Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 7:9 - 7:13

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 7:9 - 7:13


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The attack of Christ:

v. 9. And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the command of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

v. 10. For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father and mother, let him die the death.

v. 11. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free.

v. 12. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother;

v. 13. making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered; and many such like things do ye.

Having defended Himself successfully and silenced His detractors, the Lord now assumes the offensive. He employs pointed sarcasm: It is a fine way in which you frustrate the commandment of God that your tradition may be upheld! The Pharisees not only placed the precepts of tradition on the same level with those of God, but by their peculiar emphasis upon them actually set the latter aside. An example of this irreverent and blasphemous method: setting aside the Fourth Commandment for the sake of a probable sacrifice. God's Law is clear on the relation of children to parents, Exo_20:12; Deu_5:16, also regarding the punishment of those that disregard the rights of the parents, Exo_21:17; Lev_20:9. He had placed the service to parents next to that of Himself. But the Pharisees took advantage of the fact that God had sanctioned free-will offerings or sacrifices. They taught: If a man says to his father or his mother, Corban, that is, a free-will gift, let that be what you would have from me for your benefit or help. The final understanding of the expression came to be: if a son or daughter took the money, the goods, the earnings, the means, with which he could and should assist his poor and needy parents, and dedicated it to God as a sacrifice or free-will offering for the Temple, he did well. The Pharisees held the mere making of such a vow, the mere use of the expression Corban, for a service done to God, which could very well take precedence of the service due to parents. In doing so, they set aside even the plain truth of the Old Testament, Pro_28:24. The result of such teaching soon became evident: The honor due to parents was forgotten, the fact that they were God's substitutes was disregarded. Thus they literally set at naught the Word of God, and such instances could be multiplied. That was Christ's attack, one that showed the real relation of values.