Proper 17; Pentecost 16
Preaching
Preaching Mark's Gospel
A Narrative Approach
With Mark 7 we come to some repetition of basic Markan themes. Mary Ann Tolbert writes: "Since the basic typology is established and identified by Mark 6, Mark 7-10 can develop and amplify the fundamental patterns for the sake of the audience's greater appreciation."1 The typology to which she refers is that set forth in the Parable of the Sower.
We meet the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem again. We have earlier on identified the Pharisees with the seed sown on the path. The Pharisees hear the word but Satan comes and imme-diately snatches the word from them. In Mark 2 the Pharisees hear the word along with everyone else. Their response, however, is almost always posited with the question, "Why?" "Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy!" (Mark 2:7). "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Mark 2:16). "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (Mark 2:18). "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" (Mark 2:24). And now the question is, "Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" (Mark 7:5). We've met these people before!
The scribes from Jerusalem have also been heard from. It was the scribes from Jerusalem who claimed that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul (Mark 3:22). Chapter 7 has definite narrative connections to what has gone before.
A second narrative connection for this block of material is the land of the Gentiles. We pointed out in the last chapter that the first feeding of the multitudes is a Jewish feeding. Following this feeding Jesus moves into Gentile country. Immediately prior to the conversation in Mark 7:1-23 Jesus is in Gennesaret among Gentiles. Immediately following this story Jesus is in Tyre and Sidon (7:24). There Jesus will encounter a Syrophoenician woman.
One of the fundamental issues faced by the early church had to do with eating. Could Gentiles eat with believing Jews? Peter got into deep trouble with the Jerusalem church leaders on this matter. After experiencing a powerful vision that convinced him that there was no such thing as unclean food (Acts 10:9-15), Peter proceeded to eat with Cornelius and his household. The church leaders were beside themselves. They said to Peter: "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" (Acts 11:3). A little evangelism is all right. But to eat with such people?? Never!
Werner Kelber is convinced that it is this issue of table fellowship with Gentiles that underlies this story:
The integration of the Gentiles constitutes a difficult problem for (Mark), which calls for special clarification. Before the acceptance of the Gentiles is formalized, the legal issue has to be settled. This is the function of the abolition of ritual taboos (7:1-23) ƒ In the context of the Gospel's story line the abolition of the ritual taboos breaks down the legal barrier which had stood in the way of accepting the Gentiles on their terms. What counts in the Kingdom of God is not Jewishness or Gentileness but the heart of the people.2
It is interesting to note, in this connection, that three of the "controversy" questions put to Jesus by the Pharisees in Mark 2 have to do with eating. Eating is a matter of vital importance in the Jewish religious system. We are not dealing here with a trivial matter. The Pharisaic system sought to sanctify all areas of life. "Washing of hands is a mark of respect for every aspect of God's created order."3 Jesus puts an entire system in jeopardy, therefore, by allowing his disciples to eat with unwashed hands.
The basic argument between Jesus and the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem in Mark 7 is over the right relationship between the oral traditions of the elders and the written traditions of this people of God. The accusation made to Jesus is that his disciples do not follow the oral tradition of the elders when they eat with unclean hands. Jesus replies to them on the basis of written scripture, quoting the prophet Isaiah. In quoting Isaiah Jesus accuses his accusers of putting oral tradition above written tradition. The laws of oral tradition force people to violate the written tradition! This is precisely the point of the example of "Corban."
Jesus goes on to call into question the whole system of laws about eating. Nothing that enters our body from the outside can do us harm. That means that the whole system of laws about eating is abrogated! For Jesus, purity is a matter of the heart. It is what is inside a person that counts! If the inside, if the heart, is evil „ it will produce evil. If the heart is good „ it will produce good. The laws of eating have nothing to do with the purity of a person's heart.
A final word on this matter from Juel:
For Judaism (certainly later rabbinic Judaism and also the perfective of the Pharisees in Mark) the relationship with God and the world is mediated by the Torah, understood as a structure that orders all of life in terms of holiness. For Jesus' followers, the relationship with God and the world is mediated by Jesus, whose desire to heal and save acknowledges no boundaries.4
Homiletical Directions
The narrative possibilities with this text are quite limited. The connections we have made above to the Pharisees and the Gentiles offer some promise for story telling and proclamation. In relation to the Pharisees and the scribes of Jerusalem we can reference again the Parable of the Sower. Story One, that is, would remind listeners of hearers who are like seed sown on the path. Satan comes and immediately snatches the word away. Such people do not hear the new that is offered. This is the characteristic of the Pharisees in Mark 2. Remind your listeners briefly of the "Why?" questions that were on the lips of the Pharisees. These people are so blinded by their traditions that they cannot see the NEW thing God is doing in Jesus. They fail to see that new wine needs new wineskins! (Mark 2:22). You may want to take up some ways in which we modern people do the same kind of thing. We are so stuck, that is, in our own familiar, traditional, customary forms of religion that we fail to hear and understand (Mark 7:14. Remember Mark 4:3, 9).
