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Scripture Reading: Mark 7:1-23
The Gospel of Mark was written in a progressive way. In Mark we have a record that is according to the sequence of events that took place in the life of the Lord Jesus. We believe that it was according to God’s sovereignty that everything that happened in the Lord’s life took place in a particular order and in a progressive way.
In Mark 6:45-52 we have a record of the Lord’s walking on the sea. Then in Mark 6:53-56 we have an account of the Lord’s healing everywhere. The situation at that time was wonderful. The Lord and His disciples had crossed over the stormy sea, and people everywhere were enjoying His healing.
Then, all of a sudden, certain religious “spies,” certain Pharisees and scribes, “gathered together to Him when they had come from Jerusalem” (Mark 7:1). These learned ones, leaders in the Jewish religion, came to the Lord purposely to spy Him out. Jerusalem was far to the south, and the Lord Jesus was in the north, in Galilee. Nevertheless, the Pharisees and scribes came all this way in order to observe what the Lord Jesus was doing.
Mark 7:2 says that the Pharisees and scribes who came to spy on the Lord Jesus saw “some of His disciples eating bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.” Verses 3 and 4 explain that the Pharisees, holding the tradition of the elders, do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands. When they come from the market places, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves.
According to verse 5, the Pharisees and scribes questioned the Lord Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unclean hands?” The word “elders” here, as in verse 3, refers to the ancients, to people of previous generations. The Pharisees and scribes thought that they had ground to criticize the Lord, because His disciples were practicing something that was contrary to the tradition the Jews had received from their forefathers.
As we read this Gospel, it may seem that what is recorded in 6:45—7:23 is merely a story. In this portion we are told how the Lord Jesus passed through the stormy sea, how He healed many people, and how He was questioned by the Pharisees and scribes. However, if we look to the Lord for His enlightenment concerning this section of Mark, we shall realize that, by the time of chapter seven, there was the need for the Lord to deal with man’s inward condition. The things that took place before chapter seven are related to man’s outward situation, not to his inward condition. The gospel, however, is for our entire being. The problem of man’s inward condition is much more serious than that of his outward situation. Actually, our inward condition is the root of all problems.
In the first six chapters of the Gospel of Mark many things are covered. But thus far nothing has touched the inward condition of fallen mankind. Now in chapter seven the questioning of the Lord by the Pharisees and scribes gave Him the opportunity to speak concerning man’s inward situation. The intention of the Pharisees and scribes was to condemn the Slave-Savior. But they were used by God in His sovereignty. Without them, the Lord may not have had the opportunity to talk about man’s inward condition.
The Pharisees and scribes certainly did not have any intention to touch the inward situation of man. They were concerned with outward formality, with outward washing and cleansing. They were not interested in anything of the inward condition of man. Nevertheless, they gave the Lord an excellent opportunity and even opened the way for Him to unveil man’s inward condition. The Lord Jesus exposed man’s inward situation not only to the Pharisees and scribes, but also to the crowd and especially to His disciples (v. 17).
In 7:1-23 we have three groups of people: the entire crowd, including the Pharisees and scribes; a portion of the crowd (v. 14), and the Lord’s disciples, His intimate followers. Verse 17 says, “And when He entered into a house from the crowd, His disciples questioned Him.” Then the Lord unveiled to them in a full way man’s inward condition. Eventually it was the Lord’s intimate followers who received the benefit. They came to see clearly not only man’s outward situation, but also man’s inward condition.
As a divine-human Person, the Lord Jesus heals man’s situation. This healing takes care not only of our outward sickness, but especially of our inward sickness. Concerning this, in chapter seven of the Gospel of Mark we have an important step in the Slave-Savior’s gospel service. As we have seen, before chapter seven the Lord’s gospel service was concerned with man’s outward situation. But the Pharisees and scribes, as opposers, provided the Lord an excellent opportunity to touch the inward condition of fallen man.
In chapter six we see opposition and rejection. This chapter records the martyrdom of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Slave-Savior, a martyrdom that was motivated by the hatred of Herodias for John. At the end of this chapter, the Lord crossed the sea and then came into a country where the people received His healing. The Lord’s disciples must have been happy and excited over what was happening. Wherever the Lord went, He was welcomed and people were healed. If we had been among the followers of the Slave-Savior at that time, we certainly would have been happy about the situation.
We may say that the Pharisees and scribes in chapter seven were professional opposers. Probably before they came down from Jerusalem to the place where the Lord Jesus was, they were trained to spy on Him in order to have some ground to arrest Him and put Him to death. The Pharisees and scribes may have said to one another, “This one is a devil, and we must get rid of him. We must find something to convince the Roman government to put this man to death.” These trained, professional spies thought they had ground to accuse the Lord Jesus in the matter of eating with unwashed hands. Actually, they simply opened up the way for Him to speak concerning the condition of man’s heart.
We may compare the Lord Jesus in chapter seven to a surgeon operating on a patient. We may also say that the professional opposers prepared the “surgery room” for the Lord’s “operation.” Then He opened up man’s heart and exposed its inward condition.
