A Study of the Book of Mark
Sermon # 24
"Jesus and the Truth About Sin"
Mark 7:14-23
In our study we have seen how the Pharisees had elevated their oral traditions to a position of equal or greater authority than the Scriptures. The Pharisees had all kinds of ceremonial practices. If one did not observe them, then you were considered a sinner and not worthy to come into the presence of God. For example, in the Old Testament, some foods were considered clean foods, they were alright to eat. But there were other foods which were considered unclean; those foods were not to be eaten. According to the Pharisees if one ate unclean foods they themselves became unclean, or sinners in the eyes of God. What Jesus wants them to see is that they misunderstood the nature of human sin! In the verses we will consider today we will discover what Jesus said was the true source of defilement.
At the beginning of chapter seven, the Disciples of Jesus ate some food without performing the ceremonial ritual cleaning that the Jews meticulously observed. The Jewish religious leaders blew a gasket because they were so obsessed with the outward acts of religion. Jesus criticized them because they substituted a bunch of frivolous rules for the simple commandments of God. In verse eight He said, “You have laid aside the commands of God and are holding on to the trad-itions of men.” Like a lot of religious people even in our own day, they thought faith was about what you did on the outside, but Jesus said it’s what’s inside that counts. Jesus told those religious windbags it wasn’t their hands that needed cleaning, it was their hearts, because their hearts were dirty.
Let’s read what He said in Mark 7:14-23, “When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand: (15) There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. (16) If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!" (17) When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. (18) So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, (19) because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" (20) And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, forn-ications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
As Jesus often did he used the confrontation with the Pharisees as an opportunity to teach spiritual truth to the masses by a parable and then interpret that truth in private with His disciples. Note three things about sin with me …
First, Confronting A Defective View of Sin (7:14-16)
“When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:(15) There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. (16) If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Once a grouchy old deacon was teaching a Sunday School Class (you can substitute the grouchy old deacon of your choice). Anyway, He wanted to help the children understand what a Christian was, so he asked them a question, “Why do people call me a Christian?” There was a moment of silence and then one of the boys said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”
Just like that little boy, Jesus always told it like it was. The Pharisee wanted to talk about unclean hands (v. 5) but Jesus said the real problem was an unclean heart. The truth is that what a man is supersedes anything he does. What Jesus is saying here is really radical, in fact, Bible Commentator William Barclay calls this perhaps “the most revolutionary passage in the entire New Testament.” [William Barclay. The Gospel of Mark. (Phil.: Westminster, 1956) p.168) What Jesus is saying here is so radical that people in our day still do not believe it. He is saying that our problem with sin is not caused by our environment but they are caused by what is already residing within each human heart.
Jesus said when you look deeply into the human heart what you find is not very pretty. In its natural state, it produces all kinds of wicked schemes. And every one of us is born sinners by nature, and by choice. As every parent knows, nobody had to teach you how to lie; it is part of your DNA when you were born.
The belief of our world is that people are basic-ally “good at heart” but because of their bad environ-ment or their lack of education, their heart can become corrupted. But the Bible teaches just the opposite. The Bible teaches our hearts are ugly. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
“The wickedness of men is often attributed to bad examples, bad company, peculiar temptations, or the snares of the devil. It seems forgotten that every man carries within him a fountain of wickedness. We need no bad company to teach us, and no devil to tempt us, in order to run into sin. We have within us the begin-ning of every sin under heaven.” [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. p. 142.]
But I don’t want you to miss just how radical what Jesus said was. In effect the Lord Jesus had just declared null and void the entire Mosaic system of clean and unclean. This truth was so radical that even the Disciple Peter did not grasp this truth until after Pentecost. Then on housetop, in Joppa, recorded in Acts 10 the Lord gave him a vision of a sheet filled with all kinds of unclean animals on it, and he was told, “Don’t call anything I have created unclean, kill and eat.” (vv. 13-15) It was not until this moment that it dawned on Peter what Jesus had meant.
