March 26, 2022 (Lent Week 3)

 

     Gospel of Mark Chapter 7:1-23     

(New International Version)

 

(This story takes place in Bethsaida after Jesus and the disciples return from the east coast of the Sea of Galilee)

 

¹Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ² and saw some of His disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”⁶ He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.⁷ They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’^[]8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”⁹ And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)¹² then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³ Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ¹⁸ “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

 

Let us put this small piece of scripture into its context.

 

Mark places it after the feeding of the five thousand, following which Jesus sent the disciples ahead of him by boat to Bethsaida. He went up the mountain to pray. Between 3 and 6am, (the fourth watch of the night, probably closer to 6am,) Jesus sees the disciples in the middle of the Lake, making slow progress with their rowing due to the high wind and rough sea.

In the last verses of chapter 6, Jesus is walking on the water, reassuring His disciples, who had mistaken Him for an apparition. Peter’s response to Jesus, “If it is really, you Lord, call me to you” (actually an impulsive challenge) to which Jesus replies “Come.” Peter bravely gets out of the boat and walks towards Jesus but begins to sink when he becomes frightened the high waves; Jesus reaches out his hand and saves a somewhat bedraggled Peter. Once Jesus and Peter are back in the boat the disciples find they are safely back at the port of Bethsaida.

Mark tells us it wasn’t long after their arrival in Bethsaida that people recognized Jesus and began to bring the sick to Him from the surrounding area. A group of parsimonious Pharisees also arrived from Jerusalem and attempted to entrap Jesus because the disciples were eating bread without ceremoniously washing their hands. (It is possible that, after rowing all night, they were eating for breakfast some of the bread they had collected the day before, after Jesus had fed the five thousand.)

Here Mark quotes the Halakha[1] which requires the hands to be washed before eating a meal containing bread.[2] (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders).

Jesus responds by highlighting their hypocrisy in making God an excuse for advising the people to give their money to the temple and excusing the need for taking care to provide for parents. He goes on to say “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 

When questioned later by His disciples Jesus explains that nothing eaten by a person can make them ritually unclean but the curses, hurtful, and hateful sentiments expressed by them come from the heart and mind. These cause great pain, wars and oppression and defile a person. This teaching regarding the need for us to guard our tongues is emphasized many times in the Old and New Testaments as seen by the following examples:

1. Proverbs 13:3; “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

2. Ephesians 4:29; "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

3. Proverbs 11:17; “Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.”

4.  James 3: 9-12; "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  

5. Colossians 3:8; "But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."

6.  Matthew 12:36; "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak."

As I reflect during Lent on a lifetime of many short comings, the last of these verses I personally find challenging; it motivates me think carefully before I speak and to ask forgiveness for previous offenses. The following song, which many of us learned in Sunday School, will bring back many memories but also contains excellent advice. 

 

- Barbara Edgecombe-Green

 

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[1]Halakha is the entire body of Jewish law and tradition comprising the laws of the Bible, the oral law as transcribed in the legal portion of the Talmud, and subsequent legal codes amending or modifying traditional precepts to conform to contemporary conditions. (Google)

 

[2] Is this the origin of the celebrant ritually washing hands during the Eucharist?

(It is surprising the education one receives when researching these reflections.)