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Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark, Chapter 7:

Two groups within 1st century Judaism, the Pharisees and scribes, have gathered together to question Jesus about why his disciples are “eating bread” (a more literal translation of vs. 5) without following Jewish purity laws. Jesus teaches that the issue is one of the heart, hypocrisy (vs. 6, 19, 21). “And from there” Jesus departs and goes to the far northwest Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon (vs. 24) to heal and “feed” a Gentile woman who places her faith in Jesus as Lord, and begs for “bread” (vs. 25-30). The final stop of Chapter 7 is a return to the Gentile region of the Decapolis--where the missionary disciple set in motion in 5:20 was quite successful--and Gentile inhabitants are ready to place their faith in Jesus for healing (vs. 31-37).

The Gospel According to St. Mark, Chapter 7:

The Tradition of the Elders

1 Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat un­ less they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify them­selves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” 9 And 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, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)z—12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or moth­er, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.” 14 And he called the people to him again, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and under­ stand: 15 there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.” a 17 And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?”(Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, 22 covet­ing, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any one know it; yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro­phoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the chil­dren’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home, and found the child lying in bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Gali­lee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand upon him. 33 And taking him aside from the multi­tude privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; 34 and look­ing up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, say­ing, “He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" (v.6) Lord, give me the grace to see in which ways my heart is far from you. What are those things I need to change in my life so my heart can be close to You--that I may become a Saint?

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan, an adult faith formation apostolate. cbsmich.org/join

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
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