Mark 7: 1-23
What's Inside?

You must understand that these men, these Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem, who get upset with Jesus about washing hands before dinner are proud to be Jews.  They are proud because they know (truly) and believe (truly) that the God of the Bible, the God of the Old Testament, the God of Moses and David has chosen the Jewish people to be set apart to himself as the nation through whom he will show himself to the world.  They remember God’s words through Moses before he gave the 10 commandments, 

(Exodus 19:4-6) You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.  5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;  6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. 

The Bible says that the people of Israel, the sons of Abraham, were delivered from 400 years of slavery in Egypt in order to be set apart as a priestly nation -- a nation especially called to show the ways of God to other nations by following his law.  But Israel could only fulfill this role properly IF she obeyed God and kept his covenant commandments. 

The Jews of Jesus’ day were a long way from the time of Moses and God’s promises at the Exodus.  By the time of Jesus Israel had long since failed in her call to be faithful to God.  She had been shattered by civil war, then eventually conquered and re-conquered by Assyria, Babylon, and Persia.  The Jewish Temple had been built, destroyed, and rebuilt in Jerusalem during the thousand years preceding Christ.  The Jewish people had failed and suffered by breaking covenant with YHWH, their God.  But now (in Jesus’ day) many Jews were living back home in Judea with their temple restored, but only under pagan-Roman control. 

The Pharisees and scribes who confront Jesus of Nazareth have been trying to lead God’s people to full obedience.  They truly (and rightly) believe that if all the Jewish people begin to obey God’s commandments, then God will bless them and put Rome out of the way.  They want everybody to start obeying God; it’s not a bad thing to want, but (the problem is) they think that the best way to obey God is to honor the traditions which they themselves (and their forefathers) have set up, oral traditions about maintaining purity and preserving Jewish identity, traditions that are supposedly based on God’s Word, but not written in God’s word.  They were so concerned to obey the law that they built-up a new law-code around the true law of God.  And this new law was supposed to protect people from even getting close to disobeying the real law.  It was what the Rabbi’s themselves called “a fence around the law.”  The theory was – if we go above and beyond then we’ll really get it right.  Under Moses it was primarily only the priests (working in the temple) who were required to carry out such ritual washings, but the Pharisees wanted the priestly washings applied to everybody.  You see, the problem was that in all of their focus on the law, and their zeal for religious tradition, the scribes and Pharisees really began to focus on themselves.  They became so enamored with their own clever schemes about proper religion and Jewish purity that their traditions had actually eclipsed the meaning of the real commandments, the real Word of God.  It’s what we call legalism, when religious tradition begins to supersede relationship with God (and it can happen very easily, very subtly).  Jesus says that the Pharisees have failed to understand the very problem which prophets like Isaiah had condemned.  Jesus does not mince words here. 

Mark 7:6-9   6 And he 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 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 

The repetition is emphatic. 

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."  9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 

Jesus is claiming that their petty new purity standards according to tradition had effectively shifted all attention away from genuine obedience and love of God.  It was a self-centered effort at religion, not a God centered effort. 

The Pharisees hated Jesus (we know they hated him cf. 3) because he claimed to honor God’s word but he refused to follow their traditions.  They will end up crucifying the Son of God; they will kill the very Messiah that they’ve been hoping for because they have become blinded by commitment to their own standards. 

*** We in the church are also commonly inclined to think that we can somehow maintain purity ourselves by observing religious practice and by keeping close tabs on how we encounter the outside world.  We like to think that if we are careful about what we take in from outside; what we see and hear and taste and touch, then we will be safe, protected from defilement by our traditional fence, effectively avoiding contamination by wicked things. 

*** We hope that if we keep good hygiene and abide by family tradition and church custom that we will somehow keep ourselves holy – or at least stay on good terms with our neighbors.  But Jesus explains that you cannot keep yourself holy if you are not holy to begin with.  Whatever zeal you may have for religion and however carefully you try to avoid contamination from outside things, the problem is (according to Jesus) that you will keep stumbling over your own heart.  It’s hard to stay clean when you are carrying a tainted vessel within you.  It’s hard to avoid defilement when we ourselves are filled with contamination. 

The message to the scribes and Pharisees and to us is that despite all of our efforts at saving face and keeping pure.

God knows what’s inside of you.  And…more importantly…

God sent Jesus to cleanse what’s inside of you. 

