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 Pushing the Limits - Far from depicting Jesus as a champion of the
law, the story depicts him as transgressing boundaries. Jesus does not overthrow the law,
but he presses at its boundaries, interpreting with an almost sovereign freedom . . . His
willingness to eat with sinners and tax collectors undermines moral resolve. His
pronouncements about true family threaten the most basic structures of the society. His
willingness to speak on his own authority, without guarantee of precedent, challenges the
organization of authority within the religious and political communities. [1]
Gnat-Straining - Imagine your church achieving a highly visible, highly successful
Summer Camp for local children. The turnout and quality of the ministry far exceeds
expectations. Your congregation so grows through the outreach that your denomination sends
some leaders to check out the excitement. But to your aggravation, the only thing they can
see is a misspelling in the outdoor banner. Jesus has previously touched a bleeding womyn,
a dead body, and numerous sick people, all of whom were "unclean." Yet in every
case contagion does not infect Jesus; rather the people he touched gain wholeness and
reconnection with the community. Some people are not concerned with the possibility that
God’s reign has come to their door step, but rather with the "tradition of the
elders. [2]
An Ancient Voice - God sees straight through our evasions to our deepest inward
intention. [3]
 [4]
Sometimes we think that if we know mere facts about God and do good deeds, we’re in a
spiritually healthy place. But God wants our love to be authentic. A hypocrite is a person
in whom there is a disconnect between words, actions, and beliefs. Paraphrase and
personalize Mark 7:6: "God, I honor you with my __________ (actions, words,
priorities), but my heart is far from you." Confess this to God and then ask God to
fill you with a genuine love that you can express with your heart, your head and your
hands.
 Please
refer to the homily on DPS based on this story from the parallel gospel account in Matthew
15 entitled, "TRADITION Versus Tradition."
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[1] Donald H. Juel, The Gospel of Mark (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999), p. 165.
[2] Credit for some of this comment goes to Scott Pinson, God’s Word For the
Biblically-Inept: Mark (PA: Starburst, 2001), page 139.
[3] Clement of Rome (ca 80) cited in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture II
(InterVarsity, 1998), p. 97.
[4] The Spiritual Formation Bible (Zondervan,1999), page 1328.
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