Mark 7:1-23 “Out of the Heart of Men”
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 21 viewsPharisees and scribes challenges Jesus over His disciples not washing their hands... a violation of the tradition of men. Jesus, in turn, rebukes the religious leaders for hypocrisy and defiled hearts.
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Transcript
Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!
A quick update on our Women’s Conference in November. We have 38 women and young women registered! Isn’t that fantastic.
My daughter Elli… has invited many of her friends and 12 girls from Warsaw H.S. are registered. Proud of you El!
Ladies… be sure to invite the ladies in your life!
We have a highly respected Calvary Chapel speaker… and it’s going to be a fantastic conference.
Well… let’s now continue our chapter and verse journey through the Gospel of Mark… Please open your Bibles to Mark 7… Mark 7:1-23 today.
We left off where Jesus led His disciples into a storm on the Sea of Galilee for the second time.
Mark 4 & Mark 6 both record storms that Jesus uses to teach His disciples more about who He is.
Jesus was in the boat with the Disciples… sleeping in Mark 4, but when they cried out to Him… He calmed the storm with just a word.
A full display of His divinity to have power over the elements…
At the end of that encounter… the Disciples asked, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
A question they answered in Mark 6 when they came to the conclusion, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
It took the second storm in Mark 6… Jesus walking on water… and the storm ceasing upon Jesus getting in the boat… for the disciples to have a breakthrough… to come to this place of spiritual insight.
The feeding of the 5,000 didn’t bring them to this place… their hearts were hard to who Jesus was.
It was the storm that opened their eyes and brought them to a place of worshipping Jesus.
After the storm, they crossed over the Sea of Galilee to the North western shore… to the land of Gennesaret… where people came from all over to be healed by Jesus.
And, that glorious account of Jesus healing people in Gennesaret… and our account are linked and stand in contrast to one another…
Chapter 6 concluded with, "And as many as touched Him were made well.”
And, Chapter 7 begins, “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him...”
The word “then” in 7:1 is a conjunction that connects these two events… and what a contrast these religious leaders are to the marvelous work of God.
Today’s message is titled, “Out of the Heart of Men.”
Let’s Pray!
Mark 7:1-5 “Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold [meaning ‘passed down traditions that they observe’], like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.”
In the previous scene… Jesus was performing miracles on the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee in Gennesaret…
And, then the disciples return to Capernaum as recorded in John 6:22-71…
Now back in Capernaum, the Pharisees and Scribes come down from Jerusalem with ill intent towards Jesus.
Let’s take a moment and lay a foundation of understanding as to who these scribes and Pharisees are…
First, let’s understand their motives… the coming of the Pharisees and the scribes was not a good thing… because in Mark 3 we read they had committed to destroy or kill Jesus.
They set the stage to make an accusation against Jesus…
On Sabbath, they brought a man into synagogue with a withered hand…
If Jesus healed the man, by their reasoning… Jesus would have worked on the Sabbath and violated the law.
In the parallel account in Matt 12:11-12, Jesus explained to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
And, after Jesus commanded the man, “Stretch out your hand”, the man did and was restored… in Matt 12:14 we read, “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.”
That happened at the beginning of Jesus’ Second Year of ministry…
Now… fast forward now to our scene today… which is at the beginning of Jesus Third Year of ministry… “The Year of Opposition”....
The Pharisees and scribes are back… and they have bad intentions.
They are not fans of Jesus… they oppose Jesus and want to find evidence against Him, so they can destroy Him.
Messiah came from Heaven to Earth… He clearly fulfilled numerous prophecies… and the Religious leaders should have connected the dots… and interpreted the signs, but they were complacent… they were comfortable… and they had their own interest in mind… above God’s interests.
Their selfish motives were clearly revealed right after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead… but, before Jesus’ final week of ministry… His passion week…
Some of the Jews who saw the miracles went to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.
John 11:47-48 reads, “Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council [so this is the Sanhedrin] and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place [our Temple] and nation.”
And eventually Rome did… in 70 A.D.... not because of Jesus, but because of Jewish rebellions against Rome. The Sadduccees would all but disappear after 70 A.D. The Pharisees would live on and eventually would record all their traditions into the Mishnah around 200 A.D.… and their commentaries on the Mishnah in the Gemara.
It’s interesting that in John 11… the Pharisees confessed that Jesus truly worked signs…
The many miracles publically performed by Jesus was undeniable, AND STILL the Pharisees and other religious leaders would not submit to and worship Jesus as Lord.
