DAY #64: March 5, 2009 - Mark 7:1-23

Today, we see that the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were ready to debate Jesus about the fact that his disciples did not follow all of the laws of the Pharisees’ oral tradition. As these religious leaders scrutinized Jesus and his disciples, they noticed that some of Jesus’ disciples failed to follow the usual Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. This referred not to washing for cleanliness, but to a particular kind of washing that made a person “ceremonially clean” before eating.

Jesus discerned that the Pharisees’ purpose was to keep up appearances and to outdo the common people in priestly devotion. By their scrupulous observance of minute traditions and rituals, these religious leaders had completely lost their perspective on the reason the law of God had been given: to bring God’s Kingdom to earth, to provide reconciliation between God and his people, and to bring peace.

Their real underlying question was, “If you are really a rabbi, as holy and righteous and versed in the law as we are, then you should know that we don’t eat without first ceremonially washing our hands. That makes you no better than a common sinner, certainly not a rabbi whom all these people should be following!”

Jesus quoted the Scripture that they claimed to know so well. First, he called them hypocrites. The Pharisees pretended to be holy and close to God, thus judging all other people as sinners. But what they pretended on the outside was not true on the inside. The prophet Isaiah criticized hypocrites (Isaiah 29:13), and Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to these religious leaders. They might say all the right words and give lip service to God, but their hearts were far from him. Jesus attacked their true heart condition. The problem: They replace God’s commands with their own man-made teachings and their own traditions.

Jesus addressed the crowd and the disciples regarding the true nature of “defilement.” The people had listened to Jesus’ stinging accusation of the religious leaders; here Jesus called the crowd to listen . . . and try to understand, for he would make his final point and have the final say in this debate. The Pharisees thought that to eat with defiled hands meant to be defiled. Jesus explained that the Pharisees were wrong in thinking they were acceptable to God just because they were “clean” on the outside. He explained that defilement is not an external matter (keeping food laws, washing ceremonially, keeping Sabbath requirements), but an internal one.


(Verse 16 is not in the earliest manuscripts.) In private, the disciples asked him what he meant. Jesus explained that what goes into a person cannot defile that person. Thus, to eat food with hands that may have touched a “defiled” person or article did not mean that a person was ingesting defilement. Logically, as Jesus explained, food goes in the mouth, passes through the stomach, and then goes out. It has no effect whatever on the moral condition of the heart. Sin in a person’s heart is what defiles.

The bottom line: People are not pure because of adherence to ceremonial laws and rituals. We become pure on the inside as Christ renews our minds and transforms us into his image.
Defilement occurs because of sin. Sin begins in a person’s heart—in the thought life—and what is in the heart comes out in words and actions. Unless the Holy Spirit controls our sinful human nature, outbursts of the flesh will be prevalent. Evil thoughts begin within, in a person’s heart. While most people work hard to keep their outward appearance attractive, what is in their hearts is even more important. When people become Christians, God makes them different on the inside.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

I read this passage and I feel slimmed by the religious leaders of Jesus' day. Their hatred for Jesus and their hypocrisy are nauseating. And the most awful truth? They thought they were right. They were blind to their sin and gross behavior. The truth is, it is frighting to think that that same evil that the Pharisees committed is inside of me. I am capable of judgementalism and hypocrisy. Lord, search me and know me. Keep me from living a lie.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

PRAYER

Lord, as I read through the gospels and re-read the continual conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees, teach me to hate hypocrisy in my life. Teach me to be gracious and merciful and forgiving. Teach me and love like You do. Every word I read from the scriptures, help me retain it and put it into practice into my life.

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." Proverbs 1:8-9 (NIV)