The group that comes is Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem (Mark 7:1). Earlier scribes came down from Jerusalem and accused Jesus of working by Beelzebul (Mark 3:22).
The charge is against the disciples, and the standard named is “the tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:5). The accusers do not cite a command of God.
Mark explains the washing customs for his readers and says they reach to cups, pots, copper vessels, and dining couches (Mark 7:3-4).
Jesus does not answer the question about hands directly. He answers with Isaiah (Mark 7:6-7), which sets lips against heart and God’s worship against human doctrines.
Verse 8 sets two sources side by side: the commandment of God, which they leave, and the tradition of men, which they hold. The hands question is settled later, in Mark 7:15 and following.
Commentary
Henry: washing hands is a clean custom in itself. The fault was that the elders made it a religious requirement and enforced it. He reads the disciples’ refusal as unwillingness to be bound by human additions.
Gill: he ties the rebuke to earlier Scripture that told Israel to follow God’s statutes and not the customs of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:18).
Poole: the washing came from religious scruple, not hygiene, and was a hedge built around the law. Zeal for human traditions tends to push out God’s plain commands.
Calvin: he sorts human traditions into kinds. This one belongs with those that look harmless but are condemned when people treat them as necessary to worship. He names two faults in the Isaiah quote: honoring God with the lips only, and worshipping by human invention.
Matthew words the charge as the disciples breaking the tradition of the elders (Matthew 15:2). Jesus turns the same word back on them: they break the commandment of God for the sake of their tradition (Matthew 15:3).
Matthew puts the Isaiah quote after the example about parents (Matthew 15:7-9). Mark puts it first.
Matthew leaves out Mark’s explanation of the washing customs (Mark 7:3-4).
1
Why do you think people are often drawn to visible rules and traditions rather than heart-level obedience?
Leader guidance
The text describes what the Pharisees did and how Jesus judged it. It does not say why people are drawn to visible rules. For the text’s own answer, point the group to Mark 7:6-7: worship that looks right while the heart is far away. Jesus does not condemn washing or tradition as such. His charge is that human rules are taught as God’s doctrine and that they replace God’s commandment (Mark 7:7-8).
2
What are some modern examples of Christians elevating preferences or traditions above biblical priorities?
Leader guidance
Keep examples tied to the test in the text. A practice becomes the problem when it is taught as God’s requirement (Mark 7:7) or when it displaces something God commanded (Mark 7:8). A preference held as a preference does not meet that test. Calvin’s third kind of tradition (harmless in itself, wrong when treated as necessary) states the line. Colossians 2:20-23 is a close New Testament parallel on rules that look wise but have no power against the flesh.
3
In what ways can churches become more concerned with appearances than genuine spiritual growth?
Leader guidance
In Mark 7 the audience is religious leaders and the worship of Israel, and Jesus’ concern is lip-service worship and human rules taught as doctrine. Isaiah 1:12-17 gives the wider through-line: God refuses assemblies and offerings that come with unrepentant hearts, and calls for justice and mercy. Use these as the text’s own categories before moving to the church today.
Jesus names two commands of Moses. The first is the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12). The second, about reviling father or mother, is Exodus 21:17 (also Leviticus 20:9). The penalty for dishonoring parents was death.
The tradition’s wording is “it is given to God” (Mark 7:11). Mark translates the word Corban for his readers.
The result is stated in Mark 7:12: the person is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother.
Jesus’ verdict has three parts: they reject God’s commandment to establish their tradition (Mark 7:9), they make void the word of God (Mark 7:13), and the tradition has been handed down, with many more like it.
The scribes knew the commandment. Jesus does not say they were ignorant of it.
Commentary
Henry: human rules can end up cancelling God’s word. He reads this as a move from treating God’s commands lightly to nullifying them.
Gill: under the Corban tradition a son could declare his property devoted to sacred use. Once vowed, it could not go to his parents unless a teacher released the vow. This tradition came down through a chain of teachers.
Poole: his notes on Mark 7:11-13 are cross-references only. He ties the section to the fifth commandment.
Calvin: the scribes put the gift to God above honoring parents, and so overturned God’s command. He says honoring parents covers every duty of obedience and support.
Matthew does not use the word Corban. He gives the saying as “given to God” (Matthew 15:5).
Matthew leaves out Mark’s closing line, “And many such things you do” (Mark 7:13).
1
What made the Corban practice appear spiritual while actually being disobedient?
