In Mark 7:1-23 Jesus debated with the religious elite about the source of true goodness. They believed it came from following the rules; Jesus taught that it came from the inside out. Isaiah 29:13
Start by contrasting the two famous 29:13’s in the Bible:
- Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT) “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”
- PG theme verse, one of the most powerful promises in history
- Isaiah 29:13 (NLT) And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”
- A verse Jesus quotes in today’s passage, calling out religion that misses point
- Are you missing the point of a pursuit of God?
Age-old Tradition
The religious elite were worried about washing their hands rather than cleansing their hearts. This came from the “tradition of the elders,” meaningless rules that missed the whole point of the Law. Mark 7:1-8
Mark 7:1-5 (NLT) One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
- Explain “tradition of the elders”
- (Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Abridged Edition (2 Volumes)) 3-4 Mark felt it necessary to explain to his Gentile readers the Jewish custom of ceremonial handwashing, a custom based on the “tradition of the elders,” a great mass of oral tradition that had arisen about the law. Its purpose was to regulate a person’s life completely, and it was passed on from one generation to the next one as binding regulations.
- What are some of our meaningless rituals?
Mark 7:6-8 (NLT) Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
- Explain hypocrisy
- Explain context for Isaiah 29?
Cancel Culture
The religious elite inadvertently canceled the Word of God with their legalism. We can do the same thing today with our antinomianism – following an “anything goes” mentality with God’s Law. Mark 7:9-13
Mark 7:9-13 (NLT) Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”
- Notice: Jesus is not canceling the Law
- He’s saying that some traditions cancel it!
- Jesus loves God’s law (ie, God’s word) and perfectly fulfills/keeps it
- He hates the misappropriation of it – “canceling the word of God”
- for religious purposes (legalism, as here)
- for irreligious purposes (antinomianism, as today)
What Defiles
It was radical back then to say that every kind of food (or person) can be acceptable in God’s eyes. Today’s culture needs to hear an equally radical truth: sin is for real, and it’s inside everyone of us. Mark 7:14-23
Mark 7:14-19 (NLT) Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
- Radical for back then
- Mark is about to talk about Gentiles; this passage opens the door to some of the issues we’ll be covering in the weeks ahead. It’s not just about acceptable food; it’s about acceptable people.
- Radical for right now
- Not that all people are acceptable (we get that already)
- …but that all people are defiled
- That’s what our culture has thrown out
- Anything goes, antinomianism
Mark 7:20-23 (NLT) And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
- The first sin list in the New Testament! (see Gal 5)
- There IS right and wrong
- God DOES care about how we live
- Jesus is not just against legalism; he’s also against antinomianism
- Are you missing the point of a pursuit of God?
- For many Jews in Jesus’ day it was empty, man-made rules
- For many today it’s the opposite – throwing out all the rules
- Both are missing the point
Gospel
- God begins to change us from the inside out the moment we trust Jesus to save us. The result, over time, is a life that honors God.
- Romans 3:22-23 (NLT) We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
