Procedures save time by removing certain questions from a task. They are only so useful as they bring about the required end product. The task itself may not even be the point, as the desired product may be the state or state of mind of those having performed the task. So it is with religious rituals, and those of Moses are no different. The Law required holiness in terms of ritual and external action. Only a spiritually blinded soul would conclude these were all that mattered to the Creator of all things. Jesus made it plain the Law of Moses was not about the provisions of ritual and conduct, but about what they symbolized, a higher reality. Jesus did not defy the Law, but clarified its purpose.
Coming up to Galilee, a delegation of Pharisees and Scribes -- essentially professors, bureaucrats and lawyers -- arrived from Jerusalem to confront this rabbi who had gained so much attention. They wasted no time in noting Jesus had not taught His disciples to observe the traditions of the elders regarding ritual washing.
Mark goes to some lengths to explain the Pharisee Party had developed a huge long list of ritual cleansing provisions. Since no man could be certain he did not accidentally touch something which would defile him in the market place, it was mandatory to wash before eating. We believe this was using a small container to pour the water over the hands, such that the water flowed first over the fingertips, then down the fingers, across the hands, and off the wrists. They had similar rules about all sorts of daily household items. Mark also points out this is a matter of human tradition, not the Law of Moses. We know these traditions today generally by the term "Talmud."
So the basic point of issue was how Jesus could pretend to be a rabbi without enforcing the Talmudic traditions. We can be sure the disciples were probably as sensible as anyone might be about sanitary measures. The complaint was they didn't wash with the proper ritual. They accused the disciples of being defiled, unfit to serve a rabbi, and unfit to teach, preach, or heal, etc. Jesus answers by quoting Isaiah 29:13, where the Lord notes the Nation of Israel was all about hypocrisy; they put on a show to be seen as something they were not. Already in Isaiah's time, writing sometime before 700 BC, mere ritual observance was the sum total of the nation's religion. They were spiritually blinded, thinking the works of their hands could accomplish the holiness of God. Now, these seven centuries later, things had only gotten worse. What began as an explanation of the Law became a displacement of the Law.
The hand washing ritual was not commanded by God, but the things He did command were nullified by these human traditions. Pharisees in particular were materialistic, and always looking for an edge to getting and keeping worldly goods. A tradition they taught allowed a man to decide he would place all his possessions in a trust for the Temple -- Corban. As long as he lived, he could continue to use these things for his personal benefit. However, the trust would not allow him to provide for even his own parents should they have need, because the value of the estate must be protected, since it "belonged to God." This was just an excuse to get a big public pat on the back while being stingy, because it was contrary to the clear command of God. Even pagans did better than that.
We can safely assume the delegation from Jerusalem heard what came next, at least second hand. Jesus called the multitude together and gave them a parable. What goes in is not sin; what comes out makes a man dirty. Later, as usual, the disciples missed the point. Jesus explained ritual defilement had no effect on a man's character. He might not be able to go into the Temple defiled, but he was not excluded from God's presence. If anything kept a man from God, it was a fallen character. The Pharisees as a group were about as evil as could be, with their greed, arrogance, racism, murderous hatred, lying, corruption, and everything else. They entered the Temple smugly, yet never met with God.
That His disciples did not grasp the parable was reason enough to withdraw for a time of private teaching. By leaving Jewish territory, Jesus removed Himself from public ministry. They had a place to stay, but efforts at privacy failed completely. Even Gentiles knew He was called to reach Israel, to bring them one last chance to seize their calling to take the revelation of God to all nations, to be a kingdom of priests. Still, in this foreign land, He faced someone pleading for a miracle. A local woman came repeatedly asking her daughter be released from a demon. Using a gentler version of the epithet Jews typically used to describe Gentiles, Jesus said He could not take the blessings intended for God's children and throw them out to the puppies. Folks from a Semitic background despised canines, and everyone else knew it. No Jew in his right mind would seek to tame dogs by feeding puppies; when grown just a few months they would feel welcome to prowl the house, and perhaps attack the children whose food they had eaten greedily. It was not right for Jesus to step outside the Covenant of Moses just yet, and the woman's very act of requesting this would be regarded by the Jewish elite as defiling.
Seizing upon Jesus' words, the woman made note she wasn't asking much, not enough to deny any Jew something they really needed. Even good children, when very young, could hardly keep from dropping crumbs on the floor. By understatement, the woman made clear she knew Jesus was rejected by His own nation, so surely His power was great enough to leave a spiritual crumb or two? Her faith was painfully obvious, so committed she was to waiting on God. Dog she may be, but she would accept whatever the Lord offered. Her faith was the key, and Jesus said so. Remotely and without so much as a command, Jesus simply declared it to be, and the woman grasped it in that same faith. She found her daughter resting and recovering from the torment.
From there, Jesus gave Galilee wide berth, passing through Decapolis before approaching the sea again. The wording leaves us wondering the exact path, but it seems He consciously avoided entering Jewish jurisdiction. Nor do we have any idea how long it took, though it must have been at least a month for the entire vacation. There on the Decapolis shore of Galilee, someone led to Jesus a man who was deaf, and barely able to speak
What happened next is puzzling to many even today. Of the Gospels, Mark alone mentions this, and does so in this specific context teaching about defilement. Jesus took the man aside privately. He poked his fingers into the man's ears, then spat on one finger, and touched the man's tongue with it. Merely touching the Gentile man made Jesus ritually unclean by Pharisaical standards. Spitting was a mark of contempt in just about every culture, but seems to be related to the concept of driving evil or demons away. Jesus didn't spit in the man's face, but on His own hand. Compare this to the Pharisees fussing about ritual hand washing. What comes out from an evil heart is what defiles; what comes from a holy mouth cleanses. Most likely Mark notes Jesus makes a subtle joke of the sanctimonious nonsense of the Pharisees. A Roman audience would have chuckled over something so clever.
Jesus groaned, then called for the man's ears and mouth to be opened. The man was healed. Bringing him back to the crowd gathered there, Jesus ordered them to keep it quiet, again a pun -- a deaf mute hearing and speaking would say enough. They were having none of it, but broadcast the miracle all over. This sort of miracle was simply unheard of in their land.
The Jewish leadership had completely forgotten why their nation existed in the first place. When Jesus came along teaching the heart of God, they didn't recognize it. They were too busy swatting at shadows of imaginary sins, enforcing human traditions in the name of a God they didn't know. When Jesus blessed people, gave them healing and deliverance, they fussed about water trickling over fingers.
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By Ed Hurst
22 March 2008
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