Mark 7:1 The P’rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua 2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n’tilat-yadayim. 3 (For the P’rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing. 4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)
5 The P’rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” 6 Yeshua answered them, “Yesha‘yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites — as it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is useless,
because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.’[Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13]
8 “You depart from God’s command and hold onto human tradition.
14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand this! 15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!”
21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness…. 23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean.” (Complete Jewish Bible.)
Seven of the 12 "evil things" Jesus mentions as coming out of the human heart directly refer to the second table of the Ten Commandments, the part that has to do with our relations with our neighbor. Surely the other five cause harm to the neighbor as well. The contrast Jesus is drawing for us is not between law and gospel per se but between God's own good instruction, which has the love of neighbor as goal, and all the human additives we devise to put extra distance between ourselves and others.
At the same time, the heart affliction Jesus points to is present in everyone, no matter how godly, good or plenteous their rules, and will need a more radical intervention. Hear what Jesus says today, but also look at what he does. He shares his table and he shares food, far and wide--with disciples, with Pharisees, with crowds, with sinners--and with you.
Gracious Lord, I have too often tried to cloister myself from my neighbor, and yet you come near to me anyway and make yourself neighbor to me. Thank you for breaking bread with me and pouring your love afresh into my heart. Amen.
Mark D. Williamson, '05
Pastor, Grace Lutheran Church, Dodgeville, Wis.
Mark 7:1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.
3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders;
4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?"
6 He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly 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 human precepts as doctrines.'
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition." ...
14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand:
15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." ...
21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder,
22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.
23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." (New Revised Standard Version).
The Luther Seminary
2481 Como Avenue
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
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