That Which Defiles - Mark 7
That Which Defiles
7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.'
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Today Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The presenting issue was the disciples were eating food with unwashed hands. There were some laws concerning what was clean and unclean but the elders went beyond the basic teachings of the Law and added their own traditions. So Jesus here gives us several symptoms of hypocrisy including:
1. They give lip service to Jesus but their actions betray the condition of their hearts. Their walk didn't match their talk.
2. Their worship was in vain. It was driven by human personality rather than the Holy Spirit leading people into the presence of God.
3. They actually don't even observe God's commands as summarized in the Ten Commandments, but create their own version of what is right.
4. They were neglecting the 4th commandment of honoring your mother and father, by hyper spiritualizing and saying the resources that could be given to help their parents needed to go in their so called devoted to God treasuries.
5. Finally the kicker. He says you do many things like that. Their lives are characterized by this kind of duplicity.
Does any of this look familiar? Do you see any of things present in the modern church? In you/me? I do!!!
7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.'
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
Today Jesus confronts the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The presenting issue was the disciples were eating food with unwashed hands. There were some laws concerning what was clean and unclean but the elders went beyond the basic teachings of the Law and added their own traditions. So Jesus here gives us several symptoms of hypocrisy including:
1. They give lip service to Jesus but their actions betray the condition of their hearts. Their walk didn't match their talk.
2. Their worship was in vain. It was driven by human personality rather than the Holy Spirit leading people into the presence of God.
3. They actually don't even observe God's commands as summarized in the Ten Commandments, but create their own version of what is right.
4. They were neglecting the 4th commandment of honoring your mother and father, by hyper spiritualizing and saying the resources that could be given to help their parents needed to go in their so called devoted to God treasuries.
5. Finally the kicker. He says you do many things like that. Their lives are characterized by this kind of duplicity.
Does any of this look familiar? Do you see any of things present in the modern church? In you/me? I do!!!
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