Leader guidance
The text gives the appearance: the declaration is made in God’s name (Mark 7:11). It gives the effect too: the parent goes without help (Mark 7:12). Mark does not say whether the gift was ever actually given. Stay with what the text states. Jesus’ own label is rejecting God’s commandment to establish a tradition (Mark 7:9).
2
Why are we especially vulnerable to using spiritual activity as a substitute for true obedience?
Leader guidance
The text shows this happening with the scribes and Pharisees and says it was a pattern (Mark 7:13). It does not say any group is especially vulnerable. The commandment was one they knew, so the substitution did not come from ignorance. Isaiah 1:12-17 shows the same pattern earlier: religious activity offered in place of the justice and mercy God asked for.
3
Which is harder for you: learning God’s Word or submitting to God’s Word? Why?
Leader guidance
A personal question. In the text the scribes already knew the commandment, and the failure was in submitting to it (Mark 7:8-9). The leader can answer first to open it up.
Jesus turns from the Pharisees to the crowd: “Hear me, all of you, and understand” (Mark 7:14). The statement in Mark 7:15 is called a parable in Mark 7:17.
The disciples ask in the house, away from the crowd (Mark 7:17). Jesus asks whether they too are without understanding (Mark 7:18).
His reasoning is that food goes into the stomach and out of the body, and does not reach the heart (Mark 7:19). Mark adds his own note: “Thus he declared all foods clean.”
Defilement comes from within, out of the heart (Mark 7:21). The ESV list has thirteen items, from evil thoughts through foolishness (Mark 7:21-22). It names sins of act (theft, murder, adultery) and of attitude (envy, pride).
Verse 23 closes the section: all these come from within and defile a person (Mark 7:23).
The ESV numbering skips from verse 15 to verse 17.
The cause of the defilement is given in this passage. The cure is not stated here. Ezekiel 36:26 and Jeremiah 17:9 from the READ list supply the wider through-line: the heart is the problem, and God gives a new one.
Commentary
Henry: Jesus addresses the principle behind the ritual and not only the ritual. He compares the heart to a corrupt fountain sending out corrupt streams. He says evil defiles by making a person unfit for communion with God and staining the conscience.
Gill: food enters the stomach and not the heart, which is the seat of moral defilement. He ties the sins that come from within to the corrupt nature inherited from Adam (Job 14:4, Psalm 51:5).
Poole: evil actions begin in the heart as thoughts, are chosen by the will, and are carried out by the body. He says the list is not complete, and each item stands for others. Only sin defiles a person.
Calvin: outward things are pure in themselves, so eating does not make a person unclean. The source of sin is hidden inside a person. Gluttony or excess comes from the person and not from the food.
Matthew adds three verses Mark does not have. The disciples report that the Pharisees were offended (Matthew 15:12). Jesus says every plant his Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matthew 15:13). He calls the Pharisees blind guides who lead the blind into a pit (Matthew 15:14).
Matthew names Peter as the one who asks for the explanation (Matthew 15:15). Mark says “his disciples.”
Matthew puts it in terms of the mouth and links it to the heart: what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart (Matthew 15:18).
Matthew’s list has seven items and includes false witness, which is not in Mark’s list (Matthew 15:19). Mark’s list has seven that Matthew lacks: coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, pride, foolishness (Mark 7:21-22).
Matthew ends by returning to the original charge: eating with unwashed hands does not defile anyone (Matthew 15:20).
Mark alone has the house setting (Mark 7:17) and the note that Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).
1
Why do we tend to clean up on the outside and neglect the inside (the condition of the heart)?
Leader guidance
Jesus does not say why people tend this way. He says where defilement comes from: out of the heart (Mark 7:21). In this passage “outside” means food, and the point is that food cannot defile (Mark 7:15, 18-19). Apply it to outward cleaning-up as a second step. Psalm 139:23-24 and Lamentations 3:40 show the inward examination the READ list points to.
The text says the acts come out of the heart (Mark 7:21-23). It does not use the phrase behavior modification, and it does not name the remedy in these verses. The remedy comes from the READ list: a new heart given by God (Ezekiel 36:26), against a heart that is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). The outline’s Takeaway names Christ’s transforming work.
3
Looking at Jesus’ list of sins, which one most convicts you personally and why?
Leader guidance
A personal question, and a long list gives the group room to choose. Note that the list mixes acts and attitudes (Mark 7:21-22). The leader can answer first to open it up.
Following Jesus from the inside out means rejecting any practice that competes with God’s Word and allowing Christ to transform our heart, which purifies what comes out of us.
“Who’s Your One” Question of the Week: How is God using you so that lost men, women, and children can experience the transforming work of God?
Making disciples in our world, one heart at a time.