Jesus had to go… because if Rome came and destroyed their Temple and Nation… what did that mean for Number One? The Pharisees would be out of a job.
The Jewish Government would be displaced and their national identity would be in jeopardy.
How ever would they be able to continue their corrupt money making schemes... like turning the temple into a den of thieves… if this Jesus were to continue spreading truth and coming against sin?
F. B. Meyer said, “Christianity endangers businesses, undermines profitable but wicked trades, steals away customers from the devil’s shrines, attacks vested interests, and turns the world upside down. It is a tiresome, annoying, profit-destroying thing.”
And, besides Jesus being bad for business… all the prideful things they loved were at risk...
Without the Temple and Nation, there would be no more attention from all the people who thought of them as so righteous and so holy when they publically prayed or fasted and disfigured their faces to let everyone know.
Jesus said, “But all their works they do to be seen by men.” (Matt 23:5)
In Mark 12:38-40, Jesus proclaimed, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense [for appearance’s sake] make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
These were the men who were supposed to be leading the nation spiritually…
But they were blind guides… the nation had no true spiritual leadership…
At the Feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus looked at all the people we read, He was “...moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd...”
Of the Religious Elite in Jerusalem the main groups were the Sadducees (who are not in this scene of Mark 7), the Pharisees, and the scribes…
The ruling High Council… called the Sanhedrin… was 70 men plus the High Priest… made up mostly of the Sadducees… though some Pharisees held some of the seats as well.
Sadducees held most of the seats because they were the wealthy and powerful elitist and aristocrats of Israel.
It was commendable that they preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses… however they held to numerous beliefs that contradicts scripture…
But, they denied many things… God’s involvement in daily life, the resurrection of the dead, the afterlife, spirits, and angels and demons.
They rejected all of these teachings.
The were more a political party versus a religious sect… today we would call them religious liberals… and this is not who we want to model our Christian life after.
And, there are Christians today that act like Sadduccees. Church and identifying as a Christian is like a country club or networking group to some. It’s good for business.
And, they feel like they can pick and choose what they want to believe in the word of God… denying certain teachings that don’t adhere to their lifestyle.
Pharisees were almost the exact opposite. They were highly religious orthodox Jews…
Today, the Religious Ultra Orthodox Jews are called Hasidic Jews… and in some regards they behave like Pharisees… which means “to separate”… and that was Hasidic Jews are known for… social seclusion and conservatism.
You see this in verses like Luke 18:11 “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.”
He set himself apart and thought himself better… even though he was just prideful.
Some call Pharisees conservative too, but this is really not the best description, because they took things too far…
Jesus condemned them in Matt 23 saying, “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
They were so concerned about tiny details to not violate the law that they “neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.”
They were legalists in the true sense of the word where they emphasized a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth.
Grace was not in their vocabulary.
And, they too… were
And, then there were the scribes… also called “lawyers” in the Bible.
These were ‘learned men who studied the Law, transcribed it, and wrote commentaries on it.’
And, they were often connected with the Pharisees.
So, back in Mark 7 vs. 1… I hope you feel the weight of the Pharisee and Scribes coming together… unifying with ill intent… coming down from Jerusalem… with all their pomp…
And, look at who they come against in V2… it’s not Jesus. It’s His disciples. They came to find fault with Jesus but they would find none…
And, they never would.
Many times they would try to trap Jesus violating the law, but Jesus would school them on the true intent of the law.
They were silent when Jesus asked in John 8:46 “Which of you convicts Me of sin?”
During Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin in Mark 14… they had to bring forth false witnesses against Jesus.
In Matt 27:4, when Judas returned the blood money to the chief priests, he confessed, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” Jesus was innocent.
Pilate proclaimed 3x “I find no fault in Him”… and tried to release Him… and washed his hands saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.”
So, since they couldn’t find fault with Him… the choose the next best thing… His followers. And, so often this is the same tactic that antagonists against Christ lower themselves to.
They look for anytime a Christian slips… in attitude… in mis-deed… oh they love when a Pastor falls into sin… that’s a headline.
If you come to church trying to find fault with Jesus, good luck… can you find fault with me or with this church, sure? Because I and the people of this church are all human… every church and every Pastor has faults.
But the greater fault… is the error of the Pharisees… seeking fault… with ill divisive motives.
People who relish in talking bad about the work of God in the church… they have the same heart issue as the Pharisees.
And, even more concerning is … Satan himself does the same thing. He is called the “accuser of the brethren, who accused them before our God day and night...” (Rev 12:10)
And, I wouldn’t try to emulate him because in that same verse (Rev 12:10) a loud voice in heaven shouts praise because the accuser has been cast down.
