Глава седьмая

Mark 7:1. The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to Him, Mark 7:2. and when they saw some of His disciples eating bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands, they reproached him. Mark 7:3. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, holding to the tradition of the elders, do not eat without washing their hands thoroughly; Mark 7:4. and when they come from the market, they do not eat without washing. There are many other things that they decided to adhere to: observing the washing of bowls, tankards, cauldrons and benches. Mark 7:5. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him: Why do not Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? Taught to adhere to one virtue and not to worry about anything else besides it, the Lord’s disciples, without intent and in simplicity, ate with unwashed hands. Meanwhile, the Pharisees, wanting to find a pretext for reproach, seized on this case and accused the apostles, although not as violators of the Law, but as violators of the tradition of the elders, for in the Law there is no requirement to wash their hands up to the elbows before eating, but they adhered to this as the tradition of the elders. Mark 7:6. He answered and said to them, “Isaiah prophesied well about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Mark 7:7. but in vain they worship Me, teaching doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:8. For you, having abandoned the commandment of God, adhere to the tradition of men, the washing of mugs and cups, and do many other things like this. Mark 7:9. And he said to them, “Is it good that you set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition?” Mark 7:10. For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and: He who curses his father or mother shall die by death. Mark 7:11. And you say: whoever says to father or mother: corvan, that is, a gift to God that you would use from me, Mark 7:12. you already allow him to do nothing for his father or his mother, Mark 7:13. making void the word of God by your tradition which ye have established; and you do many similar things. To further convict the Jews, the Lord also brings a prophet to condemn them. They accused the disciples because the disciples transgressed the tradition of the elders, and the Lord directs a much stronger accusation against them themselves, namely, that they transgress the law of Moses. The Law, He says, teaches: “Honor your father and your mother” (Ex. 20:12); and you teach children to say to their parents this way: what you want from me is korvan, that is, dedicated to God. For the Pharisees, wanting to take advantage of the property of ordinary people, taught children (when the children had any property and their parents demanded it from them) to say the following: I have already dedicated it to God, and you do not demand what is dedicated to God. By seducing children in this way and convincing them to dedicate to God from their property, the Pharisees thereby forced them to neglect their parents, and devoured what was dedicated to God themselves. It is the Lord who blames them for breaking the Law of God for the sake of self-interest. Mark 7:14. And he called all the people and said to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: Mark 7:15. nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile him; but what comes from it defiles a person. Mark 7:16. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear! Mark 7:17. And when He entered the house from the people, His disciples asked Him about the parable. Mark 7:18. He said to them: Are you really so slow-witted? Don't you understand that nothing that enters a person from outside can defile him? Mark 7:19. Because it does not enter into his heart, but into his belly, and comes out, by which all food is purified. Mark 7:20. He further said: what comes from a person defiles a person. Mark 7:21. For from within, from the heart of man, come evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, Mark 7:22. theft, covetousness, malice, deceit, lewdness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness, - Mark 7:23. all this evil comes from within and defiles a person. Teaching people to understand the prescriptions of the Law on food in a non-carnal way, the Lord here begins to gradually reveal the meaning of the Law and says that nothing that enters inside defiles anyone, but defiles what comes from the heart. By “envious eye” one means either envy or debauchery: because the envious one usually casts a sly and sarcastic glance at the envied, and the depraved one, gazing with his own eyes, strives for evil deeds. “Blasphemy” refers to an insult to God: if, for example, someone begins to say that there is no Providence of God, then this will be blasphemy: which is why the Lord associates “pride” with it. Pride is, as it were, a disregard for God, when someone, having done a good deed, attributes it not to God, but to his own strength. By “madness” he means offense against one’s neighbors. All these passions defile the soul, and arise and emanate from it. The Lord spoke to the people in this way, not quite clearly, which is why he remarked: “whoever has ears to hear, let him hear,” that is, he who understands, let him understand. As for the apostles, who understood the Lord’s speech more deeply and came to ask Him about the “parable,” that