Our hope and confidence today is that our God deals with more than just the externals in our lives.  He saves the whole person.  As Messiah, Jesus did come to restore the Jews, but as Paul makes clear (in accord with Jesus here)…a real Jew – a real child of the kingdom – is not someone who washes their hands before dinner, or even someone who is circumcised on the eighth day.  The true Jew, Paul says in Romans is the person who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their life.  The person who recognizes that the Son of God came to die because of what’s inside of us. 

That the message of Mark’s gospel.  That Jesus came to die and rise in order cleanse the sort defilement and uncleanness which resides in our own hearts. 

In the coming chapters, Jesus will announce his death and resurrection three times over.  And after the third time (ch. 10) he explains the purpose that “…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

Jesus intends to pay the price for sin.  The good news is that you cannot do it yourself, you cannot cleanse the heart without knowing Jesus.  The Bible teaches that the ransom price of Jesus’ blood was required in order to cleanse the defilement that we could never cleanse away by our own efforts. 

Do you look to Jesus to cleanse your heart?  Or are you still trying the follow some sort of a code that makes you clean in the eyes of God and men?  Are you doing things to protect your own reputation, but never finding freedom of conscience?  Do your efforts at obedience lead you to love other people and to praise God, or do you get stuck obsessing over your own petty notions of purity?  God has not left us to ourselves to seek cleansing and muster up obedience.  He sent his own Son to die as a ransom for many, to accept the curse of your defilement upon himself, and to save you from the burden of your sins if you will only trust him to do so.  If you need cleansing from inward defilement this morning, set your faith on Jesus.  Stop trying to overcome on your own terms.  He can lead you into true obedience, obedience that moves beyond lip-service to the place of your own heart. 

Do you believe that avoiding outward defilement will be enough, or do you realize that there is a stain inside? 

“Corban”

Jesus offers an example case of how the tradition of the Pharisees reveals their hearts. 

Corban – a vow – something like our concept of deferred giving – contract putting your assets aside to be given to the church upon death, but during your life you still benefit from the interest (not the same, but a similar vow).

A Jew could declare his property dedicated to God, and therefore have a solid excuse for neglecting his own elderly parents (it seems the world hasn’t changed that much in 2000 years – how many times do we hear about adult children swindling and short-changing their ailing parents and grandparents). 

So the great irony is that the Pharisees can use the tradition of the elders to dishonor their own parents. 

App:  Here’s a great way to check whether or not you are a functioning as a legalist or a mere traditionalist in living out the Christian life.  Here’s the test: does your Christian observance – your worship, study, prayer, and service – lead you into relationship with other people or is it isolating you from other people?  The Corban vow was supposedly a way of showing piety and religious commitment, but it effectively provided an excuse to cut off true filial fellowship with father and mother.  Often our commitment to the church will lead us to break with family in various was, to break with family traditions that are ungodly, for example, or even to miss out on family gatherings because of church commitments, mission commitments.  But there is a difference between that sort of separation and a false piety that says I don’t have to care for them anymore. 

Perhaps some of you have parents who are unbelieving, who reject Christianity for whatever reason.  Your may be tempted to say, “Now I’m a Christian I don’t have to really deal with them anymore.”   That is a great wickedness.  Watch out for it!  It’s true what Jesus says here: the death penalty, capital punishment was proscribed for those who cursed their parents.  (Both parents had to agree to this, and (according to Moses) they had to take part in the execution, so it probably didn’t happen very much.)  But the point is that there is something about honoring parents that is tantamount to honoring God. 

Our relationships with people reflect the character of our relationship to God. 

Obedience leads us into loving relationship and submission, even unto those who may be difficult for us to relate to, and especially unto parents.  Honoring parents does not entail that you obey them at every turn, that you follow their will instead of God – NO – but honoring parents does mean that you support them in their old age (make no mistake).  If you have become a Christian and your parents do not agree with your choice, or if you sense that God is leading you into a greater maturity of faith than you’ve known in your Christian parents, then of course your relationship with them will change and it should – but even with most difficult parental relationships, even where there is abuse, deep brokenness and pain, you should never allow your faith in Jesus Christ to become an excuse to cut off that relationship entirely or to neglect their need in old age. 

(Aside: Jesus emphasizes honoring father and mother.)

Your relationships with people will reflect your relationship with God. 

Illus: Sometimes it’s disturbing to look inside of something. 

I’m going to tell you a bad story. 