And these Pharisees and their accusations won’t stand either…
But, they come with an accusation regardless… looking to find fault, they observed that the disciples ate bread with hands that were defiled…
Perhaps they heard of the account of the feeding of the 5,000 and now they want to be health inspectors.
So, they accuse them, “Wash your hands before you eat! Say your prayers… Jesus and germs are everywhere!”
Some of you have a sign like that in your house.
And, those are good practices… physical and spiritually sanitation.
But, what’s different between us having good practices and the Pharisees… is we don’t view it as sinful if one doesn’t wash their hands.
Unsanitary… even gross, but not sinful.
When James said “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts...” (James 4:8), he speaks in a spiritual sense to make one’s conduct pure.
Here’s a different example of how we might see things different then Pharisees… You drop a donut on the ground, and you really wanted to eat that donut.
Well, you have the freedom to pick it up (even after 5-seconds), and if a little dirt and dog hair get stuck in the icing or the frosting… STILL, you can just pick that out, brush it off and eat it.
A little bit gross… sure, but it’s not sinful.
Pharisees wouldn’t see it that way.
And, truly… if you understand the scribes and Pharisees… you know this was not an issue as much about sanitary conditions… and MORE about ceremonial uncleanliness.
And, not from the Levitical law, but from tradition…
And, they were really serious about tradition…
Some Bible teachers quote the Jewish Talmud as saying…
“The words of the scribes are more lovely than the words of the law.”
And, “It is a greater crime to transgress the words of the school of Rabbi Hillel than the words of the Scripture.”
Also, “My son, attend to the words of the scribes more than the words of the law.”
Here me… man’s teaching and traditions are NEVER to be elevated above Scripture.
Still today, there are Religions that hold that equal weight is assigned to both tradition and scripture… and it’s wrong.
On Catholic.com for example… in an article entitled “Scripture and Tradition”…Catholics unapologetically defend the equal weight they hold to Scripture and Tradition…
I quote, “Protestants claim the Bible is the only rule of faith, meaning that it contains all of the material one needs for theology and that this material is sufficiently clear that one does not need apostolic tradition or the Church’s magisterium (teaching authority) to help one understand it. In the Protestant view, the whole of Christian truth is found within the Bible’s pages. Anything extraneous to the Bible is simply non-authoritative, unnecessary, or wrong. Catholics, on the other hand, recognize that the true “rule of faith”—as expressed in the Bible itself—is Scripture plus apostolic tradition...”
And, in that article they twist scriptures like 2 Tim 2:2 “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
And, interpret verses like that to mean that Tradition is equal to Scripture.
When Paul was actually exhorting Timothy to commit… not traditions, but the Scripture to faithful men who would teach them.
When Paul exhorted Titus how a Bishop (a faithful man) should live personally, he also added Titus 1:9 “… holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”
NOT Tradition, but the faithful word and sound doctrine…
Catholics today are caught in the same error as the Pharisees here in Mark 7.
Look again at V3… “For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.”
On YouTube…you can watch traditional hand washing ceremonies… Jews elevate their hands… wash, pray, and then dry their hands.
Got it? Elevate… wash, pray, dry.
NOT hands down where the dirty water drips down on your hands. Repeat step 1 if you do.
AND DO NOT dry your hands before you pray… that’s a ‘no no.’
And why??
In the musical… the Fiddler on the Roof… in the opening act... Tevye says the Jews cover their heads and wear prayer shawls…to ‘show their constant devotion to God.’ He says, ‘you may ask, “How did this tradition get started?”’ He replies, “I don’t know.”
And, that’s the way it is so often with tradition… in the first generation it made sense… there was a rationale…
Like when the Jews were taken captive in Babylon… they formed traditions to avoid that from ever happening again… but, by the second, and third, and fourth generations…
Who knows why things are done.
There was one Jewish tradition that a demon named “Shibta” would sit on your hands while you slept.
How weird is that?
So, if you didn’t wash… you’d get all those Shibta germs on your food and then you’d be unclean.
Many traditions were formed to create a mile wide hedge of protection around the law, so Jews couldn’t come close to breaking the law.
Rabbi Akiva, a leading contributor to the Mishnah (along with Rabbi Yehudah), was quoted expressing this very idea… He said, “Jesting and lightheadedness accustom a person to immorality. The oral transmission is a protective fence for the Torah. Tithes are a protective fence for wealth. Vows are a protective fence for abstinence. A protective fence for wisdom is silence.”
