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Sermon Notes

Mark: The Right Now Gospel
Pt. 12
“Defilement Comes From Within”

Mark 7:1-23 “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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?”
6 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. 7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 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.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 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), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 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. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
17 When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 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, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”
20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
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Now, the key issue in the first 23 verses is the way the Pharisees had replaced the word of God with traditions.
He brings up the example of the command of God that a man help financially support his needy and aging parents. But the Pharisees taught the people to give to the priests what should have gone to the parents. And when the parents asked for help, the son would tell them the money was a gift to God and to ask for it now would be sacrilegious.
So Jesus rightly accused them of literally “making the word of God of no effect” through their traditions, further calling their traditions “the commandments of men,” meaning they had not come from God but from whatever men had come up with.
The entire confrontation between Jesus, the Pharisees, and the Scribes had begun with his disciples being judged for eating bread without washing their hands first. For the Pharisees and all the Jews of that time did not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way.
Vs 3 “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.” NKJV
The LB paraphrase puts it, “(For the Jews, especially the Pharisees, will never eat until they have sprinkled their arms to the elbows, as required by their ancient traditions.”
The NIV says, “The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.”
The NLT translates it, “(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.”
All these different versions are seeking to capture the meaning of the Greek word πυγμή (poog-may), which means “a clenched hand or a fist.” The idea being one must wash the hands with the fist so that one hand is rubbed with the clenched fist of the other hand all the way up to the elbow.
So the picture here is of a severe, almost obsessive washing of the hands to prevent defiling oneself with dirty hands. And it didn’t stop there. Verse 4 says:
“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.”
The word ‘washing’ here is from the Greek word βαπτίζω (bap-tid’-zo) meaning to immerse or submerge, and is where we of course get our word “baptism.”
So the Jews were careful to fully submerge their hands and utensils in water before eating.
The only problem with all this was that God had never commanded it, and it was based on wrong theology! The Pharisees believed that a person became unclean or defiled from the outside in. In this case, eating with dirty hands. So they had become almost pathologically obsessed with outer cleanliness.
Jesus blew all that out of the water by saying,
Vs 15 “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.”
The word ‘defile’ is from a Greek word meaning ‘to pollute, to render something unfit for God’s use.’
Jesus taught that the source of defilement is not what you eat, but is the inner well-springs of the heart.
“18 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, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” 20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
So the tradition of washing hands and utensils and other outer things in order to avoid defilement was based on bad theology, and it rendered powerless the truth of God’s word regarding where defilement actually comes from. The real source of defilement is the heart!
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Then verse 24 says:
“From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.
25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 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.”
28 And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.” 29 Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.”
Now, Jesus’s response to the Syro-Phoenician (Gentile) woman praying for her daughter has caused much controversy because it sounds insensitive and unloving. Jesus, the critics claim, called the woman a dog. So–two things I’ll point out here.
First, the Greek word for dogs in this text is the word for puppies, as with a household pet. This fact helps soften his statement a bit. He was not calling her a mutt or a mongrel.
But what was really going on here was Jesus observing divine order–covenant blessings flow “first for the Jew.”
Romans 1:16 “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.”
Paul said of his countrymen, the Jews, that “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!”–Ro 9:4-5
Even so, the Gentile woman said in response, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
Jesus saw in her words an incredible display of faith that was actually a theological truth. We Gentiles would indeed partake of the Jewish covenant promises by being grafted into the vine to enjoy all the blessings promised to the Jew!
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Jesus Heals a Deaf-Mute
31 “Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. 32 Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. 33 And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Jesus’s method of healing this man is anything but orthodox. He put his fingers in his ears, and spat and touched his tongue.”
The Greek word for spit sounds like the action–πτύω (ptoo’-o). Many have wondered why this method? And by the way, this wasn’t the only time the Lord used it! Later, in the town of Bethsaida, Jesus healed a blind man. Again, the miracle was preceded by spitting: “He . . . spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him” (Mark 8:23).
And to heal a man born blind, Jesus “spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes” (John 9:6).
The gospels reveal that the details of each of Jesus’s miracles vary slightly. He never healed the same way twice.
Why the use of his saliva is open to many interpretations. Was it to build the person’s faith? Or that by using such variety he couldn’t be copied? I don’t know. What I DO know is that they were ALL HEALED!