After confronting A Defective View of Sin …
Second, Clearing Up the Nature of Sin (7:17-23)
“When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. (18) So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, (19) because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" (20) And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wick-edness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. (23) All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
Jesus felt that it was important to correct the misconception about the nature of sin, because they felt that sin was largely an outward thing. Jesus wanted them to understand that sin was a deeper problem than just doing the right things outwardly. In fact man’s idea of sin, and God’s idea of sin are diametrically different.
Man says that sin is an accident; God says it is a choice. Man says that sin is a weakness; God says that it is wickedness. Man says that sin is not big deal; God says that it is heartbreak.
Jesus presents us with three characteristics of Human Sin.
•Sin is Primarily a Spiritual Matter Rather Than A Physical One.
“…whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him.” (v. 18a)
The scribes were saying that eating with hands which had not been ceremonially cleaned would defile a person, in other words, defiled hands defile the food, and defiled food defiles the body; but Jesus declares that a man is not morally defiled by what he eats. As far as physical food is concerned whether it is dirty or clean, it simply goes into the stomach and through the digestive tract and then is discarded.
Care must be taken that this verse is not taken out of context. At first glance, it may appear that nothing from without can defile a man; that he is there-fore free to drink alcohol or take drugs or do anything he wants to with his body. Obviously that cannot be true because of the clear teaching of other Scripture. “It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.” (Romans 14:21)
Keep in mind the he is NOT talking about being healthy but being holy. Of course, it is obvious that you can put certain things into your body that are unhealthy. You can eat certain things that can make you sick. But the issue that Jesus is dealing with is greater than transfats, proteins, carbohydrates or even calories. The point He makes is that it is not what you take into your body that makes you a sinner. Defilement comes from within one’s own heart, the heart which the prophet Jeremiah declared “deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Sin is not only primarily a Spiritual Matter Rather Than A Physical one but…
•Sin Is An Internal Matter As Well As An External Matter.(vv. 18b-19)
“Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him. (19) because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"
What makes a man a sinner is not the food he puts into his stomach, but rather the sin that originates in his heart. Obviously what Jesus is referring to when he speaks of the “heart” is not the physical heart but rather the center of one’s personality, the spiritual heart, the real you, the core of your existence. For example Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” And in Proverbs 23:7 we find, “For as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he.”
So the point that Jesus wants to make is that, “Sin originates on the inside!!” If one is to deal with sin one but deal with the source of sin, which lies within our hearts. Illustration of mop and water. Suppose when you get home from church today you find your kitchen filled with water. (It is not a very pleasant thought I know!) But suppose when you find yourself in this situation that you get a bucket and a mop and you start mopping and squeezing and hauling the water out, mopping and squeezing and hauling the water out, over and over, but the kitchen just keeps filling up with water. How much better you would be to go to the source of the water and cut off the flow. You can mop and you can carry out water all day long, but you aren’t going to solve the problem until you go to the source of the prob-lem.
Sin is an Internal Matter As Well As An External Matter and ….
•Sin Is Entertained As A Possibility Before It Ever Becomes A Reality.
Beginning in verse twenty-one Jesus now gives us a sobering catalog of sins. His list of sin is ugly.
Notably, He begins with Evil thoughts, (v.21) which is the entry point for all of the sins that follow –“evil thoughts” are evil designs, before we sin there is always the contemplation of sin. It is out of evil thinking that evil actions result.
Now the evil deeds come! Unfortunately, these are all things that have been done in our country in the last twenty-four hours. Adulteries, - violations of the marriage relationship. We living in an age where the marriage covenant is easily cast aside. Every day, we see it adultery portray-ed, on television, and in the movies, as being quite normal.
Fornications, - (porneia) the word used is the general term for all kinds of sexual immorality.
Murders, Even if we do not take into consideration the number of abortions in this country, people are murdered in our country every day. In fact the number of homicides for 2009, were 15,800 - that's 43 murders per day. Thefts, (v. 22) –this takes into account all kinds of stealing, shop-lifting, cheating at school, cheating on our income tax, even stealing from God by not tithing.
