Mark Chapter God’s word verses traditions What defiles the man The Syrophoenician’s daughter Christ heals a deaf mute

Hired Guns Mark mentioned in 3:22 that the scribes came from Jerusalem This is the first mention of Pharisees from Jerusalem Apparently the local Pharisees are looking for some hired help I don’t think they realize who they are up against!!!

7:1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, The scene is that once again we have a contingency of religious leaders (hit men) coming to check out what Jesus is doing and hopefully, trip Him up with their questions or catch Him doing something they can charge Him with. Notice where they are from…

7:2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) The parentheses here is Mark’s and helps us to see that the book is meant for Gentiles since the Jews would know the proper traditions

God’s word Verses Tradition Notice that the reference in verse 3 is to the: “tradition’s of the elders” This ceremonial washing required the hands to be immersed or rinsed with the fingers point up and then, with them pointing down coupled with a rubbing of the fist in the palm of each hand.

7:5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked^ Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?" Again, “traditions of the elders” not God’s word. These oral traditions were written down in the Mishna which provided the foundation of the Talmud The closest thing to this in God’s law is Lev. 22:6-7 which only applies to the priesthood Understand, this is not washing to be physically clean but rather to be ceremonially clean Why “your disciples”? To connect Him with these evil doers!!!

7:6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. What is a hypocrite?.. The Greek word is interchangeable with the word : Actor!!! A hypocrite is someone playing a role That is what the Pharisees did, they acted as if they were pious and were truly serving God when in reality they only served themselves!! I sometimes think we “play the role”

7 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' (Is. 29:13) So, Jesus calls them hypocrites and now He says their worship is in vain: “vain” = MATEN = PURPOSELESS Unless you give all of your heart to the worship of the Lord, your worship is purposeless!

God wants all of our heart, and with that, He expects truthful worship John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth Does your heart belong to God 100%? When we worship, is it in spirit and truth?

7:8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 9 He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. The Pharisees had enforced their system for so long that the traditions had a greater meaning then Scripture Like the layers of an onion, the religious leaders had piled on so many traditions over the Scripture that it made getting to God’s actual word impossible Isn’t it the same today? What are some examples?

10 "For Moses said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH'; 11 but you say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),' 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; Corban means “a gift devoted to God” Is there anything wrong with devoting your estate to God?... No So, what is the issue?... These guys declared their possessions as a gift to God but never gave it until maybe after their death! They only did it to avoid paying for their parents health care!

7:13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that." Look at the downward spiral: Verse 8. Neglecting or avoiding the word After all if it does not fit our desires, just ignore or avoid it. Verse 9.Set aside or reject the word Here, we say things like “I don’t believe that or I don’t think that’s what God means” Verse 13.Invalidate or rob God’s word of its’ power What we want now, takes precedent over God’s word!!! Now, we are writing our own Bible and shaping God to fit our own image therefore living our selected lifestyle with JUSTIFICATION rather than following God’s word as it is written

7:14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." (there is no 16 in the NIV as it is missing from the Alexandrian text)

His attention now shifts from the religious leaders to the people Why does Jesus, in verse 14 emphasize what He is about to say by saying: Listen…and understand?… Because what He is about to say is quite important! Why does He say that “nothing outside” defiles a man? After all, we can eat unto gluttony and drink unto drunkenness or take drugs etc. so, what does he mean?… It is the inner man that counts. Yes we can do these things and commit sin and that is important but the central issue in God’s eye is the condition of the heart I.E., is it pure, meaning re-born or not? This would have really thrown the Pharisees for a loop because they always believed the opposite – the inner man is pure and it is what is touched that defiles him Jesus corrects that view with this statement!!

What is outside of the body can influence the body but it is the condition of the inside that directs it And, rest assured that the outer actions of the person will reflect the true condition of his heart! Matt. 7:17-20 Be sure that you are clear on this…

7:17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable Once again His disciples have dull ears and cannot Spiritually appraise the teaching.

7:18 And He said^ to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) Why do you think Jesus is so upset with the disciples?… They are as dull or lacking in understanding as the Pharisees!! How do you interpret verse 19?… Food does not change a person’s heart. It may satisfy your hunger, but it does not change your heart Do you think that Jesus intended to change the Mosaic laws here?.. No, rather He is making the point that the defilement that came from eating “unclean” foods was not caused by the food itself but by the rebellious heart of the person eating it

7:20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man Why?.. Because it is a representation of what is IN the man – his heart or simply, who he is Now, Jesus gives us an idea of what He means by giving us an example of the actions of the defiled heart

7:21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

This is a list of actions that begin with thought (21) The thought reveals the inner man and the actions are a reflection of that Like Paul’s list in Galatians 5, these actions are on going or representative of a lifestyle not a sporadic, occasional or one time incident. Fornications Porneia = sexual immorality (NIV). This is a broader term that is intended to mean general illegitimate sexual relations Coveting = Greed, as it is used here has sexual overtones Wickedness = malice Sensuality = lewdness, open and shameless immorality Envy = Ophthalmous poneros: “evil eye” a term for envious jealousy Slander, blasphemia is against man or God Pride & foolishness = Arrogance & folly describes the man who lacks moral judgments Remember this sex thing is part of God’s creation. the problem is that like most other gifts of God, we have perverted and distorted them

Jesus says that these are the thoughts that proceed from within a man, from his heart that defile him fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness Do these describe a believer? NO!!!! Jesus is explaining to His disciples who the hypocrites (actors) are… At the same time, do we sometimes fall to these thoughts? YES!!!! When?... James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death

We have covered a lot, what do we take home? 1. Nothing is more important than scripture!! Don’t neglect, set aside or invalidate God’s word 2. Worship is to be in spirit and truth!! 3. What is outside the body influences it, what is inside the body (heart) directs it!! (How is the heart fed?.. By God’s word!!!!!) 4. Guard your heart by guarding your mind!!

In relation to Sam’s comments last week: John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; Rom. 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Rom. 15:7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. Eph. 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love