CHAPTER 7

1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Now these Pharisees, and certain of the scribes" came out to see Jesus. It is evident from their question that they sought to find a fault with Jesus just so they could express it to others.

The problem was these men had so long been steeped in the tradition of the elders" they no longer distinguished it from the truth by law. the "tradition" of the elders was just that: tradition. It was not from the written law of God. It was what had been "handed down" from one to another.

There were many instances in the law which called for washing. (See for instance: Exodus 19:10, 29:4, 29:17, 30:18, 30:19, 30:20, 30:21, 40:12, 40:30) But never was there an instance to wash before eating, or to wash when coming home from the marketplace. These had been handed down and were not part of the law.

Jesus quickly pointed the men to TRUTH: "..teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Jesus went further. He said that to do this was "laying aside" God's Word and teaching instead the "tradition of men."

John caught this and later warned that we should TEST teacher (and preachers) to see that their teaching was aligned with the TRUTH (SEE 1John 4:1).

Sometimes tradition can be taught so strongly that soon TRUTH is not really known! Read the incident in Matthew 22:24-29 and see particularly Jesus' answer in verse 29.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Again, Jesus went further. In order to "keep" the tradition of men, they rejected the "commandment of God"!

Jesus even gave an instance, which was prevalent in that day. He quoted the first commandment of promise from the ten commandments (See Exodus 2:12). Then, Jesus said they were negating that commandment of God by their tradition.

It is the God-proclaimed responsibility of the children to care for their parents. However, they had developed a tradition that set aside that commandment. If a young man came into the synagogue and proclaimed that his monetary worth was "Corban" then he would be allowed NOT to care for his father or mother in their old age. The word "Corban" meant consecrated to the treasury of the Lord. They could simply SAY their monetary worth was going to be consecrated to the treasury, and not have to care for their aging parent(s). And, by the way, they didn't have to DONATE their monetary worth later!

This tradition side-stepped the God-proclaimed truth!

And, by the way, this teaching of Jesus further clarified the FULL MEANING of that commandment. Children are to "obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right." (Ephesians 6:1). But they are also to CARE FOR the parents when they are aging!

14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Jesus called all the people closer to Him so they could better hear what He wanted to teach them.

Let me say, at first, Jesus was NOT teaching bad hygiene here. Some people may read this passage of Scripture and think that. But Jesus was not teaching against washing the hands before eating. That is a good practice and will keep a person from ingesting germs.

What the Pharisees had been teaching about washing hands though, was quite different. They were teaching that connection with the world brought SIN into the soul!

That's why Jesus said, "..whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him...." It might defile the stomach but it won't defile the soul!

The disciples didn't quite "get it," so Jesus taught them more privately. When food is taken into the body, the nutritious particles are kept and the non-nutritious particles are separated and eventually cast out (see verse 19). Though food may contribute to our physical well-being, and therefore contribute somewhat to our spiritual well-being, it does not CONTROL our spirituality.

It is what comes out of a man's heart that determines his spirituality! It is not FOOD that makes a man a sinner, it is thoughts and determination!

If a man ingests the Word of God with the spiritual desire to love and obey God, then the man will have the "fruit of the Spirit" which is: "...love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23).

However, if a man ingests worldliness with the intention of serving self and not God, he will have the fruit of self, which is: "Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Verse 22 above).

Therefore, it is not food that brings sin to a man's soul, it is the man's thoughts and determination.

24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.
25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Jesus sought to retire from the endless argumentativeness of the "Pharisees, and certain of the scribes..."

We are not to strive about words when there can be no profit from it (See 2Timothy 2:14). Some do not intend to be "doers of the Word", but their intention is to be "hearers only" (See James 1:22).

But so many people wanted to see Jesus that "He could not be hid!" And a certain woman found Him. She came falling at His feet begging for her daughter (verse 25). She may have been "Greek", and not a Jew, but she knew JESUS could help her!

Jesus plainly told her that His mission was to the Jews (verse 27). It was His mission to bring some Jewish people to Himself so that they could go and tell the world of Him as Savior. Jesus did not come to propagate the Gospel in the world.

He came to ESTABLISH the Gospel by becoming a propitiation for man's sin. And, His mission was to begin the Gospel story in the hearts of a few Jewish believers who would later propagate it.

But this woman truly understood what being a Christian was all about. She was willing to be whatever she had to be, in order to be accepted as God's child. And if that meant being called "dog" by a Jewish person, then she would be one! She was quite willing to take only "crumbs" from Jesus' table!

Not only that, but she understood the POWER of Christ. To Him, it was only a "crumb" to heal her daughter!

Matthew tells us, at this point, that Jesus commended the woman for great faith! (See Matthew 15:28)

This woman was already a committed believer in Christ as Lord, and had received the gift of faith by the entrance of God's Holy Spirit into her life (See Matthew 10:32-33, and Ephesians 2:8-9)

Then Jesus told her that she could go on home, the demon-possessed daughter was healed! And when the woman returned home, she found it to be just like Jesus said!

How EASY it is for God to heal our troubled souls!!!

31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.
32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;
37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Jesus left there, and went to the Sea of Galilee via the area of Decapolis. There, some people brought a deaf man to Jesus, who could only speak with difficulty. They believed that Jesus could heal the man just by touching him.

But Jesus did things different. This time He took the man aside, and worked with him privately. Perhaps the reason Jesus took the man aside privately was to keep the crowd from knowing what He was doing.

There was no apparent reason for Jesus to put His fingers in the man's ears and spit and touch his tongue. He could have simply spoken the word, and it would have been done. After all, He had just done as much with the woman who had the demon-possessed daughter. Perhaps Jesus did this to assure the man that He indeed had the power to touch him and make him whole. This, by the way was fulfillment of prophecy from Isaiah 35:4-6.

Though we cannot understand WHY God treats people differently, we do know that His treatment is always gentle, loving, and brings results!!
And however God treats us, it is for His glory, and best for us!

Those who DID see what Jesus did were "charged" NOT to tell others. WHY? Jesus was not yet ready for the ultimate confrontation which would bring His death at the hands of the religious leaders. He knew that they would be jealous of His power and seek to kill Him. He also had yet, other things to accomplish in His earthly ministry.

But these people couldn't HELP it!! They went out and "a great deal they published it"!!
It's utterly impossible to keep quiet about Jesus when He totally changes your life!!
Jesus KNEW that! That's why He worked so fervently to accomplish all that He must before He was nailed to a cruel cross!

My friends, God works just as fervently today! There are yet many things to be accomplished before His second advent!
And, if God is working fervently, shouldn't WE?!?

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.