So, to avoid immorality… Joking around was frowned upon.
To avoid breaking the Torah (the Mosaic law)… the oral transmission or law was instated… and so forth.
And, the problem with what they were doing is they were ‘binding heavy burdens, hard to bear… laying them on men’s shoulders...”
The people were in bondage because they added to the law… as prescribed by men… and not by God. This is legalism.
Now… are all traditions bad?? Not at all. We have traditions.
We’re one of the most non-traditional churches and we still have traditions.
Like “being non-traditional”… that’s a tradition. A bunch of hippies and beach bums got saved in the 60’s and 70’s and no one was getting them to dress up in their “Sunday best”, so Calvary Chapel has a ‘come as you are type-attitude.” It’s a tradition.
Or, we teach ‘chapter-by-chapter and verse-by-verse’… we sing 4 songs in before the message and 1 after… we lift our hands in worship as we see examples, but not mandates in scripture of worshipping this way (like 1 Tim 2:8)…
And why do we do these things?
Well… I just told you… it’s tradition.
Traditions can be harmless and not bind burdens on men… nor break God’s law, but there are some traditions that are harmful.
Here’s a good example of a very slippery slope tradition… the Catholic tradition of Annulment…
In general, Catholic doctrine is not based solely on the Bible… doctrine is based on Scripture, and Church Tradition (as determined by the Catholic Teaching Office… the Magisterium which would include the Pope and the Bishops.
So, under their Declaration of Nullity (or Annulment) which could apply to any of their seven sacraments…
Annulment means the sacrament in question was never valid…therefore the recipient is view as though they never received the sacrament.
…and marriages are sometimes annulled.
Holy Matrimony is well holy… so the official position of the Catholic Church is a married couple cannot divorce for any reason.
But, a marriage can be annulled. Over half of annulments are granted for what’s called “defect of form”… like getting married by a non-Catholic minister… like a Calvary Chapel Pastor… especially Calvary Chapel Pastors. (I actually added that, but it’s probably true).
And, I think you can see how this is already slippery, but check this out…
Remember, during the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus taught about divorce?
First of all, He permitted divorce for adultery… so that goes against the Catholic teaching, but also look specifically at His words in…
In the NKJV Matt 5:32 reads "But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery..."
But in the Catholic Bible, the NAB, Matt 5:32 reads "But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery..."
This choice of words… “unlawful marriage” is not the proper definition for the Gk word pŏrnĕia which means “harlotry, fornication, unchastity.”
But, “unlawful marriage” sure does support Catholic doctrine… and this is a perfect example of how a tradition is so dangerous… because they altered the word of God to support their unbiblical tradition.
And, pray for people who are caught in religious systems. Some of them truly love Jesus, but others get very mislead…
And, think salvation comes by church membership, keeping traditions, good works…
They don’t know relationship with Jesus Christ… only religion…
Remember what Jesus taught in Matt 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
That’s the difference between religion and relationship.
Matt 7 reflected false followers… Jesus never knew them.
But, it’s incredibly difficult for people to break from religion. In fear, they think they will literally go to hell.
They can clearly read the contradictions of their traditions compared to scripture, but they are stuck.
And, their whole families are caught in these religious systems… to break from it means chastisement… even being ostracized by their families.
So, pray for those ensnared by tradition and religion.
I was raised Catholic… and the majority of my family to this day is Catholic, and they can’t break from it.
I went through the Catholic Sacraments of Confirmation and Confession around the age of 15, and my parents asked, “Do you want to still go to church?”
And, I said, “No.” I stopped going to church. I was just getting into drugs and my mind was elsewhere.
Hey… and if it weren’t for drugs… who knows? I might have been stuck in religion as well.
That’s a weird silver lining.
Quickly, in V4, Mark aslo shared a number of other traditions help by the scribes and Pharisees… traditions on washing cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches (dining couches that is).
They developed thirty some chapters around these topics in the Mishnah.
If you go to the Western Wall in Israel, you can see some of these ceremonial hand washing cups. I have a slide of one of these stations.
The cups used are two handled… so you can cleanse one hand… and avoid the dirty hand touching the clean hand.
I do wonder if they did one of those germ tests on the handles what they would find though.
In Matt 23:25-26 Jesus rebuked them saying, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. [not the cups, but they themselves!] 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
And, what Jesus was driving at was they had a heart issue… which Jesus exposes next…
Mark 7:5-8 “Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
In these four verses, we see that the scribes and Pharisees now take action. They found fault that the disciples were guilty of violating… NOT Scripture, but tradition…
So, they come to Jesus with a disingenuous question in V5… ‘why don’t your disciples follow tradition?’
