First, we talked about not abandoning God’s commandments and holding fast to human traditions. We saw that Jesus’s evaluation of the Pharisees as blind was consistent. We discussed how the word G5091 should be in Union Version should be ‘honor’ in the way described as in the Bible. We also mentioned the difference between filial piety and stupidly filial in Chinese tradition. We must follow the teachings of the Bible. Second, Jesus said that all foods are clean. We also explained an obvious contradiction in the book of Acts regarding food. We know that the description in the book of Acts is wrong because the words of the Holy Spirit will never contradict what Jesus said. Third, we talked about the remote healing of the Greek woman’s daughter. Finally, we talked about Jesus healing a man who was deaf and with the impediment of his tongue.
1. Don’t setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep the tradition
“The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors (G5091) Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor (G5091) your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.””(Mark 7:1-13)
The same incident is briefly recorded in Matthew 15:1-6, but with the addition: “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.””(Matthew 15:7-14) In the following verses, it says, “Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”(John 9:40-41) We see that Jesus’ evaluation of the Pharisees as blind is consistent.
Mark 7:1-13 clearly states that we should not abandon God’s commandments and cling to human traditions, and gives the example of the Pharisees who was “thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”(Mark 7:13) We will not elaborate on this point.
Here, we need to discuss in the Union Version the translation of “…Moses said, ‘Honor (G5091) your father and your mother’; …”(Mark 7:10). This is because the preceding verse, “…This people honors (G5091) Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.”(Mark 7:6), uses the same word, G5091, but has different translations in Union Version. So, what does this word G5091 mean?
This word appears 22 times. If you read all the relevant verses, you will find that these two verses clearly explain its meaning. That is, “so that all will honor (G5091) the Son even as they honor (G5091) the Father. He who does not honor (G5091) the Son does not honor (G5091) the Father who sent Him.”(John 5:23) and “Honor (G5091) all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor (G5091) the king.”(1 Peter 2:17) Because God has absolute sovereignty and cannot make mistakes, thus “…Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge.”(Acts 4:19) Under the condition of obeying God, we must honor (G5091) everyone and the king, so this word should be translated as ‘honor’ in Union Version.
The Union Version in Mark 7:10 translates G5091 as ‘filial piety,’ because Chinese tradition advocates filial piety and promotes the incorrect, ‘stupidly filial’ found in the “Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars.” Using the term ‘filial piety’ is to distinguish it from ‘stupidly filial,’ which is better, but we must understand that its true meaning is ‘honor’ and follow the Bible’s teachings.
2. All foods are clean
“After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. [If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”] When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.””(Mark 7:14-23)
Jesus clearly stated that all foods are clean, “because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” …”(Mark 7:19) He further illustrated this by examples saying, “…That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.'(Mark 7:20). This point is very clear. Therefore, Paul said, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”(Romans 14:14). He also said, “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.”(1 Corinthians 8:8)
This is in clear contradiction with the following verse: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”(Acts 15:28-29). This verse states that there are things that cannot be eaten. However, the Bible is inspired by God. We see this obvious contradiction here to remind us that this verse is spoken by man and definitely not by the Holy Spirit, because the words of the Holy Spirit would never contradict what Jesus said. The Scripture says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”(John 14:26) On the other hand, if the disciples were 100% certain that it came from the Holy Spirit, they would have simply said, ‘For it was good to the Holy Spirit,’ without having to say, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…” Therefore, they established this law based on their understanding at the time.
This wasn’t the first time the disciples made a wrong decision based on their understanding at the time. Let’s look at what happened before the first Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection. At a gathering of about 120 brothers (see Acts 1:15), “So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”(Acts 1:23-26) So Matthias was chosen by lot, not by Jesus, the Lamb, like the other eleven apostles. Some might say that the crowd prayed! Yes, but the New Testament doesn’t say that this prayer was answered. The promise of answered prayers is explicit. “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.”(Hebrews 5:7)
In contrast, Paul was personally chosen by Jesus after He was resurrected in great light (see Acts 22:6-16). Therefore, Paul is an apostle of the Lamb, while Matthias is not. In the New Jerusalem, “…the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ” (Revelation 21:14). Paul’s name is among them.
Please note that Mark 7:16 refers to the passage added by some ancient manuscripts in brackets, which has the same meaning like as “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 11:15) It is not found in the main text of every New Testament translation. It doesn’t matter if it’s not there, because the New Testament mentions the same phrase many times.
3. Remote healing of the faithful Greek woman’s daughter
“Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.”(Mark 7:24-30)
Once again, we see Jesus adopting a low-profile attitude when His time is not up, for “Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.”(Mark 7:24). We also see the Gentile woman’s strong faith, believing that Jesus could heal her absent little daughter from afar. Even when she was compared to a dog, her faith remained unwavering. Because of her faith, Jesus cast out the demon from afar. She truly believed His words and returned home, only to later confirm that what Jesus had said was true.
4. Healing the deaf and tongue-tied man
“Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.””(Mark 7:31-37)
We see that Jesus did not lay his hands on the man as requested, but instead healed him in His own way. The Bible does not explain why He chose this method, so there is no way to guess. We also see that He had spiritual authority to make demons listen to Him, but He had no earthly authority over crowds. Finally, we see Himself “…said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”(Luke 7:22). Making the deaf hear was only a small part of His work.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
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