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.
Lo limpio y lo impuro
15:1-20 – Mr 7:1-23
1Se acercaron a Jesús algunos fariseos y maestros de la ley que habían llegado de Jerusalén, y le preguntaron:
2―¿Por qué quebrantan tus discípulos la tradición de los ancianos? ¡Comen sin cumplir primero el rito de lavarse las manos!
3Jesús les contestó:
―¿Y por qué quebrantáis vosotros el mandamiento de Dios a causa de la tradición? 4Dios dijo: “Honra a tu padre y a tu madre”,15:4 Éx 20:12; Dt 5:16 y también: “El que maldiga a su padre o a su madre será condenado a muerte”.15:4 Éx 21:17; Lv 20:9 5Vosotros, en cambio, enseñáis que un hijo puede decir a su padre o a su madre: “Cualquier ayuda que pudiera darte ya la he dedicado como ofrenda a Dios”. 6En ese caso, el tal hijo no tiene que honrar a su padre.15:6 padre. Var. padre ni a su madre. Así por causa de la tradición anuláis la palabra de Dios. 7¡Hipócritas! Tenía razón Isaías cuando profetizó acerca de vosotros:
8»“Este pueblo me honra con los labios,
pero su corazón está lejos de mí.
9En vano me adoran;
sus enseñanzas no son más que reglas humanas”».15:9 Is 29:13
10Jesús llamó a la multitud y dijo:
―Escuchad y entended. 11Lo que contamina a una persona no es lo que entra en la boca, sino lo que sale de ella.
12Entonces se le acercaron los discípulos y le dijeron:
―¿Sabes que los fariseos se escandalizaron al oír eso?
13―Toda planta que mi Padre celestial no haya plantado será arrancada de raíz —les respondió—. 14Dejadlos; son guías ciegos.15:14 guías ciegos. Var. ciegos guías de ciegos. Y, si un ciego guía a otro ciego, ambos caerán en un hoyo.
15―Explícanos la comparación —le pidió Pedro.
16―¿También vosotros sois aún tan torpes? —les dijo Jesús—. 17¿No os dais cuenta de que todo lo que entra en la boca va al estómago y después se echa en la letrina? 18Pero lo que sale de la boca viene del corazón y contamina a la persona. 19Porque del corazón salen los malos pensamientos, los homicidios, los adulterios, la inmoralidad sexual, los robos, los falsos testimonios y las calumnias. 20Estas son las cosas que contaminan a la persona, y no el comer sin lavarse las manos.
La fe de la mujer cananea
15:21-28 – Mr 7:24-30
21Partiendo de allí, Jesús se retiró a la región de Tiro y Sidón. 22Una mujer cananea de las inmediaciones salió a su encuentro, gritando:
―¡Señor, Hijo de David, ten compasión de mí! Mi hija sufre terriblemente por estar endemoniada.
23Jesús no le respondió palabra. Así que sus discípulos se acercaron a él y le rogaron:
―Despídela, porque viene detrás de nosotros gritando.
24―No fui enviado sino a las ovejas perdidas del pueblo de Israel —contestó Jesús.
25La mujer se acercó y, arrodillándose delante de él, le suplicó:
―¡Señor, ayúdame!
26Él le respondió:
―No está bien quitarles el pan a los hijos y echárselo a los perros.
27―Sí, Señor; pero hasta los perros comen las migajas que caen de la mesa de sus amos.
28―¡Mujer, qué grande es tu fe! —contestó Jesús—. Que se cumpla lo que quieres.
Y desde ese mismo momento quedó sana su hija.
Jesús alimenta a cuatro mil
15:29-31 – Mr 7:31-37
15:32-39 – Mr 8:1-10
29Salió Jesús de allí y llegó a orillas del mar de Galilea. Luego subió a la montaña y se sentó. 30Se le acercaron grandes multitudes que llevaban cojos, ciegos, lisiados, mudos y muchos enfermos más, y los pusieron a sus pies; y él los sanó. 31La gente se asombraba al ver a los mudos hablar, a los lisiados recobrar la salud, a los cojos andar y a los ciegos ver. Y alababan al Dios de Israel.
32Jesús llamó a sus discípulos y les dijo:
―Siento compasión de esta gente, porque ya llevan tres días conmigo y no tienen nada que comer. No quiero despedirlos sin comer, no sea que se desmayen por el camino.
33Los discípulos objetaron:
―¿Dónde podríamos conseguir en este lugar despoblado suficiente pan para dar de comer a toda esta multitud?
34―¿Cuántos panes tenéis? —preguntó Jesús.
―Siete, y unos pocos pescaditos.
35Entonces mandó que la gente se sentara en el suelo. 36Tomando los siete panes y los pescados, dio gracias, los partió y se los fue dando a los discípulos. Estos, a su vez, los distribuyeron a la gente. 37Todos comieron hasta quedar satisfechos. Después los discípulos recogieron siete cestas llenas de pedazos que sobraron. 38Los que comieron eran cuatro mil hombres, sin contar a las mujeres y a los niños. 39Después de despedir a la gente, subió Jesús a la barca y se fue a la región de Magadán.15:39 Magadán. Var. Magdala.