Chapter 7:14-23 The Heart of Man

7:14 And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand:
He said unto them, hearken to Me every one of you, and understand - signifying, He had something of moment to say to them.

7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
There is nothing from without a man - As any sort of food and drink, whether it be received, with, or without washing of the hands:
that entering into him can defile him; in a moral sense, or render him loathsome and unacceptable in the sight of God:
but the things which come out of him - the Arabic: version reads, "out of the mouth of man", for all sinful words which proceed from the imaginations and lusts of the heart; as all idle, unchaste, blasphemous, and wrathful words and expressions: and may include evil thoughts, words, and actions; which actions first in thought, take their rise from the corrupt heart of man; 

--and in word, come out of the mouth; 

--and in action, are performed by some one or other of the members of the body.

7:16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
let him hear - A way of speaking used by Christ, when anything serious, and of great importance, was delivered; and which required attention, and was not easily understood.

7:17 And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.
His disciples, asked in private, an explication of the instructions He gave the people. They asked Him, when they had Him by Himself, concerning the parable; for to them, it seems, it was a parable.

7:18 And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
He reproves their dulness; Are ye so without understanding also?

7:19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
Because it entereth not into his heart - Which is the seat and fountain of all moral pollution.

7:20 And He said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
It is that which comes out from the heart, the corrupt heart, that defiles us.

7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
The inside of man is very bad, his inward part is not only wicked, but wickedness itself, yea, very wickedness, in him dwells no good thing naturally, his heart is wicked, and desperately so; it is full of evil; and out of the abundance of it, proceed the evil things hereafter mentioned; all its powers and faculties are vitiated, there is no place clean; 

--the understanding and judgment are dreadfully corrupted; 

--the mind and conscience are defiled; 

--the affections are inordinate; 

--not only the thought, but every imagination of the thought of the heart is evil.

7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Thefts, etc.-.... These also are mentioned in Matthew, but Mark omits "false witnesses", and adds the following; which, excepting "blasphemy".

7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Of all these He concludes 

1. That they come from within, from the corrupt nature, the carnal mind, the evil treasure in the heart; all this comes from within. 

2. That they defile the man; they render a man unfit for communion with God, they bring a stain upon the conscience; and, if not mortified and rooted out, will shut men out of the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean thing shall enter.

Chapter 7:1-13 Followers of Tradition

7:1 Then came together unto Him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
Came from Jerusalem - Probably for the express purpose of disputing with Christ, that they might entangle Him in His talk.

7:2 And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
eat bread with defiled (that is to say, with unwashen) hands, and
they found fault; with them, and charged them with the breach of the traditions of the elders.

7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
For the Pharisees, and all the Jews - The far greater part of them; all, excepting the Sadducees; and especially the Pharisees, were very tenacious of this tradition of washing hands before eating:

7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

They took special care, when they came in from the markets, to wash their hands; from the judgment-halls, so some; it signifies any place of concourse where there were people of all sorts, and, it might be supposed, some heathen or Jews under a ceremonial pollution.

7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why walk not Thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked Him - Not the disciples, but Christ Himself; for their chief view was to find fault, and quarrel with Him.

7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

They honor Me with their lips - they pretend it is for the glory of God that they impose those things, to distinguish themselves from the heathen; but really their heart is far from God, and is governed by nothing but ambition and covetousness.

7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
He reproves them for their hypocrisy in pretending to honor God, when really they had no such design in their religious observances.

7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
For laying aside the commandment of God - Meaning not any particular commandment, but all the commandments of God, the whole written law; to which they preferred the oral law, or the traditions of the elders, and the decisions of their doctors.

7:9 And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition - these words may be considered, as spoken ironically, thus; as pious men, you reject and make void the commandments and laws of God; and it is very fit it should be so, in order to preserve your own traditions.

7:10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
and whoso curseth father or mother - As the former of these commands is to be understood, not only of honoring parents in thought, word, and deed, but also of providing for them, when in want and distress, through poverty and old age; so the latter is to be interpreted, not merely of wishing or imprecating the most dreadful things upon parents, which some may not be guilty of, and yet transgress this command; but likewise of every slight put upon them, and neglect of them, when in necessitous circumstances.

7:11 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.
if a man shall say to his father or his mother, it is Corban, that is to say, a gift - in the same manner is this word interpreted by Josephus, who speaking of some that call themselves Corban unto God, says (u) in the Greek tongue, , "this signifies a gift": now, according to the traditions of the elders, whoever made use of that word to his father or his mother, signifying thereby, that what they might have expected relief from at his hands, he had devoted it; or it was as if it was devoted to sacred uses; adding, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free; and not under any obligation to regard and relieve his parents, let their case and circumstances be what they would. This is the form of a vow, which a man having made on purpose, to free himself from the charge of the maintenance of his parents.

7:12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
If his parents be in want and he has wherewithal to help them, but has no mind to do it, let him swear by the Corban, that is, by the gold of the temple, and the gift upon the altar, that his parents shall not be profited by him, that he will not relieve them; and, if they ask any thing of him, let him tell them this, and it is enough; as if by the obligation of this wicked vow he had discharged himself from the obligation of God's holy law.

7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Making the word of God of none effect, through your tradition -  Beza says, in his most ancient copy it is read, "your foolish tradition"; that rather than break this, he should transgress a divine command; 

These eager imposers of such ceremonies, 

at first only made light of God's commandments 

in comparison with their traditions, 

but afterward made void God's commandments, 

if they stood in competition with them.