 Key Verse
5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” Meditation Jesus is King, and He displays God’s steadfast love by doing for His people what is impossible for us to do on our own. Today’s reading reveals God’s compassion through Jesus’ ministry of cleansing and healing. Jesus cleanses: The Old Testament “cleaning laws” used dirt to symbolize sin, offering direction to avoid dirty things like mildew, unwashed hands, dead bodies, among others. Unclean things were a good illustration of sin that makes us unclean, but they are bad when people “leave the commandments of God for tradition.” (v. 8) The Pharisees did just that, defining themselves with cleanliness while adding extra laws as traditions! They exchanged God’s purpose for personal pride, judging people who did not follow their cleanliness traditions and standards (vv. 1-5). Jesus diagnosed their disconnect: Though their hands may be clean, their hearts were far from the Lord (vv. 6-13). Actions do not make a person dirty, but rather what comes from the heart, (vv. 14-23) and Jesus alone cleanses hearts. Jesus heals: The Syrophoenician woman who begged Jesus for mercy proved Jesus’ point, an unclean Gentile coming to Christ in faith. The woman reminds us of another Canaanite woman, Rahab, who too was saved by faith (Joshua 2). The gospel is the power of God to cleanse all who believe, and the healing of her daughter followed by Jesus healing the mute man (vv. 31-37) validates Jesus as king, His compassion to do the very things we cannot do for ourselves. The gospel invites everyone to be cleansed and healed through faith in Jesus. Today’s Reading Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 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 commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” What Defiles a Person 14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 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 person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” 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 did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, 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 be fed first, 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 statement 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 Heals a Deaf Man 31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting 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 Jesus 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.” Richly Dwelling -What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the cleansing and healing work of Jesus? -Where do you identify with the pharisees, defining yourself by not getting dirty, and missing the heart of faith in Christ? -Where do you need Jesus to cleanse you? Come to Him in faith, asking with David to be washed thoroughly and cleansed so you, too, can begin again. Key Verse 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
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