Story Two would take up the text beginning with another "Why?" question from Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem: "Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" (Mark 7:5). This presents us with the opportunity to tell the text as story. The textual story has two aspects. First, we need to lay out this conflict between the traditions of the elders that the Pharisees subscribe to and Jesus' call to ground oneself in the written word of God. Having set that story forth we can come to the second aspect of this text.
The second aspect of the text is about God and the human heart. Nothing that enters our body can affect our heart. We are defiled not by what enters our body but what comes forth from our heart. Once the two aspects of the story are presented we can move towards proclamation. The story in the text leaves us wondering about our hearts. Evil things come forth from human hearts. Verses 21-23 make this absolutely clear! Evil things come forth from our hearts as well! The good news is that Jesus promises to give us bread to eat that will purify our hearts whether our hands are clean or unclean. The good news is that Jesus intends to pour his new wine into our hearts so that our old hearts will be transformed.
The connection between this aspect of the text and our congregation would be particularly appropriate on a Communion Sunday! On such a Sunday we can close our story telling with the promises of God for human hearts. We speak for Jesus and we say: "Come and eat. Come with hands clean and unclean. Come with hearts that bring forth evil. Here I feed you with my bread. Here I offer you the new wine of the gospel. Here I work to purify your heart. Here I work to create a new heart within you. When you leave this place with hearts transformed, new things will come forth from your heart for the health and healing of humankind."
The second narrative option with this text is to work with the Gentile theme in Mark. Story One can set the stage. Jesus is in Gentile lands here. Material both preceding and following today's text can be used.
Story Two can take up the textual story in the light of the Gentile problem. You may wish to refer to the problem of eating with Gentiles in the early church. The Acts 10-11 story exemplifies this problem quite well. In light of the kinds of problems the early church faced, our Markan text appears in new light. Jesus isn't worried about clean hands. Jesus isn't worried about traditions of the elders. Jesus is worried about the human heart. All other boundaries need to be broken down. Jesus comes as a gift to all people, to the Jews first, but also to the Gentiles. There are no barriers to prevent God from touching human hearts in Jesus Christ.
In conclusion we can speak to our people about the new thing that Jesus Christ does for human hearts. "I break down all the barriers that people have erected to exclude some from my kingdom," Jesus says to us today. "I break down all the barriers that religious people have erected to exclude you from my kingdom. I am prepared to meet you heart to heart. Bring your sinful, broken heart to me. I'll give you a heart transplant. I will take your old heart and give you a new one. Then forth from your heart will come all things good."
____________
1. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing The Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), p. 171.
2. Werner H. Kelber, Mark's Story of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), pp. 37, 39-40.
3. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1990), p. 103.
4. Ibid., pp. 106-107.
We meet the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem again. We have earlier on identified the Pharisees with the seed sown on the path. The Pharisees hear the word but Satan comes and imme-diately snatches the word from them. In Mark 2 the Pharisees hear the word along with everyone else. Their response, however, is almost always posited with the question, "Why?" "Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy!" (Mark 2:7). "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Mark 2:16). "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (Mark 2:18). "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" (Mark 2:24). And now the question is, "Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" (Mark 7:5). We've met these people before!
The scribes from Jerusalem have also been heard from. It was the scribes from Jerusalem who claimed that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul (Mark 3:22). Chapter 7 has definite narrative connections to what has gone before.
A second narrative connection for this block of material is the land of the Gentiles. We pointed out in the last chapter that the first feeding of the multitudes is a Jewish feeding. Following this feeding Jesus moves into Gentile country. Immediately prior to the conversation in Mark 7:1-23 Jesus is in Gennesaret among Gentiles. Immediately following this story Jesus is in Tyre and Sidon (7:24). There Jesus will encounter a Syrophoenician woman.
One of the fundamental issues faced by the early church had to do with eating. Could Gentiles eat with believing Jews? Peter got into deep trouble with the Jerusalem church leaders on this matter. After experiencing a powerful vision that convinced him that there was no such thing as unclean food (Acts 10:9-15), Peter proceeded to eat with Cornelius and his household. The church leaders were beside themselves. They said to Peter: "Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?" (Acts 11:3). A little evangelism is all right. But to eat with such people?? Never!
Werner Kelber is convinced that it is this issue of table fellowship with Gentiles that underlies this story:
The integration of the Gentiles constitutes a difficult problem for (Mark), which calls for special clarification. Before the acceptance of the Gentiles is formalized, the legal issue has to be settled. This is the function of the abolition of ritual taboos (7:1-23) ƒ In the context of the Gospel's story line the abolition of the ritual taboos breaks down the legal barrier which had stood in the way of accepting the Gentiles on their terms. What counts in the Kingdom of God is not Jewishness or Gentileness but the heart of the people.2
It is interesting to note, in this connection, that three of the "controversy" questions put to Jesus by the Pharisees in Mark 2 have to do with eating. Eating is a matter of vital importance in the Jewish religious system. We are not dealing here with a trivial matter. The Pharisaic system sought to sanctify all areas of life. "Washing of hands is a mark of respect for every aspect of God's created order."3 Jesus puts an entire system in jeopardy, therefore, by allowing his disciples to eat with unwashed hands.
