CHRIST CHURCH STUDY + MARK 7:14-23 + PREPARED BY JUSTIN LINDSTROM

INTRODUCTION Mark 7:14-21 might be called an iconic parable. It has form but not the substance of other parables in Mark. At the center is a saying that may be diffcult to comprehend, but the diffculty is not created by arcane language, hidden meanings or the rhetorical style of the speaker. The problem lies elsewhere. In fact, the problem lies inside the disciples. Their hearts were hardened. [Pages 137-138]

Mark’s presentation of faith is remarkably egalitarian. Position does not count for much. The past is important but not determinative. Faith is not in any sense a matter of privilege. For this Evangelist, our fght is a response to ’s faithfulness. It always leads us beyond ourselves and further in the kingdom of God. [Page 138] The IVP Commentary Series: Mark by Ronald J. Kernaghan. InterVarsity Press ©2007.

TEXT 14 Then he [] called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defle, but the things that come out are what defle.” [16 “Let anyone with ears to hear listen”] 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defle, 19 since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defles. 21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that intentions come: fornication, theft, , 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, , slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defle a person.” New Revised Standard Version

QUESTIONS FROM THE TEXT 1. Why was Jesus concerned or making statements about the clean and unclean? [vss 14-15]

2. Most modern Biblical interpretation texts remove this verse since it is not present in the earliest texts that we now possess. Why might it have been added later? What difference does it make if it is not read/included? [vs. 16]

3. According to Jesus, what defles a person? [vss. 17-20]

4. What are the evil things that infect the human heart? Why is it important that these characteristics are listed like this? It seems that all of us in some form or fashion are defled, How are we to be cleansed and renewed? [vss. 21-23] DIVE DEEPER QUESTIONS 1. What are unclean things in your life? What defles you?

2. What are clean things in your life? What keeps your heart pure?

3. What does this passage mean for our relationship with Christ? Do we need a Savior? Why?

4. What is faith?