By Jim Barnette, Ph.D.
Samford University and Brookwood Baptist Church, Mountain Brook
JESUS CORRECTS
Mark 7:5–15
Don’t neglect the commands of God. (5–8)
The terms “tradition of the elders,” “traditions of men” and “your tradition” all refer to the body of case law built up to show how the Torah was to be put into practice. (“Precepts of men” from the Isaiah quote in verse 7 refers to this body of law as well.)
The tradition was designed to protect the law; however, by the time of Jesus interpretations of these traditions had become a heavy burden (see Matt. 23:4). In reply, Jesus states that human tradition can never have the same authority as the Word of God. There were times that the religious leaders made even more of tradition than of the commandments. They were preferring religious ritual to that which is inwardly moral and spiritual.
Mark draws from the Greek translation of Isaiah 29:13, which differs from the original Hebrew text from which our English Bibles are translated. This explains the difference between the version we find in Mark and what we find when we turn to our English translations of the Old Testament rendering of the verse. It is likely that Mark draws from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (known as the Septuagint) in order for it to speak more clearly to Mark’s Gentile church situation, rather than to the original setting of the pre-Easter life of Jesus.
Don’t twist the commands of God. (9–13)
Whereas Jesus uses the tradition terms negatively, He makes positive use of the terms “commandment of God” and “word of God,” which refer to the laws in the Old Testament. As a specific example, Jesus cites the law on honoring father and mother, quoting from the fifth commandment and from Exodus 21:17. Far from attacking the law, Jesus affirms the word of God expressed in the law and attacks the would-be defenders of the law for subverting it. The Corban law concerning duty to parents was doubly emphasized in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, many Jews had devised a means of evading it — and doing so under the cloak of piety. A son could pledge his money to be paid to the temple treasury. By doing this, the son was released from caring for his elderly parents in their time of need because his money was “Corban” — that is, under oath to the temple. A person committing this act substituted a human legalism for the law of God in order to justify complacency toward their elders.
Purity and righteousness begin on the inside. (14–15)
Having answered the Pharisees on the subject of tradition versus commandment, Jesus shifts to address the issue of defilement. He does this with a parabolic saying, and He follows the pattern of His teachings in parables as presented by Mark where Jesus alternately addresses the crowd and His disciples (see Mark 4:1–34). Here as there, the “parable” is given to the crowd, but the “interpretation” only to the disciples at a later moment (see verse 17). Jesus’ image is simple and clear: nothing external can pollute a person. The real source of all impurity is from within, a matter not of the hands but of the heart.
Jesus’ words about hypocrisy ring every bit as true today as they did in the first century. Even as believers we can fool ourselves into thinking that external codes of conduct matter more than the inner life of one’s heart. We can attempt to fool others with a thin veneer of spirituality characterized by holy language and pious behavior. But as the Lord declared to Samuel, “People judge by outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
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