This is the 8th narrative sermon in the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus’ confrontation of the Pharisaic regulations called “The Traditions of the Elders,” which are a body of 18 new oral laws passed by the religious leaders in order to drive a wedge of hatred between the Jew and the Gentile. Jesus makes bold declarations about the nature of true and false defilement, and then turns to conduct yet another excursion into Gentile territory replicating his greatest miracles among them. For true defilement is of the heart, not ritual. Ritual is meant to preach about substantive realities, not to be take AS substantive reality, and God’s heart is for the salvation of all.
Enjoy!
