Jesus Gives Pharisees What-For
1A group of Pharisees and some Jewish scholars known as scribes came up from Jerusalem. They confronted Jesus one day. 2They had noticed that some of his disciples were eating bread but hadn’t bothered to perform the ritual handwashing. 3Many Jews, [1] including the Pharisees, follow an ancient Jewish tradition before they eat: they systematically wash their hands in a choreographed ritual. 4When they buy food from the market, they won’t eat it until the food has been thoroughly washed. They have lots of similar traditions they follow as well. That includes the rituals of washing cups, pitchers, and copper pots.5Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of our ancestors and wash their hands before they eat bread?”
6Jesus said, “Isaiah has a prophecy about you hypocrites. He got it right.
“‘When they open their mouth,
they show me respect.
But when they open their heart,
I’m not there.
But there’s no point to it.
All they do is teach
the rules they wrote themselves.’ [2] 8“You teach your own ideas and ignore the laws of God. 9I’ll give this to you,” Jesus said. “You’re clever, all right. You’re clever at arguing it’s okay to ignore the laws God wrote, while insisting that everyone obey the laws you wrote. 10Here’s what Moses said: ‘Respect your father and mother.’ [3] He also said, ‘Whoever says something wicked about their father or mother should die.’ [4]
11“Here’s what you say: ‘Whatever I have that could have helped you out is no longer available. I’ve dedicated it to God.’ [5] 12You had the nerve to create a law that makes it okay for people to do absolutely nothing to help their father or mother. 13You stamped ‘CANCEL’ on the word of God. You replaced God’s word with your own words, which you pass along from one generation to the next. You do this kind of thing all the time.”
Impurity Comes from Inside of Us
14Jesus called together the crowd that had been watching. He said, “All of you, listen to me. I want you to understand what I’m about to say. 15No food or anything else you put into your body will ever make you impure and unfit to worship God. [6] What can make you impure is what comes out of you. 16If you’ve got ears, you need to be hearing what I’m saying.” [7]Jesus Tutors His Disciples on Impurity
17When Jesus and his disciples returned home, away from the crowd, they asked him what he meant by the parable. 18Jesus said, “You still don’t get it? Okay, you do know this, right? Whatever goes into a body isn’t able to make that person impure. 19The reason it can’t make a person impure is because it doesn’t go into the heart. It goes into the stomach and out to the toilet. You know that, don’t you?”20Jesus said, “It’s what comes out of people that can make them impure. 21Inside of us, in the heart of a person, there can be all kinds of impurity: hurtful schemes, sex sins, stealing, murder, 22adultery, greed, downright evil behavior, lying, lust, selfishness, bad-mouthing others, pride, and no sense of morality whatsoever. 23All of this vile behavior can exist inside of a person. When it comes out, that’s what makes them spiritually filthy.”
Jesus Performs Exorcism at a Distance
24After that, Jesus traveled over to the area of Tyre. [8] He went into a house there, hoping to get away from the crowds for a bit. 25But a woman whose daughter was demon-possessed got word that he arrived. She didn’t hesitate. She went to the house and dropped to the floor in front of his feet. 26The woman was a Gentile, not a Jew. By race, she was a Phoenician [9] from Syria. She begged Jesus to perform an exorcism on her daughter, to get rid of the demon inside her.27Jesus told the woman, “We feed the children first. It’s not right to take the children’s food and toss it to the dogs.” [10]
28The woman had an answer for Jesus: “Lord, even dogs under the table get scraps from the children.”
29Jesus told the woman, “Because of what you just said, go. Your daughter is now demon-free.” 30When the woman got home, she found her child lying in bed, demon-free.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Touch and Some Spit
31Jesus left the area of Tyre, traveled up to Sidon, [11] and then headed back to the Sea of Galilee and to the region of the Ten Cities. [12] 32Some people brought to Jesus a deaf man who could barely speak. The people pleaded with Jesus to put his hand on the man and heal him. 33Jesus met with the man privately. Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then Jesus spit [13] on his own fingers and placed those fingers onto the man’s tongue. 34Jesus looked up toward the sky. With a heavy sigh he said, “Ephphatha!” [14] which means, “Open!”35Instantly, the man’s ears opened; he could hear. And his tongue started moving; he could speak clearly. 36Jesus told the man who had just learned to speak not to tell anyone. But the more Jesus told people to stay quiet, the more they didn’t. News about Jesus spread everywhere. 37Absolutely astonished, the people said, “Whatever he does, he does it well. He’s the healer who gives sound to folks who can’t hear and words to folks who can’t talk.”
