Guds befalinger og menneskelige traditioner
Mark. 7,1-13
1En dag kom nogle farisæere og skriftlærde fra Jerusalem for at få en samtale med Jesus. 2„Hvorfor overtræder dine disciple de regler, vores forfædre har pålagt os?” begyndte de. „De vasker jo ikke hænder på den foreskrevne måde, før de spiser!”
3Jesus svarede: „Og hvorfor overtræder I Guds befalinger for at kunne følge jeres egne traditioner? 4Gud har jo sagt: ‚Du skal ære din far og din mor!’ og: ‚Den, der forbander sin far eller mor, skal dø!’15,4 2.Mos. 20,12 og 21,17.
5Men I hævder, at hvis blot man siger til sin far eller mor: ‚Det, du skulle have haft, vil jeg i stedet give som gave til templet,’ 6så behøver man ikke at ære sine forældre. På den måde ophæver I Guds ord til fordel for jeres egne traditioner.
7I er nogle hyklere! Det er sådan nogle som jer, Gud har talt om i profeten Esajas’ bog:
8‚Dette folk ærer mig i det ydre,
men deres hjerte er fjernt fra mig.
9Det er forgæves, de dyrker mig,
når deres lære blot er menneskebud.’15,9 Es. 29,13 fra LXX.”
Hvad gør et menneske urent i Guds øjne?
Mark. 7,14-23
10Så kaldte Jesus folk sammen og sagde: „Hør nu efter og prøv at forstå, hvad jeg siger: 11Det er ikke det, som kommer ind gennem munden, der gør et menneske urent i Guds øjne, men det er det, som kommer ud gennem munden!”
12Derefter kom disciplene hen til Jesus og sagde: „Ved du, at farisæerne følte sig stødt over det, du sagde lige før?” 13Jesus svarede: „Alle de planter, som min Far ikke har plantet, bliver rykket op med rode. 14Lad dem bare være. De er blinde vejledere for blinde. Når en blind leder en blind, falder de begge i grøften.”
15Peter bad nu Jesus forklare, hvad han mente med den billedtale, han lige havde brugt.
16„I har åbenbart stadig svært ved at forstå billederne,” sagde Jesus. 17„Så hør her: Al den mad, der kommer ind gennem munden, fortsætter ned i maven og forsvinder ud igen. 18Det, der gør et menneske urent, er det, der udgår fra menneskets indre, 19dvs. de onde tanker, som fører til mord,15,19 Eller: „vold”. utroskab, seksuel synd, tyveri, løgn og sladder. 20Det er den slags ting, der gør mennesket urent—ikke at man spiser uden at have vasket hænderne ifølge bestemte ritualer.”
En ikke-jødisk kvindes tro
Mark. 7,24-30
21Jesus og disciplene forlod nu den del af landet og trak sig tilbage til egnene omkring Tyrus og Sidon.
22En ikke-jødisk kvinde, som boede på den egn, kom til Jesus og råbte bønfaldende: „Vær barmhjertig mod mig, Herre, du Davids Søn! Min datter har en dæmon i sig, og den plager hende ustandselig.”
23Jesus svarede hende ikke lige med det samme. Disciplene gik hen til ham og sagde: „Bed hende om at gå. Det vækker opsigt, at hun råber efter os.” 24Så vendte Jesus sig mod kvinden og sagde: „Jeg er kun udsendt for at hjælpe jøderne.” 25Men hun trådte nærmere og faldt på knæ foran ham: „Herre, hjælp mig dog!”
26Jesus svarede: „Det kan ikke være rigtigt at tage børnenes mad og give den til hundehvalpene.”
27„Det er sandt, Herre,” sagde hun, „og dog løber hvalpene hen og spiser de krummer, som falder ned fra deres herres bord.”
28„Du har stor tro!” udbrød Jesus. „Du skal få det, du har bedt om!” I samme øjeblik var hendes datter helbredt.
Mange helbredelser blandt ikke-jøder
Mark. 7,31-37
29Jesus vendte derefter tilbage til området øst for Galilæasøen, hvor han gik op på en bakke og satte sig ned for at undervise. 30Store folkeskarer kom til ham. Blandt dem var mange lamme, blinde, stumme og andre handicappede. Og Jesus helbredte dem alle!