And, they are not really looking for an answer, but a debate… and they are looking for more material to firm up their position.
Their minds are closed and made up… they feel the disciples are guilty and wrong.
Sometimes people come to me wanting to debate… I don’t have time nor interest in that.
Honest questions from open and seeking hearts… all day long I’ll engage in those conversations.
But, not debates.
And, Jesus didn’t have time for it either. Notice He doesn’t answer their question, but flips the script and calls them out.
He saw through their trap… and look as how delicate and PC Jesus is here in VSS 6-7…
Oh wait, He’s not delicate at all… He rightly calls them “hypocrites”…
In Matthew’s parallel account the Pharisees accuse the disciples of transgressing the tradition of elders… and Jesus gives it right back to them accusing them of transgressing the commandments of God.
Transgression is open rebellion. It’s knowing wrong and doing wrong anyway.
And, Jesus even sights that they are a fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah 29:13.
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ (i.e., traditions)
Jesus lays out two facets of their hypocrisy…
One was… external profession that lack internal relationship and reverence of God. They drew close with their words, but their hearts were distant.
And, two… They set aside the word of God for tradition. They only had religion… just an outward show grounded in their traditions.
Imagine how that felt… Jesus saying you fulfill a prophecy that speaks about a people who hypocrites… who are not genuine.
Their hearts were so hardened like cement, that Jesus had to give them a dynamite amount of truth if He was to ever break through.
And sometimes, when dealing with a heart that is so caught up in legalism, the most loving thing you can do is to be heavy on truth.
Jesus calls them hypocrites. Gk hupŏkritēs meaning a stage player or actor.
The same person would wear two different faces in back to back scenes. They were two-faced or hypocrites. They were pretenders by def.
And, the scribes and Pharisees were pretending to worship God, but their hearts were set on the world… on personal gain… on personal glory…
In V8, Jesus charged them with abandoning Scripture for tradition.
I like the ESV translation of V8, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
I don’t know how Catholics can justify their position of tradition when reading a verse like that.
Or, when reading one of the many verses that command that we not add to God’s law such as…
Deut 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
Continuing on, Jesus further charges them…
This is one of those conversations where you think you’re just going to slip in some sly comment and it blows up in your face…
Personally, I don’t deal well with that kind of nonsense…
And, apparently Jesus told it like it is as well… look at…
Mark 7:9-13 “He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. [Do you get the sense that Jesus is not too big on the traditions of men?] 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; [Exo 20:12 The 5th of the 10 Commandments] and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ [Ex 21:17 & Lev 20:9; Look at that… Jesus quotes Scripture, NOT Traditions of other Rabbis] 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God) [kŏrban by def. means “anything consecrated to God], 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
So, in their hypocrisy… and masterful ways of selfishly finding loopholes and circumventing God’s laws… the Jews were greatly dishonoring their parents by claiming they couldn’t help them financially because their money was Corban… dedicated to God.
In those days, there was NO Social Security, retirement funds, medicare, No pension plans (not that they broadly exist today) … No Assisted living facilities… the Elderly parents relied on their kids.
And, so imagine a parent… who lived uprightly… lovingly changed their kids diapers, and now it was the kids turn to change their parents diapers.
Because that’s the arrangement. I changed your diapers when you were young, and when I get old you change mine. Or, at least make sure someone will.
But, these hypocritical scribes and Pharisees… the ones who were supposed to set the tone for the Nation… were absolving themselves of the 5th Commandment by this tradition, and abandoning their parents as V12 highlights.
And, how convenient that they were in the service to God… and dedicated their money to God… one must wonder, did they actually give their money to the Temple… or simply justify keeping it since they are servants of God?
And, so they justified this Corban tradition over Scripture (V13)… and Jesus also stated in V13, “And many such things you do.”
Meaning, this was just one of many examples of ways they circumvented scripture with their traditional teachings.
There are 613 Laws/ Mitzvot (commandments) in the OT.
248 postive (“Do”) and 365 negative (“Don’t do”)… and this was all they needed.
But, insanely they added far more traditions… some of which were ways they could ignore or bend the law.
And, so Jesus let’s them have it. He calls them out.
Notice there is no response recorded from the scribes and Pharisees… they probably had their heads down…
Actually… in their hard hearts and pride they probably still kept their heads up… and glared at Jesus.
