Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 3
April 19, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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(300)
Thesis: The Pharisees and scribes were
incensed by the appearance that Jesus was teaching His disciples to despise
their authority.
Introduction: In our last study we saw that the Pharisees and some of the scribes had tried to project the idea that their opposition to Jesus was rooted in three biblical realities: 1) that the Scriptures taught that one must wash his/her hands before eating; 2) that the Scriptures taught that the true meaning of those Scriptures had been placed by God into the minds of "Pharisees and scribes" so that the ordinary person was under obligation to accept their interpretations; and 3) that a "disciple's" behavior was indicative of the Teacher's doctrine.
But, as we shall see this evening, that "projection" was flawed at its roots.
- I. The Larger Context Is Dealing With "Leaven".
- A. "Leaven" is the all-pervasive ingredient that permeates the whole so that nothing that appears to signal the meaning of any part is accurate unless the "leaven" is clearly understood (no conclusions about the individual's behavior should be drawn without a clear understanding of the influence of the all-pervasive root).
- B. This larger context issue means that we must approach the actions of the Pharisees and scribes with this question in our minds: what is driving these actions?
- II. Mark's Method Of Revealing The Answer to This Question.
- A. His repetition of the identities of those involved.
- 1. They are "the Pharisees" and "the scribes" as already identified in 7:1 (the conservative scholars of that day).
- 2. They are "from Jerusalem" as "official representatives" of the doctrines and practices of the nation at this time in history.
- a. Thus, they are a part of the decision of 3:22 (Jesus is empowered by Satan).
- b. They are also of the group who were seeking a way to destroy Jesus (3:6), having aligned themselves with the despised Herodians (mutual antipathy overrides prior attitudes).
- B. His use of the emphasized verb "to question with intent".
- 1. The verb is intensified by both the prefix and the present tense in historical narrative.
- 2. The word is used by Mark in 25 texts of his record, this one being the second (the first being Jesus' "question/demand" of "Legion" regarding his "name").
- 3. These "official representatives" of the current leadership of the nation were "questioning" Him, but not to discover "Truth", but to throw their weight around.
- C. His statement of their "question".
- 1. They are demanding an answer to a "Why?" question that is weighted by their assumption that it is Jesus' teaching that has created the disciples' actions (dia ti).
- 2. They are focused upon how "some" of Jesus' disciples are "walking".
- a. Generally, "walking" is a metaphor for "living as a matter of making choices and taking actions".
- b. The verb translated "walking" is significant.
- 1) It is another compound (emphatic) made of the preposition "around" and the verb "to walk", and it is in the present tense even though the words are historical narrative.
- 2) The underlying verb is revealed by its 5 uses in the New Testament.
- a) Luke 10:19 uses it to indicate the ability "to tread upon serpents (inflicting injury, but incurring none)".
- b) Luke 21:24 uses it to describe how the armies of the Gentiles will treat Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation.
- c) Revelation 11:2 is a restatement of Luke 21:24 as a description of how "the holy city" will be treated by the occupying forces of the Antichrist for 42 months.
- d) Revelation 14:20 is, perhaps, the most graphic illustration of meaning: the winepress of the wrath of God will be "trampled" so that blood comes out and flows away for 200 miles.
- e) Revelation 19:15 is a repeat of 14:20.
- 3) These uses reveal that "walking" as a metaphor for "living" presents "living" as a matter of choosing to take actions that are essentially a "trampling underfoot" of all of the "unchosen alternatives".
- 3. As an intensified verb in the mouths of the Pharisees and scribes, it is a reflection of how they view the disciples' behavior: they are trampling upon the instructions we have set forth for the nation.
- a. They see this "trampling" as an indication of the disdain they have for "our studied opinions of how God wants us to walk" [Note Mark 1:22].
- b. This has enraged them because they are being reduced to "foolish men" rather than highly honored scholars and teachers of "the ways of God in truth" (Romans 2:20).
- c. Their rage is an indication of their "leaven".
- 4. The focus for these opponents of Jesus is upon "the traditions of the elders".
- a. In the New Testament, there are good traditions and there are evil traditions.
- 1) In 1 Corinthians 11:2 Paul insists that the Corinthians "hold firmly to the traditions" that he had delivered to them.
- 2) In Galatians 1:14 Paul declares that his misguided loyalty to the "ancestral traditions" had caused him to "persecute the Church of God beyond measure" (as a Pharisee).
- b. The point the Pharisees and scribes are trying to establish is that the "combined wisdom of the ages" is being treated with disdain by Jesus' disciples -- with the implication that He was responsible for that disdain.
- III. Thus, Mark Has Given His Opening To This Section Of His Gospel Over To Exposing The Wickedness Of The Leaven Which Is Driving Their Hatred.
