Some Pharisees and teachers of the religious law approached Jesus and His disciples and questioned why they had not followed the Jewish ritual of washing their hands before eating. There was even a certain way the hands were to be washed. Pay particular attention to the word ritual. We hear that word often and read it often but do we really grasp it's meaning? A ritual is something that is ceremonial or pertains to religious law. If it is done in accordance with social customs, it is a tradition or custom.
Jesus was asked why they did not follow that ritual, "according to the tradition of the elders." In days gone by, there were no utensils such as forks, knives, and spoons, so hand washing was needed and it became a custom or ritual. Back then, that ritual had a purpose. The hygienic practice was more or less required before utensils were around. Now, in New Testament times it had less of a purpose and became more of a ritual. They continued to give that ritual great importance as part of their religious belief by attaching it to the idea of purity. To not follow the ritual was determined by Jews to be ceremonially unwashed or unclean. All that being said, if your hands were contaminated according to religious ritual then you could not be called holy or devoted to God. That belief caused those who followed the ritual to believe that Jesus and His disciples, therefore, could not and were not holy nor devoted to God.
Jesus told them that they, just as was written in Isaiah 29:13, honored God with outward things but their hearts did not. He called them hypocrites because they made an outward show of worship by doing rituals but did not give God real worship from their hearts. Jesus pointed out that they were clever in side stepping the law in order to carry out their designed traditions.
Jesus referenced the law of Moses which clearly defined a person's responsibility to their parents in the fifth commandment. Those responsibilities included caring for a parent financially as well as practically in their old age. Jesus gave them the example of how they avoided following the law in order to do what they wanted. Moses never taught or said that a person may declare all their possessions to be (in Greek) "Corbin." Doing so, in their eyes, made the law not applicable to them. The Greek term "Corbin," is used to describe something as a gift devoted to God and gifts designated as such normally went to the temple for religious use.
Therefore, if the funds needed to support a person's parents as they aged were declared gifts devoted to God, the person had no obligation to use them for his parents. The people of the temple proclaimed that once a person's resources were termed gifts, they could not be changed back. Basically, they belonged to the temple no matter what, even if that went against what God said. They basically gave their manmade rules power and priority over God's law. Such action was a matter of the heart. An outward appearance of holiness does not guarantee that the inside is pure and holy as we see here.
Jesus dug deeper in His teaching. There were many religious laws about what is to be eaten and in some cases even how. To disobey these rules by eating things not allowed was said to make a person unclean. Jesus taught that you are unclean because your heart is unclean, not because of what you eat. It is not what you eat, digest, then pass that makes a person unclean or unholy. The food doesn't impact a person's heart. If the heart is unholy or unclean, the person is unholy or unclean. If the heart is holy, then no matter what they eat, they are holy. There is a note in that part of the chapter saying that by this teaching, Jesus declared that all food was acceptable in God's eyes.
Jesus elaborated on the condition of the heart. He listed some things that defile a person such as evil thoughts, sexual immorality, greed, adultery, and so on. These things came from an impure heart, they came from within. It would be easy to see that no food would cause anyone to do such things. These thoughts or behaviors are what defiles a person.
A Gentile woman, born in Syrian Phoenicia, came to Jesus asking that He heal her daughter of an evil spirit. (Gentiles were categorized as non-Jews or strangers. The Jewish people were the chosen people of God, Gentiles were not.)
Jesus' response was that He was there to feed the children of His own family, the Jews. Some believe He is referring to the disciples and others believe He was speaking of a broader group, the unbelievers in Israel. He said feeding them was His first priority and that Gentiles like her, were like dogs under the table, meaning a much lower priority. In fact, her asking Him to stop what He was doing to help her was akin to her interrupting a meal and to stop feeding His children to feed those who were not His top priority (i.e. dogs under the table). This was seen as a rude gesture on her part.
Her response was one of respect. She said ,"Yes, Lord" and agreed with His comments. She understood He had the right to say "no." In fact, her response expressed no sign of being insulted. She understood His position and mission. She responded to His comments using the same analogy. She said that even the dogs under the table get fed by the crumbs the children drop during their meal. Her reply meant that there was no need to stop the meal to feed the dogs for the dogs would be happy to get some of the crumbs that fell from the table. The deeper meaning is that there was no need to stop His work with His disciples to help her, for she was not asking for a full meal but only a crumb. Her request for healing her daughter of the demon was but a small thing in the realm of what Jesus could do.
Her reply clearly showed her faith in Him and expressed a respectful humility. Jesus agreed and told her that when she returned home, she would find her daughter healed. She returned home and her daughter was healed. This is the only miracle in Mark that Jesus performed over a distance without touching or speaking directly with the person He healed.
Jesus then returned to the Ten Cities or Decapolis. The Decapolis was a group of pagan cities/states. They were pagan and Hellenistic. ("Hellenistic" is defined as the leftover remnants of the army of Alexander the Great who founded these cities during his reign. This area stayed in tact through the time of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony and through the time Pompey and his Roman army seized control. During this period, it was kept separate from the Jewish territories.) The Decapolis is written about in the Bible as pagan and a stronghold of sin. Their view was supported by their practices of performing lewd plays, the practice of sacrificing to pagan gods and nude athletic and gladiator events.
Jesus continually entered this area to bring His word and teachings. It was most likely not seen as a place any non-pagan would want to go, let alone going there to teach against their practices.
When they arrive there a man who was deaf and unable to speak without great difficulty was brought to Him. (Note: more than once during a healing, Jesus took the person away from the crowds to heal the person. Perhaps the crowds caused too much interference and noise when Jesus needed the person's full attention). Jesus put His fingers into the man's ears, spit on His own fingers then touched the man's tongue and looked to heaven saying "be opened," and immediately he could hear and speak clearly.
Jesus ordered them to not tell others what they had witnessed, but the more He told them not to speak, the more they proclaimed what He had done.
They were astonished and declared He does all things well and even healed a man such as this.
Such things bring Isaiah 35 alive. (NAS) Verses 4-6; Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah."
We could also view this scripture in a spiritual sense, in that the eyes of the unbelieving world will be opened and the truth of Christ will be spoken.