Barton's Bible Study Notes

Life of Christ: Unit 20 - Sections 79-81

Read Matthew 14:34-15:20 and Mark 6:53-7:23. Jesus again crosses the lake to the area around Gennesaret. Here again, the crowds recognize Him and flock to Him. He healed many. Others were coming to Him as well, from the religious establishment in Jerusalem, and, seeing all He did, they had a question.

1. What question did these religious leaders ask?

2. Compare what these people must have witnessed, or at the least had heard about (See Matthew 14:34-36) with the question they asked (See Matthew 15:2). What, do you think, is incongruous about these two things?

3. When these religious leaders ask, “Why are your disciples breaking the tradition of the elders?” What does our Lord reply?

4. In Matthew 15:4-6 and Mark 7:9-13, our Lord gives an example of how their traditions invalidated God’s commands. To what do you think, is this example referring?

5. What did our Lord say that Isaiah said of these people?

6. Now, Jesus dealt with the specific issue of ceremonial uncleanness. The tradition of the elders said that it was a sin to eat with unwashed hands. The thinking was that your hands had touched something ceremonially unclean, and if you picked up your food without washing, this ceremonial uncleanness was transferred to your food and from the food to your heart (inner person) when you ate it. What did Jesus say made a person unclean? (See Matthew 15:17-20.)

Read Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30. As is usual for our Lord, He does not stay and argue or debate with the religious leaders. Instead, He withdraws and goes somewhere else. This time He goes to the area around Tyre and Sidon. What is interesting is that this is not a Jewish area but Gentile territory. Gentiles, by Jewish tradition, were unclean, and association with them would traditionally render a Jew unclean.

7. What connection do you see between this passage and the one just before it (Matthew 14:34-15:20 and Mark 6:53-7:23)?

The Applications:

What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.