The Word Made Fresh
1Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked him, 2“Why are your disciples breaking the rules of the elders – they’re not washing their hands before they eat!”
3Jesus replied, “And why do you break God’s law for the sake of your tradition? 4God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses their father or mother must be put to death.’ 5But you say that whoever says to their parents, ‘Whatever amount of support you had from me is now given to God,’ they are not required to honor their parents. 6In other words, your ‘tradition’ cancels out God’s word. 7Hypocrits! Isaiah was correct when he prophesied about you, saying:
8‘They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are turned away;
9they worship me in vain and teach their human ideas as doctrines.’”
10Then Jesus summoned the crowd and told them, “Listen, and understand: 11it is not what goes into your mouth that defiles, but rather what comes out of your mouth.”
12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Are you aware that the Pharisees were offended by what you said to them?”
13He answered, “Every plant not planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by the roots. 14So, let them be; they are the blind trying to serve as guides. If a blind man tries to guide another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
15Peter said, “Please explain this parable to us.”
16Jesus responded, “Do you still not understand? 17Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes on to the stomach and then out of the body? 18But what comes out of the mouth is from the heart, and this is what corrupts, 19because it is from the heart that wicked plans and murder and adultery and other sexual sins, and also theft and lies and slander come. 20These are the things that can corrupt you, but eating with unwashed hands doesn’t.”
21Then Jesus left there and went to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22On his way there a Canaanite woman who lived nearby came out and started crying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, the Son of David! My daughter is being tortured by a demon!” 23But Jesus refused to answer her. His disciples urged him to send her away because of her shouting.
24Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.”
25But then she came and knelt in front of him and said, “Lord, please help me!”
26Jesus said, “It isn’t fair to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
27She replied, “Yes, LORD, but even the dogs can have the crumbs that fall from their owners’ table.”
28Then Jesus replied, “Woman, you have great faith! It will be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was instantly made well.
29Jesus went on from there and walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain and sat down. 30A huge crowd came to him, bringing with them those who were lame, injured, blind and mute, and many others as well, and they left them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
32Then Jesus gathered his disciples around him and told them, “I feel sorry for the crowd; they’ve been with me for three days now with nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will collapse on the way.”
33The disciples said, “Where are we going to get enough food ‘way out here to feed so many people?”
34Jesus said “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they answered, “and a few small fish.”
35Jesus told the crowd to sit down. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and broke them and handed it all to his disciples who then passed it on to the crowds. 37All of them ate until they were full. They gathered the broken pieces that remained, and filled seven baskets with them. 38Four thousand men had been fed, plus women and children. 39After Jesus sent them away, he got into the boat, and they went on to the region of Magdalen.
Commentary
1-9: Another sparring match with the scribes and Pharisees, again over the behavior of Jesus’ disciples. Again, Jesus quotes Isaiah to refute them. Notice that this time his opposition has come all the way from Jerusalem. His fame, and his opposition, is increasing.
10-20: Jesus now makes the confrontation a public one. He announces to the crowds that one is not defiled by what one eats but rather by what one speaks. The Pharisees and scribes hear him but, of course, do not want to debate him in public and so keep quiet. The disciples need more clarification, however. Jesus roundly condemns the scribes and Pharisees as blind guides, and then explains the saying in verse 11.
21-28: Jesus now withdraws to the territory north of Galilee where he is confronted by a Canaanite (non-Jewish) woman who begs him to cast out a demon from her daughter. Jesus uncharacteristically turns away from her at first, but finally relents. I wish he had not called her a dog; that would have saved a lot of ink trying to excuse him of such a crass statement. But he called her and her entire race dogs, so there it is, in black and white. In this story, however, the woman provides an example to the disciples (and to us) for approaching the Lord: “we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table” (from the United Methodist Hymnal, page 30, in the “Prayer of Humble Access” portion of the ritual for Holy Communion).
29-31: It surely was not an easy thing to bring to Jesus on “the mountain” those who were lame, maimed, and blind, but that’s what the people did. The crowd’s amazement gives way to praising God. They, too, are beginning to believe that Jesus is more than just an ordinary man.
32-39: Another story of Jesus feeding the crowds, again using the little fare provided by the disciples, again giving thanks, again letting the disciples themselves distribute the food to the crowd, again taking up left-overs that amount to more than they started with. Do you think they’ll ever get the point? Share! There’s enough for everyone if we just share!
Magadan, or Magdala, is a village on the Sea of Galilee a few miles from Gennesaret.
Takeaway
If the simple act of sharing is practiced by everyone, what do you think the result will be? Everyone will have enough!