"he that doeth truth cometh to the light"
Mark 7:1-23
View commentary related to this passage
View commentary related to this passage
Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity
Mark 7
1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,[a] as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands[b] in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.[c])
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[d]
8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’[e] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[f] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’[g] 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.[h]”
17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:3 Greek have washed with the fist.
Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts read sprinkle themselves.
Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts add and dining couches.
Mark 7:7 Isa 29:13 (Greek version).
Mark 7:10 Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
Mark 7:10 Exod 21:17 (Greek version); Lev 20:9 (Greek version).
Mark 7:11 Greek ‘What I would have given to you is Corban’ (that is, a gift).
Mark 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Compare 4:9, 23.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Does the Lord consider it important that His children walk in the light?
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." John 12:35.
What must one do to obtain the benefits of the blood of Christ?
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.
How long may the just expect light to shine on his pathway?
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. 4:18.
For whom is the light sown?
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. 97:11.
What will become of the light which a person has if he fails to improve by it?
"The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." Luke 11:34, 35.
Why are those condemned who do not come to the light?
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19.
If one is really seeking for truth, what will he do?
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:21.
What will those who reject light and truth, be finally led to believe?
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:11, 12.
From what source does one derive light?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. 119:105, 130 (Prov. 6:23).
Who was told by an angel of God that his way pleased the Lord?
"He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." Acts 10:3, 4.
Did the angel then tell him that he had nothing more to learn or do, in order to be saved?
"And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea-side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Acts 10:5, 6.
In what are we exhorted to continue?
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. 3:14 (Matt.10:22).
Among those that hear the prophecies of Revelation, who are to have a blessing from God?
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Rev. 1:3.
Is there an example of God's overthrowing people whom He once favored, because they refused to obey Him?
"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." Jude 5.
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[d]
8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’[e] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[f] 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’[g] 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.[h]”
17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Footnotes:
Mark 7:3 Greek have washed with the fist.
Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts read sprinkle themselves.
Mark 7:4 Some manuscripts add and dining couches.
Mark 7:7 Isa 29:13 (Greek version).
Mark 7:10 Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
Mark 7:10 Exod 21:17 (Greek version); Lev 20:9 (Greek version).
Mark 7:11 Greek ‘What I would have given to you is Corban’ (that is, a gift).
Mark 7:15 Some manuscripts add verse 16, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Compare 4:9, 23.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Does the Lord consider it important that His children walk in the light?
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." John 12:35.
What must one do to obtain the benefits of the blood of Christ?
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.
How long may the just expect light to shine on his pathway?
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. 4:18.
For whom is the light sown?
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. 97:11.
What will become of the light which a person has if he fails to improve by it?
"The light of the body is the eye; therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness." Luke 11:34, 35.
Why are those condemned who do not come to the light?
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19.
If one is really seeking for truth, what will he do?
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John 3:21.
What will those who reject light and truth, be finally led to believe?
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:11, 12.
From what source does one derive light?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. 119:105, 130 (Prov. 6:23).
Who was told by an angel of God that his way pleased the Lord?
"He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." Acts 10:3, 4.
Did the angel then tell him that he had nothing more to learn or do, in order to be saved?
"And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea-side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Acts 10:5, 6.
In what are we exhorted to continue?
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. 3:14 (Matt.10:22).
Among those that hear the prophecies of Revelation, who are to have a blessing from God?
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Rev. 1:3.
Is there an example of God's overthrowing people whom He once favored, because they refused to obey Him?
"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." Jude 5.
posted by Michael A. Redwine at Saturday, February 24, 2007
<< Home