Mark Chapter 7

Religious leaders of the Jewish faith were extremely careful to practice religion and to keep up all of their traditions, but they lacked one thing, a heart that seeks after God. They honored God with their lips, but their heart was far from Him. Jesus in fact called them hypocrites many times.

The word hypocrite refers to “an actor” or “someone who wears a mask.” Their mask was to portray themselves to the people as being someone of high importance and men to be revered. They took the Word of God and stretched it to encompass their own traditions and rules to create a hierarchy of themselves.

Let's Reflect

1. A second delegation of Pharisees have been sent from Jerusalem to scrutinize the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. What did they accuse the disciples of not doing?

2. Jesus saw their hypocrisy in the way they mishandled scripture. We would call that taking a verse out of context and creating a new teaching not found in the pages of the Bible. Jesus said they were guilty of leaving the commandment of God and holding to the tradition of men. What example did Jesus give in verses 10-13?

3. Jesus told the crowd listening that what goes into them cold not defile them. If the people ate food with unwashed hands (not washed in the ritualistic way of the Pharisees) the food would not be the cause of their demise (judgment of God). Instead, it is what is in their heart that matters. For God judges the heart and it is the heart that is the place of evil. Jesus said that all the evil things in the heart of a man does what? See verse 23.

“The source from which these rivers of pollution proceed is the natural heart of man. Sin is not a splash of mud upon man’s exterior, it is a filth generated within himself.” [Spurgeon]

4. Verse 24 tells us that Jesus traveled about 50 miles north to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. This tells us that while His focus was on the lost sheep of Israel, He also cared about the Gentiles. We could argue that it says that He didn’t want others to know He was there; but this was probably a desire not to cause unnecessary burden on people who received the truth of the gospel. The Jews wanted nothing to do with the Gentiles. But Jesus did. The gospel was meant for the Gentiles as well as tax collectors, and even prostitutes. Who came to Jesus for help with her daughter?

5. Jesus seemed to push away the woman, but this was not the first time He tested the faith of a person before performing a miracle. This Gentile woman showed some measure of faith in Jesus because He did what for her?

6. When Jesus returned to the area of Decapolis by the Sea of Galilee, a man was brought to Jesus for healing. What was wrong with the man?

7. Jesus asked the man to keep quiet about the miracle, but this is not what happened. What did happen?