Mark 7:1–13
1 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.”
This is the first part of the text that we will be examining over the next few days. Tomorrow we will explore this text further. On Friday we will look at 14-23 where Jesus explains what he means here in this text.
First we see that the Pharisees and the scribe from Jerusalem have come. Jesus has caused quite the stir to this point. As in 3:22 when they call Jesus the devil, the big guns have arrived. Jerusalem is the center of Jewish thinking and practice so these guys are the best and brightest who have come to examine Jesus' ministry for themselves and put a stop to it.
The fact that Mark includes some parenthetical descriptions in v. 3 and 4 indicates without a doubt that Mark is writing for a non-Jewish audience, again likely Roman Christians. He would have no need to describe these traditions to a Jewish audience.
These requirements of washing have more to do with ceremonial cleanliness than they do with hygiene. In our modern reading we likely read hygiene into this text. Of course we should wash our hands before eating, especially with Coronavirus on the loose. But that's not what they are concerned about here. The word "defiled" in v. 2 and 5 refers to ceremonial uncleanness. Your Bible may have a note on v. 3. The literal translation is, "...unless they wash their hands with a fist." The exact meaning of this is not known since this is the only time it is mentioned in ancient Jewish literature, but it most likely refers to the proper way they are to wash their hands for ceremonial purity before dining.
The word for "wash" in v. 4 is baptizo, from which we derive our word and church practice of baptism. However, similar to yesterday's devotional and our discussion of the word sozo, it would be a mistake to read any direct allusion to Christian baptism here. Baptizo simple means "to submerge, to wash". The Christian tradition adopted this term and used it to refer to their practice of baptism. Again, context is king when determining the meaning of a specific word with differing lexical definitions. Yet, understanding the context of ceremonial washing in Judaism helps us understand the significance of the baptism act in the Christian tradition. Whereas hands, cups, kettles and pitchers had to be baptized repeatedly to be clean, the Christian, upon believing in Jesus is cleansed once and for all through faith, which is then symbolized by baptism.
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