All societies have rules of cleanliness and health. Children in the Western world today are taught quite strictly when and how to wash their hands to prevent sickness. And woe to any restaurant owner whose staff doesn’t observe a very strict code of hygiene. They could very well be shutdown. At the beginning of Mark 7, we are getting a glimpse into the same societal behavior of their day, except the Pharisees were binding these rules of cleanliness and health upon others as though they were the commandments of God.
Read Mark 7:1-23.
What is the problem according to the Pharisees (vv. 1-5)?
What is the problem according to Jesus, and how does He illustrate it (vv. 6-13)?
Does this happen today? Are you guilty of this?
In Mark 7:14-23, what is radically different about Jesus’ teaching on what is clean and unclean?
Read Mark 7:24-37.
Jesus knew that salvation would come to all nations through Him and here is an early sign of what was to come. Why does Jesus finally respond positively to the request of this Gentile woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit (vv. 24-30)?
How does Jesus affirm in this episode the same point about cleanless and uncleaness that he made in 7:1-23?
Why do you think Jesus would sometimes tell people to not say anything about the things they had witnessed Him do (vv. 31-36)?
Do you ever participate in behavior or traditions that become a stumbling block for other people who are trying to pursue a right relationship with God?
Is there anything you need to change in your life so that the traditions you keep don’t turn people away from God?
Trent Dean
dean008@gmail.com