Mark 7:1-21

Jesus begins To Reach Out To Gentiles (7:1-8:21).

At this stage in His ministry Jesus begins to reach out further afield, for from this point on He spends much time preaching in territory which is mainly Gentile, although still containing many Jews. He prepares His disciples for it by His words to the Scribes and Pharisees, and then to the people, on what is truly essential, and then moves on to Tyre and Sidon where a Syro-phoenician woman's simple faith brings home the right of Gentiles to partake of God's table. The result is that He begins a campaign in Gentile territory. While this may partly have been due to pressures in Galilee, it is a clear expansion of His ministry.

Analysis of 7:1-8:21.

a Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God (Mark 7:1).

b He points out to the crowds that it is what is within the inner man that defiles a man (Mark 7:14).

c Jesus gives the Syro-phoenician woman bread from God's table and heals her stricken son (Mark 7:24).

d He heals the deaf and speech impaired man, a picture of the need of Israel (Mark 7:31).

c He feeds the four thousand in Gentile territory and gives them bread from God's table (Mark 8:1).

b The Pharisees reveal what is within them by seeking a sign, upsetting Jesus deeply (Mark 8:11).

a Jesus tells His disciples to beware of the leavened bread (the teaching) of the Pharisees and of Herod (or of the Herodians), and to hear and understand (Mark 8:14).

Note that in ‘a' Jesus exposes the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, while in the parallel He warns His disciples to beware of it. In ‘b' He points out that it is what comes from within that defiles a man, and in the parallel we have an example of this in the sign-seeking Pharisees. In ‘c' Jesus gives the Syro-phoenician woman ‘bread from God's table', and in the parallel He gives bread from God's table to four thousand who gather in Gentile territory. Centrally in ‘d' He heals a man who is deaf and speech impaired, a picture of the failure of Israel, and of the world, which He is now here to remedy.