from Capernaum. Jesus is practicing what He preaches, all people need the message of salvation. A mother somehow knows who Jesus is and approaches Him for help. There are many obstacles for her but she has great faith. She was a Greek, Jesus being a Jew was not meant to mix with non Jews. She was a woman, men controlled the Jewish society. Satan was involved, one of his evil spirits had taken over her daughter. Finally the disciples did not encourage her. For a time it looked like Jesus was also against her. Mark does not mention it but when she first approached Jesus, He did not reply to her, He ignored her. Matt 15:22. She used the title "Son of David!" a Jewish title, next time she said "Lord help me." Matt 15:25. This time Jesus spoke about feeding the children (The Jews) first and not throw food to the "pet dogs." Jesus was not calling Gentiles "dogs," as most Jews considered the Gentiles. Her reply showed that she respected the special place of the Jew in the plan’s of God, she just wanted what was left over. Her reply showed just how much she understood yet believed and had faith in the Word of God. Jesus met her need and she went home to find her daughter cured. It is interesting to note that Jesus did the healing from the distance, indicating the separation that existed between Jew and Greek at that time. v31-37 A deaf man healed. Jesus now returns to the Sea of Galilee, to the Decapolis area, also a Gentile area. The following miracle is only recorded by Mark. A man who is deaf and dumb is brought to Jesus. Jesus takes the man away from the crowd so that the healing is not public. The man cannot hear the words as Jesus speaks but he can feel the love in those hands. "Ephphatha," is an Aramaic word. Immediately the man is healed, hearing and speech restored. Again the Lord tells the people to keep quite about the miracle but the news spreads everywhere and the people glorify God. Matt 15:31. |
Easy English Translation
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