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Scott's Reference Library
Mark 7:1 through Mark 7:8 (NIV)
1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from
Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2saw some of his disciples eating food with
hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. 3(The Pharisees and all the Jews
do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the
tradition of the elders. 4When they come from the marketplace they do not eat
unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of
cups, pitchers and kettles. )
5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples
live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with
‘unclean’ hands?”
6He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is
written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of
men.”
Mark 7:14 through Mark 7:15 (NIV)
14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and
understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into
him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”
Mark 7:21 through Mark 7:23 (NIV)
21For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality,
theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander,
arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man
‘unclean.’”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 1-13
One great design of Christ’s coming was, to set aside the ceremonial law; and to
make way for this, he rejects the ceremonies men added to the law of God’s
making. Those clean hands and that pure heart which Christ bestows on his
disciples, and requires of them, are very different from the outward and
superstitious forms of Pharisees of every age. Jesus reproves them for rejecting
the commandment of God. It is clear that it is the duty of children, if their
parents are poor, to relieve them as far as they are able; and if children
deserve to die that curse their parents, much more those that starve them. But
if a man conformed to the traditions of the Pharisees, they found a device to
free him from the claim of this duty.
VERSES 14-23
Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these
only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart
send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the
wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the
law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the
grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that
work within.