The basic argument between Jesus and the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem in Mark 7 is over the right relationship between the oral traditions of the elders and the written traditions of this people of God. The accusation made to Jesus is that his disciples do not follow the oral tradition of the elders when they eat with unclean hands. Jesus replies to them on the basis of written scripture, quoting the prophet Isaiah. In quoting Isaiah Jesus accuses his accusers of putting oral tradition above written tradition. The laws of oral tradition force people to violate the written tradition! This is precisely the point of the example of "Corban."
Jesus goes on to call into question the whole system of laws about eating. Nothing that enters our body from the outside can do us harm. That means that the whole system of laws about eating is abrogated! For Jesus, purity is a matter of the heart. It is what is inside a person that counts! If the inside, if the heart, is evil „ it will produce evil. If the heart is good „ it will produce good. The laws of eating have nothing to do with the purity of a person's heart.
A final word on this matter from Juel:
For Judaism (certainly later rabbinic Judaism and also the perfective of the Pharisees in Mark) the relationship with God and the world is mediated by the Torah, understood as a structure that orders all of life in terms of holiness. For Jesus' followers, the relationship with God and the world is mediated by Jesus, whose desire to heal and save acknowledges no boundaries.4
Homiletical Directions
The narrative possibilities with this text are quite limited. The connections we have made above to the Pharisees and the Gentiles offer some promise for story telling and proclamation. In relation to the Pharisees and the scribes of Jerusalem we can reference again the Parable of the Sower. Story One, that is, would remind listeners of hearers who are like seed sown on the path. Satan comes and immediately snatches the word away. Such people do not hear the new that is offered. This is the characteristic of the Pharisees in Mark 2. Remind your listeners briefly of the "Why?" questions that were on the lips of the Pharisees. These people are so blinded by their traditions that they cannot see the NEW thing God is doing in Jesus. They fail to see that new wine needs new wineskins! (Mark 2:22). You may want to take up some ways in which we modern people do the same kind of thing. We are so stuck, that is, in our own familiar, traditional, customary forms of religion that we fail to hear and understand (Mark 7:14. Remember Mark 4:3, 9).
Story Two would take up the text beginning with another "Why?" question from Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem: "Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" (Mark 7:5). This presents us with the opportunity to tell the text as story. The textual story has two aspects. First, we need to lay out this conflict between the traditions of the elders that the Pharisees subscribe to and Jesus' call to ground oneself in the written word of God. Having set that story forth we can come to the second aspect of this text.
The second aspect of the text is about God and the human heart. Nothing that enters our body can affect our heart. We are defiled not by what enters our body but what comes forth from our heart. Once the two aspects of the story are presented we can move towards proclamation. The story in the text leaves us wondering about our hearts. Evil things come forth from human hearts. Verses 21-23 make this absolutely clear! Evil things come forth from our hearts as well! The good news is that Jesus promises to give us bread to eat that will purify our hearts whether our hands are clean or unclean. The good news is that Jesus intends to pour his new wine into our hearts so that our old hearts will be transformed.
The connection between this aspect of the text and our congregation would be particularly appropriate on a Communion Sunday! On such a Sunday we can close our story telling with the promises of God for human hearts. We speak for Jesus and we say: "Come and eat. Come with hands clean and unclean. Come with hearts that bring forth evil. Here I feed you with my bread. Here I offer you the new wine of the gospel. Here I work to purify your heart. Here I work to create a new heart within you. When you leave this place with hearts transformed, new things will come forth from your heart for the health and healing of humankind."
The second narrative option with this text is to work with the Gentile theme in Mark. Story One can set the stage. Jesus is in Gentile lands here. Material both preceding and following today's text can be used.
Story Two can take up the textual story in the light of the Gentile problem. You may wish to refer to the problem of eating with Gentiles in the early church. The Acts 10-11 story exemplifies this problem quite well. In light of the kinds of problems the early church faced, our Markan text appears in new light. Jesus isn't worried about clean hands. Jesus isn't worried about traditions of the elders. Jesus is worried about the human heart. All other boundaries need to be broken down. Jesus comes as a gift to all people, to the Jews first, but also to the Gentiles. There are no barriers to prevent God from touching human hearts in Jesus Christ.
In conclusion we can speak to our people about the new thing that Jesus Christ does for human hearts. "I break down all the barriers that people have erected to exclude some from my kingdom," Jesus says to us today. "I break down all the barriers that religious people have erected to exclude you from my kingdom. I am prepared to meet you heart to heart. Bring your sinful, broken heart to me. I'll give you a heart transplant. I will take your old heart and give you a new one. Then forth from your heart will come all things good."
____________
1. Mary Ann Tolbert, Sowing The Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), p. 171.
2. Werner H. Kelber, Mark's Story of Jesus (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), pp. 37, 39-40.
3. Donald H. Juel, Mark (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1990), p. 103.
4. Ibid., pp. 106-107.
