Moving On with Mark
Dear Students of Saint Mark:
As we take time off for vacation, I encourage you to continue to study Saint Mark’s Gospel by reading and re-reading it. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit will guide you as you spend time with the gospel.
We will continue our study of Mark in September (Chapter 7 see below with questions) I am a true conservative when it comes to Scripture. I wish to conserve for every single person the opportunity to be challenged by their reading of the Gospel.
All of the things that we are taught by our families, our culture, and even the church are challenged by the Gospel message. So, as we continue our study together, we need to allow the Word of God that is revealed in the Gospel of Mark to speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Here are is the text for chapter 7 and some questions to stimulate your study.
God’s Peace in the Word Made Flesh,Bob+
(Mark 7) 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?"
This story throws light back on the first six chapters of Mark. It reminds us of the controversies that swirled around Jesus prior to this one. I invite you to read these first few verses of Chapter 7 and then go back over the first six chapters of Mark and identify the stated reasons for conflict.
Mark 7:1-5 ends with a question addressed to Jesus. Read over these verses carefully several times. Try to imagine yourself standing in the crowd that surrounded Jesus, his questioners, and the disciples.
Can you see the disciples picking up food without first washing their hands?
Try to imagine Jesus’ questioners watching this violation of tradition.
Have you ever seen a workman sit down for lunch without first washing his dirty hands?
What goes through your head when you see people eating without washing their hands first?
Try to write down the assumptions you make about such a person.
Is this controversy really about dirty hands or about the authority of tradition and those who enforce it?
Our new Presiding Bishop when asked about the conflict within the Anglican Communion over her election, said that the question was about authority in the church.
What do you think she meant by that statement?
Who holds the authority in our world; nation; church; and communities today?
What is the source of such authority?
Why do you think this tradition was so important to those who questioned him?
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."
Jesus seems to be saying that these folks “talked the talk, but did not walk the walk.”
Why are religious folks so prone to such hypocrisy?
Jesus says that the religious leadership teach “human precepts as doctrines.”
What are the human precepts to which Jesus is referring?
Jesus also says that religious leaders “abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
Based upon what you have observed of Jesus’ life as it is told in Mark’s Gospel so far, what is “the commandment of God” to which he is referring?
Do you think the religious leaders would agree with his assessment? Why? Why not?
9 Then he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.' 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban' (that is, an offering to God)-- 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this."
Jesus gives examples of how the commandment of God is being rejected in order to keep human traditions.
What do you think of the examples he offers?
Do you think abandonment of parents was a big problem or do you think that Jesus was uncovering an unspoken tradition that allowed children to ignore the needs of their parents?
What traditions do we follow within our culture which allow us to ignore the needs of others?
What other traditions do we follow which seem to be clearly prohibited in the commandments?
Which commandments are the defining commandments for Jesus?
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." 16 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 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."
Is this Jesus’ way of changing the purity codes found in Scripture (Thus he declared all foods clean) and as a way of softening the requirements for membership in the church (i.e. Gentiles)?
If you look at all of the behaviors that Jesus says defile us and that flow out of the human heart (remember that the heart represents the power of desiring), what do you notice as a common thread that runs through them all?
If Jesus says that the Great Commandments are to love God and our neighbor as our selves, how does that help us understand the list of defiling intentions and behaviors that flow from the human heart?
If you look through the news today, what seems to be the greatest examples of such evil?
Is all evil corporate and relational?
What does the Episcopal Church seek to do in response to such evil?
What did Jesus do in response to such evil?
24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.
Why do you think Jesus was trying to avoid being known?
Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that he was in Gentile territory?
Yet he could not escape notice,
This is an interesting phrase. Despite his efforts to remain anonymous, Jesus could not avoid being discovered even by the Gentiles.
What does this say about Jesus?
What does this say about those who “noticed” him?
25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter." 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
What is the significance of a Gentile woman coming up to Jesus and bowing at his feet?
The woman’s request was that Jesus cast out the demon from the little girl.
Do you remember our discussion in which we said that the demons are communal projections of evil that imputed to someone or group within a community?
Is this woman’s daughter the one who is bearing the demon of her village?
There is a universal tradition within the human culture to scapegoat others for what dwells in our own hearts that we will not confess. The woman is asking Jesus to save her daughter from the consequences of the demon.
Does Jesus seem sympathetic to this woman at first? Why or Why not?
Do you think the woman is being flip or disrespectful to Jesus when she responds to his apparent lack of sympathy?
What does the woman say that changes Jesus’ mind about how he will respond to her request?
What is in the woman’s response that says she has a faith that connects with the heart of God?Where did the demon go?
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
Jesus is moving back towards a more mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles. We do not know who brought this deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus to be healed, but we do get an idea of the sort of people they are.
Can you describe the people who brought this man to Jesus?
How are they like the woman in the previous verses?
Jesus heals the man in a more private setting and tells those who brought him to Jesus not to tell anyone about what he had done. It seems that the more Jesus tells them to not share the news with others, the more zealously they share it.
Do you find it interesting that the healing allowed this man to hear and speak and that Jesus’ is asking those who brought him to act as if they had not heard what happened nor speak about it? Why or Why not?
I look forward to seeing you all in September. Have a wonderful August and don’t forget to continue to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the feast that Saint
Mark has set before us.Bob+
As we take time off for vacation, I encourage you to continue to study Saint Mark’s Gospel by reading and re-reading it. My prayer for you is that the Holy Spirit will guide you as you spend time with the gospel.