When I was (~)9 years old our family moved into a new house.  It was an in-town move with a lot of back and forth between the two homes.  So one summer afternoon we stop by the old house to pick up a few last things and I’m delighted to find that my half a can of coca-cola is still in the fridge where I had left it the week before.  So I pull out the can and take a few big gulps, and I felt this big lump go down my throat.  And I remember thinking there’s not supposed to be lumps in coca-cola.  I wonder what I just drank?  I didn’t really want to look inside the can at that point.  After all, the can looked quite clean on the outside. I was so thirsty that I really just wanted to take another sip and pretend like I never swallowed that lump, and I was afraid (if I looked into it) I was going to find something nasty inside the can.  I noticed that the coke was also quite warm and so I decided I had better look into things.  So I did, and what did I find – big moldy lumps floating around in the coca-cola.  It was a bad experience.  Turns out the refrigerator was unplugged, and did I mention this can was already open.  It was nasty.  I wanted to vomit. 

Anyway, it seems to me that Jesus is saying we can be a lot like that coke can.  Shiny and clean on the outside – you can picture it right – a bright red background with white coca-cola emblem scripted along the sides, sitting alone in the refrigerator just waiting to refresh you on that warm summer day.  But just take drink from what’s inside, and you’ll be ready to vomit. 

App: It’s easy for you and I to have noble ideas about what’s inside of us.  We are after all made in the image of God, and that’s true, you are God’s good creation and God loves you because he delights in what he has made.  But the Bible teaches that the good creation entered into corruption at the point man and woman trusted their own wisdom instead of the Word of God. 

Popular religion and pseudo self-help wisdom in our society would have you believe that if you will just look deeply inside yourself you will find the integrity of who you really are.  If you can just get Centered with yourself, and tap into your unrealized human potential, then you will discover what a wonderful person you are.  You will find the goodness and love and truth you need to guide you through life inside your own heart.  You should learn to heed your passions and become a disciple of your own heart.  “Follow you Bliss.” – Said Joseph Campbell, the famous mythologists advising people inclined toward religion in the New Age movement.  But Jesus has something different to say to us this morning about what happens when you look inside yourself. 

Did you hear the list? 

Mark 7: 21-23 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,  22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." 

Jeremiah 17: 9 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 

The reality is, according to Jesus Christ, when we look inside ourselves, sadly, we will find that

We’re a lot like that Coke can; we’ve got these moldy lumps coming out of us that are really nasty and that can really make other people sick.  I’m here to testify that I have such lumps, and I find them flowing out of me in surprising ways sometimes – a personal pride, a self-centeredness, a covetousness. 

You do not have a perfect pastor, and I want you to know that I am not following my heart as I seek to serve you here in ministry.  No – I am following Jesus Christ who brings refreshment to my murky waters.  If you’ve got a corrupt chemical solution it’s not going to cleanse itself, what you need is an additive, you need a cleansing agent that will neutralize and detoxify the moldy corruption.  This sort of thing is hard to find, but you will find that cleansing agent for your soul in the Spirit of God given you (freely) by faith in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus is not calling the Pharisees to purify themselves, he is showing them that they need cleansing deeper than the surface. 

Jesus is not calling you to purify yourself, he is calling you to recognize that you are impure. 

The good news today is that you are worse than you think you are. The Bible teaches that there are things inside of you that are defiled, unholy, wicked – things you can’t fix by washing your hands regularly and keeping your ducks in a row according to tradition.  Jesus says that defilement does not come from the outside in, but it begins on the inside. 

Jesus is not asking the Pharisees to get it together and clean up their thoughts and attitudes, he is helping them to recognize that they need him.

(Jesus explains that not even the food laws which were included in God’s Word to Moses, not even these things make a person clean.  He gives a little biology lesson to explain it.  Food goes to the stomach and out, not to the heart.) 

The Lord Jesus does not call you to purify yourself, instead, he wants you to see that only he can make you clean. 

Conclusion:  So by way of summary we have seen that… 

1. Religious tradition and legalistic religion easily shift focus away from genuine obedience and love of God. 
(i.e. law and tradition easily trump relationship) 

2. How we treat other people reflects the character of our relationship with God. 
(cf. Corban) 

3. There is a defilement within each of us which we cannot cleanse away by our own effort. 
(Only Jesus can save and cleanse, and make us new.  We need him desperately.) 

“Know Thyself”

Inscribed above the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi – the greatest oracle of the ancient Greeks.  It’s an important injunction for our times as well, and many popular religionists and philosophers suggest various paths to self-knowledge.  You should seek to know yourself. 

But, according to the scriptures, it seems the matter of first importance for us in seeking to know ourselves is that we know ourselves to be sinners so that we know our need for God.  The danger is that if we do not know or accept the severity of our sin then we are left to go through life pretending as though we have no need.