31Det var et fantastisk syn. Mennesker som før var stumme, kunne nu tale. Handicappede blev helbredt, lamme gik omkring, blinde kunne se. Folkeskaren blev slået af forundring og lovpriste Israels Gud.
Bespisningen af de 4000 ikke-jøder
Mark. 8,1-10
32Jesus kaldte nu disciplene hen til sig. „Jeg har ondt af alle de mennesker,” sagde han. „Nu har de været sammen med mig her i tre dage, og de har ikke mere at spise. Jeg vil ikke sende dem af sted uden at give dem noget, for så kan de falde om af udmattelse på vejen hjem.”
33„Men vi kan da umuligt skaffe brød nok her i ødemarken,” indvendte disciplene.
34„Hvor mange brød har I?” spurgte Jesus.
„Syv brød og nogle småfisk,” svarede de.
35Så fik han folk til at sætte sig på jorden. 36Derefter tog han de syv brød og fiskene, takkede Gud, brækkede dem i stykker og gav stykkerne til disciplene, der så delte mad ud til folkeskaren. 37-38Alle spiste og blev mætte. 4000 mænd, foruden kvinder og børn, havde fået noget at spise, og da resterne blev samlet ind efter måltidet, var der nok til at fylde syv kurve.
39Så sendte Jesus folk hjem, hvorefter han og disciplene gik om bord i en båd og sejlede til området omkring Magadan.15,39 Magadan menes at være det samme som Magdala, hvor Maria Magdalene kom fra. Det ligger ved det vestligste punkt af Galilæasøen.
What Makes People “Unclean”?
1Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked, 2“Why don’t your disciples obey what the elders teach? Your disciples don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3Jesus replied, “And why don’t you obey God’s command? You would rather follow your own teachings! 4God said, ‘Honor your father and mother.’ (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) He also said, ‘Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.’ (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9) 5But suppose people have something that might be used to help their parents. You allow them to say it is instead ‘a gift set apart for God.’ 6So they do not need to honor their father or mother with their gift. You make the word of God useless in order to follow your own teachings. 7You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. He said,
8“ ‘These people honor me by what they say.
But their hearts are far away from me.
9Their worship doesn’t mean anything to me.
They teach nothing but human rules.’ ” (Isaiah 29:13)
10Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into someone’s mouth does not make them ‘unclean.’ It’s what comes out of their mouth that makes them ‘unclean.’ ”
12Then the disciples came to him. They asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were angry when they heard this?”
13Jesus replied, “They are plants that my Father in heaven has not planted. They will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave the Pharisees. They are blind guides. If one blind person leads another blind person, both of them will fall into a pit.”
15Peter said, “Explain this to us.”
16“Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see? Everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart. Those are the things that make someone ‘unclean.’ 19Evil thoughts come out of a person’s heart. So do murder, adultery, and other sexual sins. And so do stealing, false witness, and telling lies about others. 20Those are the things that make you ‘unclean.’ But eating without washing your hands does not make you ‘unclean.’ ”
The Faith of a Woman From Canaan
21Jesus left Galilee and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22A woman from Canaan lived near Tyre and Sidon. She came to him and cried out, “Lord! Son of David! Have mercy on me! A demon controls my daughter. She is suffering terribly.”
23Jesus did not say a word. So his disciples came to him. They begged him, “Send her away. She keeps crying out after us.”
24Jesus answered, “I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.”
25Then the woman fell to her knees in front of him. “Lord! Help me!” she said.
26He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
27“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”
28Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! You will be given what you are asking for.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
29Jesus left there. He walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Large crowds came to him. They brought blind people and those who could not walk. They also brought disabled people, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31The people were amazed. Those who could not speak were speaking. The disabled were made well. Those not able to walk were walking. Those who were blind could see. So the people praised the God of Israel.
32Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, “I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home.”
33His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?”
34“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples passed them out to the people. 37All of them ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. 38The number of men who ate was 4,000. Women and children also ate. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat. He went to the area near Magadan.
