Mark 7

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The Pharisees were so focused on their man-made laws that they lost sight of God’s original intention regarding His commands.  This led them to a place where they were more concerned about showing outward displays of holiness than they were about inner purity.  Jesus was reminding everyone here that God is much more concerned about what is inside your heart, than He is about you obeying His laws and regulations.  He wants your thoughts, motives for helping others, and words spoken to come from a place of love.  The Pharisees were the religious leaders of this time and missed this point completely, which is why they were constantly being rebuked by Jesus.  We all struggle with negative, selfish, and outright sinful thoughts from time to time.  During these times, we should pray the words from Psalms 19:14: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”  Also remember that “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus is teaching the crowd that the dietary laws laid out by Moses in the old covenant are no longer important.  Food is purely for physical needs, and does not have anything to do with our spiritual life.  Here Jesus explains the new covenant, which focuses on the significance of the state of a person’s heart and mind.  He reminds the crowd that the words or actions of a person are a reflection of their true intentions or desires.  Our desires need to be aligned with what God wants for us, so that we will be able to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit instead of succumbing to sin:  “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.  Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves…when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under the law of Moses…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to the cross and crucified them there.” (For the entire passage, see Galatians 5:16-26).  

But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed. ‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

God’s plan was that Jesus would first come to the Jews and teach them about the new covenant, in order to get them back on the right path.  These “chosen people” were supposed to recognize Jesus as being their Savior (Messiah) and spread the good news about Him to all others.  Instead, the Jews became like an exclusive club, using God’s laws and their own man-made rules to separate themselves from all non-Jews (Gentiles).  Ultimately they failed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah, and instead had Him crucified in order to secure their positions of power and authority within their community.  The Gentile woman in these verses understood that Israel was the chosen group of people.  But she also understood that Jesus was so powerful that even “the children’s crumbs” (verse 28, “crumbs” meaning what was left over after Jesus was done healing the Jews) were enough to heal her daughter from the demon possession.  More important than healing, however, is that we now know that salvation is available to EVERYONE who believes: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).

And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. ‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭33‬-‭35‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus healed people and performed miraculous feats during His time on Earth, but not always in the way people expected.  It must have been strange to see Him put His fingers in this man’s ears and then spit on His hands and touch the man’s tongue.  The important thing to remember is that we can have faith that the miracles described in the Bible did, in fact, occur.  Other than the many supporting accounts found in the New Testament, there are extra-Biblical accounts of the miraculous power of Jesus as well.  One of the most convincing comes from Celsus (around 178 AD), who was a Greek philosopher and an avid opponent of Christianity.  He went to great lengths to disprove the divinity of Jesus and to find excuses for how He and the early Christians were able to perform miracles: “Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired to go to Egypt.  While there He acquired certain powers…it was by means of sorcery that He was able to accomplish the wonders which He performed…Let us believe that these cures, or the resurrection, or the feeding of a multitude with a few loaves…These are nothing more than the tricks of jugglers…It is by the names of certain demons, and by the use of incantations, that the Christians appear to be possessed of miraculous power.”  When Celsus admitted belief in sorcery and demons, he admitted both belief in the supernatural, and that these miracles did take place.  But Jesus could not have been doing His miracles through the power of demons or black magic.  In fact, He directly addressed this issue when the Pharisees accused Him of this exact thing after He healed a demon-possessed man: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.  If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.  How then can his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25-26).  Divine miracles do still happen today, whether they are given proper identification or not (i.e. coincidence/luck vs. God acting on your behalf).  Remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  So, we need to pray for miracles when we need them, and believe that miracles can happen.  And although we may have an idea about how a certain problem or situation can be fixed, we have to be prepared for God to heal and perform miracles in unexpected ways!