Introduction
Mark chapter 7 records a series of teachings and encounters that reveal Jesus challenging religious traditions that had overshadowed the true commandments of God. The chapter opens with the Pharisees and scribes criticizing Jesus disciples for eating without ceremonially washing their hands, prompting Jesus to confront the hypocrisy of prioritizing human traditions over God’s law. He teaches that true defilement comes from within the heart, not from external practices, addressing what truly makes a person unclean before God.
The chapter also includes two significant healing accounts that demonstrate Jesus ministry extending beyond Jewish boundaries. He responds to the faith of a Greek woman from Syrophoenicia who pleads for her daughter’s deliverance, and he heals a deaf man with a speech impediment, restoring his hearing and speech. These narratives together illustrate the themes of authentic faith, compassion, and the transformation of the heart that lies at the center of Jesus mission.
Chapter 7
1 And there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,
2 And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
3 Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them:
4 And when they come from the market-place, they take no food till their hands are washed; and a number of other orders there are, which have been handed down to them to keep–washings of cups and pots and brass vessels.
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes put the question to him, Why do your disciples not keep the rules of the fathers, but take their bread with unwashed hands?
6 And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 But their worship is to no purpose, while they give as their teaching the rules of men.
8 For, turning away from the law of God, you keep the rules of men.
9 And he said to them, Truly you put on one side the law of God, so that you may keep the rules which have been handed down to you.
10 For Moses said, Give honour to your father and mother, and, He who says evil of father or mother, let him have the punishment of death:
11 But you say, If a man says to his father or his mother, That by which you might have had profit from me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God,
12 You no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of no effect by your rule, which you have given: and a number of other such things you do.
14 And turning to the people again, he said to them, Give ear to me all of you, and let my words be clear to you:
15 There is nothing outside the man which, going into him, is able to make him unclean: but the things which come out of the man are those which make the man unclean.
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17 And when he had gone into the house away from all the people, his disciples put questions to him about the saying.
18 And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean,
19 Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean.
20 And he said, That which comes out of the man, that makes the man unclean.
21 Because from inside, from the heart of men, come evil thoughts and unclean pleasures,
22 The taking of goods and of life, broken faith between husband and wife, the desire of wealth, wrongdoing, deceit, sins of the flesh, an evil eye, angry words, pride, foolish acts:
23 All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.
24 And he went away from there to the country of Tyre and Sidon. And he went into a house, desiring that no man might have knowledge of it: and he was not able to keep it secret.
25 But a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having had news of him, came straight away and went down at his feet.
26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by birth: and she made a request to him that he would send the evil spirit out of her daughter.
27 And he said to her, Let the children first have their food: for it is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.
28 But she said to him in answer, Yes, Lord: even the dogs under the table take the bits dropped by the children.
29 And he said to her, For this saying go your way; the evil spirit has gone out of your daughter.
30 And she went away to her house, and saw the child on the bed, and the evil spirit gone out.
31 And again he went out from Tyre, and came through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the country of Decapolis.
32 And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him.
33 And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man’s tongue with his finger;
34 And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open.
35 And his ears became open, and the band of his tongue was made loose, and his words became clear.
36 And he gave them orders not to give news of it to anyone; but the more he made this request, so much the more they made it public.
37 And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.
Important Verses
- Mark 7:6 Jesus quotes Isaiah, condemning those whose hearts are far from God despite their outward religious observance, emphasizing genuine devotion over empty ritual.
- Mark 7:8 Jesus points out that the Pharisees had replaced God’s commandments with human traditions, a warning against elevating custom above divine truth.
- Mark 7:15 Jesus teaches that nothing entering a person from outside can defile them, it is what comes out of the heart that reveals true impurity.
- Mark 7:21 to 23 Jesus lists the evils that originate within the heart, such as evil thoughts, theft, and deceit, showing that sin begins internally before it manifests outwardly.
- Mark 7:28 to 29 The Syrophoenician woman’s humble persistence and faith move Jesus to heal her daughter, illustrating that faith transcends ethnic and social barriers.
- Mark 7:37 The people’s amazed response to the healing of the deaf man affirms that Jesus does all things well, pointing to his divine authority and compassion.