is, about this hidden speech (a parable is a hidden speech), the Lord first reproached them, saying: “Are you really so slow-witted?” , but then he allowed them what was incomprehensible to them. Mark 7:24. And departing from there, he came to the borders of Tire and Sidon; and, having entered the house, he did not want anyone to find out; but could not hide. Mark 7:25. For a woman whose daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet; Mark 7:26. and that woman was a pagan, a Syrophoenician by birth; and asked Him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Mark 7:27. But Jesus said to her, “Let the children have their fill first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Mark 7:28. She answered Him: So, Lord; but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. Mark 7:29. And he said to her: for this word, go; The demon has left your daughter. Mark 7:30. And, having arrived at her house, she found that the demon had left and her daughter was lying on the bed. After he spoke about food and saw that the Jews did not believe, the Lord moved into the borders of the pagans, for with the unbelief of the Jews, salvation had to pass to the pagans. At first the Lord tried to hide, so that the Jews would not have an excuse to accuse Him, as if he had sided with the unclean pagans. However, He could not hide, for it was impossible for Him to hide and not be recognized by anyone. The said wife, having heard about Him, reveals ardent faith. Therefore, the Lord does not immediately agree (to her request), but delays the gift in order to show that the wife’s faith is firm and that she is patiently waiting, despite the refusal. Let us also learn not to give up prayer immediately when we do not immediately receive what we ask for, but to patiently continue prayer until we receive what we ask for. The Lord calls the pagans “dogs” because they were considered unclean by the Jews. “Bread” He calls the good deed ordained by God for the “children,” that is, for the Jews. Therefore, he says that pagans should not participate in the good deeds that are assigned to the Jews. Since the wife answered wisely and with faith, she received what she asked for. The Jews,” she says, “have bread, that is, all of You who came down from heaven, and Your good deeds, but I ask for a “crumb,” that is, a small share of Your good deeds. But look how the Lord works! He did not say: My power has saved you, but what did he say? “For this word,” that is, for your faith, “go,” your daughter was healed. Learn a useful lesson from here too. Each of us, when we commit a sin, is a “woman,” that is, a weak soul. Such a soul is a “Phoenician,” as having a crimson, that is, bloody and murderous sin. Such a soul has a “daughter” - evil actions, demonic actions. Being sinners, we are called “dogs”, full of impurities, which is why we are unworthy to accept the “bread” of God, that is, to partake of the most pure Mysteries. But if we humbly realize that we are dogs, if we confess and reveal our sins, then our daughter will be healed, that is, her demonic deeds. Mark 7:31. Having left the borders of Tire and Sidon, Jesus again went to the Sea of ​​Galilee through the borders of the Decapolis. Mark 7:32. They brought to Him a deaf man who was tongue-tied and asked Him to lay His hand on him. Mark 7:33. Jesus, taking him aside from the people, put His fingers into his ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; Mark 7:34. and, looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, open. Mark 7:35. And immediately his ears were opened and the bonds of his tongue were loosed, and he began to speak clearly. Mark 7:36. And he ordered them not to tell anyone. But no matter how much He forbade them, they divulged even more. Mark 7:37. And they marveled greatly and said, “He does everything well—he makes the deaf hear, and the dumb speak.” The Lord does not tarry in pagan places, but quickly moves away from them, so that, as I said, He would not give the Jews a reason to say about Himself that He is acting illegally by mingling with the pagans. Therefore, leaving the borders of Tire and Sidon, He comes to Galilee and here heals a deaf-mute man whose illness was caused by a demon. He takes “him aside” because he was not a lover of glory, having humbled himself to our poverty and not wanting to perform miracles in front of many, unless the benefit of the audience required it. “Spitting, he touched his tongue” as a sign that all parts of His holy flesh were divine and holy, so that even spitting loosed the bonds of the tongue. Every spitting is an excess (of juices), but in the Lord everything is wonderful and divine. Looking up to heaven, the Lord “sighed,” on the one hand, prayerfully to the Father, so that He would have mercy on man, and as an example to us, so that we, intending to do some good deed, would look to God and ask Him for help to accomplish it; and on the other hand, he sighs out of regret for human nature, how it is so betrayed to the devil that it suffers such reproach and suffering from him. That is why, when the Lord healed, those healed preached about Him, despite the fact that He forbade them to do so and commanded them not to say anything. From here we will learn, when we do good to others, not to accept praise from them, and when we receive benefits, to glorify the benefactors and publicize them, even if they do not want it.