Covetousness, - is an overriding desire for self-gratification - describes the unchecked materialism of our age.
Wickedness, (plural in the original language, and is literally wickednesses) this describes the person who is not content in his sin, but who wants others to sin as well.
Deceit, - trickery or misrepresentation in order to gain an advantage.
Lewdness, - This word refers to open and unashamed sin. It is an attitude that says, “I will do as I please and I do not care what anyone thinks about it!” Evil eye, - This is a Hebrew expression that speaks of envy and jealousy. It looks at the blessings of another and desires them for itself. It is envious when others prosper.
Blasphemy, - slanderous or injurious speech directed at either God or man. Gossip and cursing fall into this category.
Pride, The boastful lifting up of oneself, usually also involves the putting down of others. It’s the attitude that says, “Look at me, see what I have done. No one is a good or as great as I am.” This overbearing attitude is the opposite of biblical humility. Foolishness: This word refers to those who are morally and spiritually desensitized. They cannot see their sins; neither can they sense the Lord working in and around them. With this kind of person, there is no spiritual illumination. There is no spiritual discern-ment. They do not know God and there is no desire to know Him.
Then in verse twenty-three Jesus say, “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Jesus tells us that everyone has the capability of committing any of these sins. (We don’t like to admit that.) The root of them is lurking in the heart of each of us. But for the grace of God, the potential for all thir-teen of these things (and more) is in every human heart. Given the right circumstances, you could steal today. Given the right circumstances, you could murder today. If you believe anything else you are deceiving your-selves!
After clearing Up the Nature of Sin …
Third, Changing the Outcome of Sin
The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and Romans 6:23 tells us that the outcome or consequences of sin is death. How then is man to avoid the consequence of this life of sin? We have been told that the problem is our hearts, so how does one go about changing the human heart.
We have been told that the change that God desires in our lives does not come about by outward adherence to a list of rules and regulations. Rules are obviously necessary in life, yet rules do not produce a change in the heart. So what is the solution, what do we do about our hearts?
A radical change in the human heart is what is needed. Education and culture will not achieve it. Social reform will not bring it into being. There is only one answer: regeneration. It was Jesus himself who in His conversation with Nicodemus said in John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And this is affected by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus on the Cross was the remedy for our sin problem. In John 1:12 we are assured, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” You need a new heart, and Jesus promises it to all those who turn to Him in faith.
Conclusion
So what do we need to recognize about changing one’s heart?
First, we must recognize that the change has to come from the inside out. If we thoroughly change the inside the outside will take care of itself. But without the change on the inside, the all the external changes in the world will merely be superficial. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” The word translated “trans-formed” is the word we get metamorphosis from it means literally “to be changed from the inside out.” (Romans 12:1-2) Anything other than true change is just pretense. But the fact that there are pretenders only proves that there is a reality to be attained.
Secondly, we need to realize that this change is a process, that is aided or hindered by what it is nurtured with. This renewing of our minds is an ongoing process of taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5). This is not a magical procedure it requires that we are careful what we take in, replacing those things that are not of God with those things which are.
"Jesus the Truth About Sin"
Mark 7:14-23
First, Confronting A _________________ View of Sin (7:14-16)
Second, Clearing Up the _________________ of Sin (7:17-23)
Jesus presents us with three characteristics of Human Sin.
•Sin is Primarily a ______________ Matter Rather Than A Physical One. (v18a)
•Sin Is An ________________ Matter As Well As An External Matter. (v18b) (Proverbs 4:23, 23:7)
•Sin Is Entertained As A __________________ Before It Ever Becomes A Reality.
Third, Changing the _____________________ of Sin
(Romans 3:23, 6:23- John 3:3, John 1:12)
Conclusion
So what do we need to recognize about change one’s heart?
First, we must recognize that the change has to come from the ____________ out. (Romans 12:1-2)
Secondly, we need to realize that this change is a process, that is aided or hindered by what it is ________________ with. (2 Cor. 10:5).