And, then Jesus in done with the scribes and Pharisees and now addresses the people… to teach them the truth.
Mark 7:14-16 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
This phrase in V16 “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” is a common phrase Jesus used when teaching parables to the masses.
And, this was a parable according to V17…
A parable means to “throw alongside”… taking a common or earthly truth and casting alongside a spiritual truth.
He did this to conceal truth from unbeliever, to reveal truth to believers, and to fulfill prophecy… which He explained to His disciples in Mark 4:11-12.
So, in this verse, Jesus only gives the multitude something to chew on.
Food from without does not defile, meaning “make common” or “unclean.”
What defiles is what comes out of a person.
But, He doesn’t explain to the multitude of common people His exact meaning.
Those who were not spiritually dull would chew on this and find meaning… and those who would seek to persecute Him… this saying would be veiled to their understanding.
This was a smart move… because the Pharisees were still present… seething in anger…
Matthew recorded in Matt 15:12-14 that after Jesus said this to the multitude, “Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
This is a sad pronouncement… they were tares, not wheat… and spiritually blind leaders of blind followers… indicating they were not saved even though they had religion.
And, the ditch they were heading towards… well I bet it was deep and hot.
In contrast, Ps 92:13-14 reflects on believers, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing...”
What a beautiful reflection on the believer: planted by God...fresh, flourishing, and bearing fruit still in old age.
In the next scene, Jesus and the disciples have a private conversation… probably back in Peter’s house…
As was customary, the disciples want a deeper explanation…
Mark 7:17-23 “When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. 18 So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also?[The disciples were a bit dull at times too… be thankful Jesus is patient with us] Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” [Food is just food. The process is ‘fridge, mouth, belly, toilet.’ That defiles no one. Your nose might feel defiled if you step into the wrong part of someone else’s process, but that’s a different story] V20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Now in a private conversation, Jesus reveals the interpretation of the parable.
In VSS 18-19… Jesus explains food is not the issue.
Later, in a vision Jesus would tell Peter, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” And, there was food before him that was not kosher.
Peter replied, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
‘Not, so Lord’ are three words that should never exist in the same sentence.
Jesus was leading Peter to see past tradition… and to be open to something much deeper then food… to evangelize the Gentiles.
But, this food issue was so ingrained in the Jews, and they needed to get past it.
Because God’s heart was for the Gentiles… for all people. And, the Jews and their traditions created tremendous issues of the heart… hatred, prejudice, pride… all the sins listed in VSS 21-22…
The heart issue was the real issue that caused defilement.
This is what was wrong with the religious leaders… it was a matter of the heart.
They came with hatred… evil intents… murder on the mind… deception in their questioning… ensnarement was the goal in their foolish attempts… they were jealous of Jesus because they carried much pride… and no doubt they cast an evil eye at him…
VSS 21-22 kind of describe the depth of depravity and sinfulness that Jesus saw in the scribe and Pharisees during this encounter…
And, we all need to beware, because we all have a heart issue. You can be justified, and in process of being sanctified… but you’re not yet glorified…
So, “guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The heart is tricky…
Jer 17:9 proclaims, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
In Matt 12:34-35, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees saying, “For out of the abundance [or overflow] of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
Our mouths are just a reflection of what’s happening in our hearts… good or evil.
In Ps 51:10, David wrote, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
Create in that verse in Hebrew is bā·rā- (same as Gen 1:1)… meaning “to make something that has not been in existence before.”
To create something from nothing.
David recognized he had been “brought forth in iniquity” and never had his heart been clean… and so he cried out to God.
Worship team, you can come…
As we wrap up today maybe that’s your cry as well… you need a clean heart…
Maybe you recognize that you wear two faces at times… hypocrisy has been an issue in your heart…
Jesus doesn’t want religious hypocrites, He wants faithful followers…
Or, maybe you wrestle with religion… and you just want to peel it all back and enter into an authentic relationship with Jesus. No show… no traditions… just reality.
Let’s do this… if you recognize you need prayer for these things… to get your heart right before God… go ahead and raise your hand…
We’ll close in prayer…sing one last worship song… and just right where you are… the people around you… go pray with that person…
If you need prayer for anything raise your hand now…
People around that person take note…
I’m going to close us in prayer, and then as our worship team sings this last song… people around the people with their hands raised… go pray with them during our last song.
Let’s pray!
God is calling us to be authentic Christians.
To honor Him with our lips AND our hearts.
To worship Him in spirit and truth.
And to teach His commandments.
Go and do those things this week ahead.