Tradition and Worship - Mark Chapter 7

Day 8 – Chapter 7

Promise: Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:10, 20-23

The writer of proverbs 4, often attributed to King Solomon, noted that words are important in the matter of the heart and ‘long life’. How do words impact your quality of life? How does one ‘guard the heart?’

Read Chapter 7.

How are tradition and worship contrasted by Jesus’s teaching in verses 6-13? How would you define worship as described in these verses?

The Pharisees identify sin by people’s actions. Where does Jesus indicate we must look for sin?

In verse 18, Jesus asks his disciples, ‘Are you so dull?’ Compare this ‘dull’ understanding to that of the Pharisees. How are they the same or different?

What do the crumbs represent in the parabolic statement Jesus makes to the Greek mother? What does the abundance of crumbs tell us about our walk as Christians?

How does Jesus communicate with the man who is deaf and mute? Aside from the miraculous healing, how does Jesus show compassion in this man’s story?

Jesus is often labeled ‘meek and mild’. How do you view that moniker in light of the disciples being called ‘dull’ and the metaphoric woman as a dog?

Application: There are people who find fault in almost any group that gathers. What insight do Jesus’s teachings offer us in understanding ‘fault-finders’?