Mark 7 · Grade 4

From the Heart

Name Date

Read and Think

Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem noticed that some disciples ate with unwashed hands. Mark explains that the Pharisees had many rules about washing hands, cups and pots. Jesus called them hypocrites, quoting Isaiah: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." He showed how they used a rule called Corban to avoid helping their parents. This cancelled God's command.

Jesus told the crowd that nothing outside a person can defile him by going in. Later He explained to His disciples that food goes into the stomach, not the heart. Mark adds that Jesus declared all foods clean. Evil thoughts and actions, such as theft, greed, envy and pride, come from within. They defile a person.

In the region of Tyre, a Greek woman begged Jesus to help her daughter. Jesus tested her faith, and she humbly replied that even the dogs eat the children's crumbs. Jesus healed her daughter. In the Decapolis, He healed a deaf man, saying, "Ephphatha!" The crowds were astonished: "He has done all things well."

Show What You Know

Why did Jesus call the Pharisees hypocrites?
What was the Corban tradition used for?
What did Mark say Jesus declared about foods?
Name three things Jesus said come from the heart.

Think About It

Why is changing our heart more important than following outward rules?
The Greek woman kept asking humbly. What does her example teach about coming to Jesus?

Memory Verse

“There is nothing from outside of the man that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.”

Mark 7:15 (WEB)

Copy It

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for this Bible story. Help me to . Amen.

Take It Home

For families: talk about these together.

What can you ask God to change on the inside of you?
People said He has done all things well. Where have you seen God do things well?