The Lord said to the Pharisees and scribes, “Isaiah prophesied rightly concerning you, hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me; and in vain they are worshipping Me, teaching as teachings the commandments of men” (vv. 6-7). Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “You hypocrites only take care of the outward situation. You do not take care of man’s inward condition. Whether you wash your hands or not before eating does not mean anything. What matters is your inward condition. Let me open your heart and expose its condition.” In this chapter the Lord goes on to expose the evil condition of the heart of fallen man.
The Pharisees and scribes came for the purpose of finding fault with the Lord Jesus. But the outcome was that they were rebuked by Him. The Lord is genuine; He never pretends. On the one hand, He is kind and has compassion on the seeking ones. But on the other hand, as indicated by the record in chapter seven, He was frank with the professional opposers, calling them hypocrites. In verses 8 and 9 the Lord went on to say to them, “Leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.…You nicely set aside the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.” Furthermore, in verse 13 He said that they were “invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have delivered; and many such similar things you do.”
Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “You hypocrites come to find fault with Me. But I take this opportunity to expose you. You ask why My disciples do not keep the traditions. I ask why you invalidate the word of God by your traditions. You serve God with your mouth, but I shall expose what is in your heart.”
In verses 10 through 12 the Lord said to the Pharisees and scribes, “Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die. But you say, If a man says to his father or mother, corban (that is, a gift), whatever you may be profited from me, you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother.” By this we see that the Pharisees and scribes were wrong not only in the worship of God, but even in the way they dealt with their parents. Concerning the matter of honoring father and mother, they invalidated the commandment of God through the keeping of their tradition.
The word “corban” in verse 11 is from the Hebrew word qorban, an offering, a gift, signifying anything offered to God. This word is used a number of times in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, chapters that speak of the different kinds of offerings. Actually, the English word “offering” as used in Leviticus 1—7 is a translation of the Hebrew word qorban.
The Lord rebuked the Pharisees and scribes for being wrong in the matter of honoring their parents and taking care of them. They actually taught others to neglect to honor their parents, and in so doing they invalidated the commandments of God. A person should spend a certain amount to take care of his parents. But according to the Pharisees and scribes, if that person made a corban to God, an offering to God, there was no need for him to take care of his parents. Regarding this tradition, the Lord Jesus strongly rebuked the Pharisees and scribes, telling them that they were invalidating the word of God by their tradition.
The Lord’s bold rebuke silenced the professional opposers. He had publicly exposed them. What a shame this was to the Pharisees and scribes, who were knowledgeable in the Mosaic law and probably regarded themselves as superior to the Galileans. But in front of the crowd the Lord exposed them and rebuked them, calling them hypocrites. He said that they worshipped God with their mouths, but that their hearts were far away from Him. He even exposed them for invalidating the law of God, for making the law of none effect. He exposed them for not only cheating God, but also for cheating their parents. What a severe rebuke! By this rebuke the Pharisees and scribes were muzzled. No doubt they disappeared silently from the scene.
After the Pharisees and scribes disappeared, the Lord called the crowd to Him again and said to them, “Hear Me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing outside of a man which entering into him can defile him, but the things coming out of a man are the things which defile a man” (vv. 14-15). Here the Lord is indicating that the things that defile a man are the things that come out from his heart. Therefore, we should not be concerned for outward things, because these things cannot defile us. Instead, we should be very concerned about the inward things, for these are the things that defile us.
Verse 17 says, “And when He entered into a house from the crowd, His disciples questioned Him concerning the parable.” Not understanding the Lord’s word, the disciples asked Him to explain it to them. The Lord said, “Are you also in the same manner without understanding? Do you not perceive that everything from outside entering into a man cannot defile him, because it does not enter into his heart, but into the stomach, and goes out into the drain, making all foods clean?…That which goes out of a man, that defiles a man” (vv. 18-20). According to the Lord’s word here, it is what comes out of man’s heart that defiles him. Jeremiah said that the condition of man’s heart is incurable (Jer. 17:9). The heart of fallen man is corrupt, full of defiling germs.
In verses 21 and 22 the Lord goes on to list a number of defiling things in the heart of man: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil reasonings, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, a wicked eye, blasphemy, arrogance, foolishness.” Then in verse 23 the Lord concludes, “All these wicked things proceed from within, and they defile a man.” The wicked things which proceed from within are the evil issues of man’s fallen and sinful nature (Rom. 7:18).
We need to apply the Lord’s word here to ourselves and realize that whatever comes out from us is defiling. Nothing that has its source in us is clean. Naturally speaking, we are a constitution of evil things.
It is a great matter that in chapter seven of Mark the Slave-Savior in His gospel service comes to the matter of analyzing the inward condition of man. The Lord did this for the benefit of His disciples, His intimate followers. He wanted them to know that anything that proceeds out of their heart defiles others. The Lord seemed to be saying to them, “Beware of defiling others, and beware of being defiled by others. No one among you is clean. No matter how much you may wash your hands, you cannot cleanse your heart. The things that defile you are the things in your heart. You need to see that whatever comes out of your heart is unclean and is defiling to yourselves and to others.”
