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MARCH 1
25 When the whirlwind passes by, the
wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting
29:1 mighty ones. Literally,“sons of God”(see foundation.
Ps.89:6 in its context of vv.5–10;see the plural
form of “gods”in Ex. 15:11).The reference here Mark 7:1–13
in Psalm 29 is most likely to Yahweh’s mighty Then the Pharisees and some of the
angels. 7 scribes came together to Him, having
2
come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw
Worship the LORD in the beauty some of His disciples eat bread with defiled,
of holiness. that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat
The voice of the LORD is over unless they wash their hands in a special way,
3
the waters; holding the tradition of the elders. When they
4
The God of glory thunders; come from the marketplace, they do not eat
The LORD is over many waters. unless they wash. And there are many other
The voice of the LORD is powerful; things which they have received and hold, like
4
The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels,
5 The voice of the LORD breaks and couches.
the cedars, 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him,
Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars “Why do Your disciples not walk according to
of Lebanon. the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with
He makes them also skip like a calf,
6 unwashed hands?”
Lebanon and Sirion like a young 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did
wild ox. Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is writ-
ten:
Proverbs 10:22–25
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, But their heart is far from Me.
22
And He adds no sorrow with it. 7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God,
10:22 rich. While having more than one
needs is not the object of wisdom, it is gener- you hold the tradition of men—the washing of
ally the result (see Deut. 6:11–15; 1 Kin. pitchers and cups, and many other such
3:10–14). no sorrow. None of the sorrow that things you do.”
is associated with ill-gotten wealth (see 13:11; 9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the
15:6; 16:19; 21:6; 28:6) is associated with commandment of God, that you may keep
10
wealth provided by the Lord. your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your
father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses
father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But
11
you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother,
To do evil is like sport to a fool, “Whatever profit you might have received
23
But a man of understanding has from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God),
wisdom. 12 then you no longer let him do anything for
The fear of the wicked will come upon his father or his mother, making the word of
24 13
him, God of no effect through your tradition which
And the desire of the righteous will be you have handed down. And many such
granted. things you do.”
DAY 1:What did the washing of hands have to do with spirituality?
In Mark 7:1, a delegation of leading representatives of Judaism came from Jerusalem perhaps
at the request of the Galilean Pharisees. They immediately found fault with the disciples of Jesus,
accusing them of eating with hands that had not been ceremonially cleansed and, thus, that had
not been separated from the defilement associated with their having touched anything profane (v.
2).This washing had nothing to do with cleaning dirty hands but with a ceremonial rinsing.The cer-
emony involved someone pouring water out of a jar onto another’s hands, whose fingers must be

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