We will continue our study of Mark in September (Chapter 7 see below with questions) I am a true conservative when it comes to Scripture. I wish to conserve for every single person the opportunity to be challenged by their reading of the Gospel.
All of the things that we are taught by our families, our culture, and even the church are challenged by the Gospel message. So, as we continue our study together, we need to allow the Word of God that is revealed in the Gospel of Mark to speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Here are is the text for chapter 7 and some questions to stimulate your study.
God’s Peace in the Word Made Flesh,Bob+
(Mark 7) 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?"
This story throws light back on the first six chapters of Mark. It reminds us of the controversies that swirled around Jesus prior to this one. I invite you to read these first few verses of Chapter 7 and then go back over the first six chapters of Mark and identify the stated reasons for conflict.
Mark 7:1-5 ends with a question addressed to Jesus. Read over these verses carefully several times. Try to imagine yourself standing in the crowd that surrounded Jesus, his questioners, and the disciples.
Can you see the disciples picking up food without first washing their hands?
Try to imagine Jesus’ questioners watching this violation of tradition.
Have you ever seen a workman sit down for lunch without first washing his dirty hands?
What goes through your head when you see people eating without washing their hands first?
Try to write down the assumptions you make about such a person.
Is this controversy really about dirty hands or about the authority of tradition and those who enforce it?
Our new Presiding Bishop when asked about the conflict within the Anglican Communion over her election, said that the question was about authority in the church.
What do you think she meant by that statement?
Who holds the authority in our world; nation; church; and communities today?
What is the source of such authority?
Why do you think this tradition was so important to those who questioned him?
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."
Jesus seems to be saying that these folks “talked the talk, but did not walk the walk.”
Why are religious folks so prone to such hypocrisy?
Jesus says that the religious leadership teach “human precepts as doctrines.”
What are the human precepts to which Jesus is referring?
Jesus also says that religious leaders “abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
Based upon what you have observed of Jesus’ life as it is told in Mark’s Gospel so far, what is “the commandment of God” to which he is referring?
Do you think the religious leaders would agree with his assessment? Why? Why not?
9 Then he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.' 11 But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban' (that is, an offering to God)-- 12 then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this."
Jesus gives examples of how the commandment of God is being rejected in order to keep human traditions.
What do you think of the examples he offers?
Do you think abandonment of parents was a big problem or do you think that Jesus was uncovering an unspoken tradition that allowed children to ignore the needs of their parents?
What traditions do we follow within our culture which allow us to ignore the needs of others?
What other traditions do we follow which seem to be clearly prohibited in the commandments?
Which commandments are the defining commandments for Jesus?
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." 16 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, "It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 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."
Is this Jesus’ way of changing the purity codes found in Scripture (Thus he declared all foods clean) and as a way of softening the requirements for membership in the church (i.e. Gentiles)?
If you look at all of the behaviors that Jesus says defile us and that flow out of the human heart (remember that the heart represents the power of desiring), what do you notice as a common thread that runs through them all?
If Jesus says that the Great Commandments are to love God and our neighbor as our selves, how does that help us understand the list of defiling intentions and behaviors that flow from the human heart?
If you look through the news today, what seems to be the greatest examples of such evil?
Is all evil corporate and relational?
What does the Episcopal Church seek to do in response to such evil?
What did Jesus do in response to such evil?
24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there.
Why do you think Jesus was trying to avoid being known?
Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that he was in Gentile territory?
Yet he could not escape notice,
This is an interesting phrase. Despite his efforts to remain anonymous, Jesus could not avoid being discovered even by the Gentiles.
What does this say about Jesus?
What does this say about those who “noticed” him?
25 but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter." 30 So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
What is the significance of a Gentile woman coming up to Jesus and bowing at his feet?
The woman’s request was that Jesus cast out the demon from the little girl.
Do you remember our discussion in which we said that the demons are communal projections of evil that imputed to someone or group within a community?
Is this woman’s daughter the one who is bearing the demon of her village?
There is a universal tradition within the human culture to scapegoat others for what dwells in our own hearts that we will not confess. The woman is asking Jesus to save her daughter from the consequences of the demon.
Does Jesus seem sympathetic to this woman at first? Why or Why not?
Do you think the woman is being flip or disrespectful to Jesus when she responds to his apparent lack of sympathy?
What does the woman say that changes Jesus’ mind about how he will respond to her request?
What is in the woman’s response that says she has a faith that connects with the heart of God?Where did the demon go?
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. 34 Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." 35 And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
Jesus is moving back towards a more mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles. We do not know who brought this deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus to be healed, but we do get an idea of the sort of people they are.
Can you describe the people who brought this man to Jesus?
How are they like the woman in the previous verses?
Jesus heals the man in a more private setting and tells those who brought him to Jesus not to tell anyone about what he had done. It seems that the more Jesus tells them to not share the news with others, the more zealously they share it.
Do you find it interesting that the healing allowed this man to hear and speak and that Jesus’ is asking those who brought him to act as if they had not heard what happened nor speak about it? Why or Why not?
I look forward to seeing you all in September. Have a wonderful August and don’t forget to continue to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the feast that Saint
Mark has set before us.Bob+
posted by Father Bob+ at 11:30 AM
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