Introduction
Have you ever asked someone a question and found you had touched a raw nerve? The other person swells up with emotion and then unleashes a tirade. “I’ve had enough of people asking me…” “You want to know my opinion? I’ll be glad to give you my opinion!” “Oh, you want to bring that up, do you?” The religious leaders in our passage touched such a nerve of Jesus.
The subject that raises the ire of Jesus, at first glance, seems rather minor. It certainly doesn’t seem to rate Jesus’ outburst. Indeed, I would think mothers would be disconcerted by Jesus’ response. The religious leaders ask, “Why don’t your disciples wash their hands before they eat?” Seems like a pretty good tradition – wash your hands before you eat and keep your dishes clean. There are some passages in the Bible that parents would prefer their children not to be exposed to at their age. This should be high on mothers’ lists! Here we have Jesus condemning folks for washing their hands before meals! “Hey, Mom, did you see that? Jesus says I don’t have to wash my hands anymore!”
We will break the passage into three sections: 1-5 presents the issue; 6-13 records Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ traditions; and 14-23 cover the “heart” of the lesson.
Tradition! 1-5
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” 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 ‘unclean’ hands?”
Before moms shout “Amen,” understand what the religious leaders mean by washing. They are not thinking about scrubbing hands with soap; they mean a ceremonial washing in which just enough water is poured onto the hands to get them wet. It goes without saying that dirty hands need washing, but their concern has to do with ceremonially unclean hands. What are ceremonially unclean hands? They are hands that carry out common activities. It’s not germs they are worried about; it’s becoming impure.
This is not a universal ritual among the Jews. As the Pharisees and teachers of the law note, it is a tradition that was derived from the practice of respected Jewish leaders over the years. In Jesus’ day, the tradition was growing in popularity. Remember Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John where he turns water into wine? The water was poured into large jars used for ceremonial washings.
How this tradition got started, and the justification for it, is somewhat unclear and open to debate. But here is what the Pharisees are getting at. Jesus presents himself as a godly man and a rabbi – a teacher of God’s Law. How then can a true teacher of God show disregard for accepted traditions passed down by the elders of Israel? Setting aside tradition was not a prized trait for a rabbi.
Jesus’ Response 6-13
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 but rules taught by men.’ 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
I’m sure that went over well! Remember, Jesus is not talking to critics of religion. These are the men whose whole lives are centered around obedience to God. To them Jesus says, You show no respect for the commands of God.
Doesn’t Jesus know that these traditions were developed for the express purpose of obeying the commands of Scripture? The Jews, and especially those who belonged to such religious sects as the Pharisees, were not content as we so easily are to excuse our slackness in obeying God’s Word by saying, God knows my heart. They would quote to us, To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams (1 Samuel 15:22). They developed these ceremonial laws to assure that they were obedient to the command to be holy. They were trying to be good. Here comes Jesus throwing the very Scriptures that they honor in their faces. What do you mean we let go of God’s commands?
He gives a case. 9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his 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.”
Jesus’ case sample reveals the two opposing approaches to Scripture that the Pharisees and he bring to the table. After giving his example the Pharisees could have responded, So? We honor our parents. We don’t curse them. Why, they are proud to have sons who have devoted their lives to God. Look at us. We place serving God even higher than taking care of our parents. Isn’t that good? There is no command that we must take care of our parents in old age; certainly that we should take what we have devoted to God and shift it to them. That would be taking what is sacred and using it for what is profane. Oh no, we are committed to God.
Committed to God is exactly what they are not, according to Jesus. To obey God is to obey his commands, and his command to honor one’s parents means to help them in need. Fulfilling commands is not about “covering the bases.” The Pharisees are obsessed with making sure they don’t violate the law. Jesus is concerned with fulfilling the intent of the law. The intent of the fifth commandment is to positively and actively show honor to parents by doing good for them. The teachers of the law, far from teaching the law, are now teaching how to avert the law.
We do that all the time. Surely, the justice system is filled with outdated laws and legal loopholes that allow for justice to actually be obstructed, but we do it often in our daily lives. Here’s one. “I really would like to spend time with you (Mom, Dad, Son, Daughter, etc.), but I have all these church and volunteer commitments. The Lord wants me serving the kingdom.” “I know I should check in on ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_______, but she'll want to talk about something I don’t like, and God doesn’t want me to lie. So, it will be better to avoid her.” There is a lot of law breaking we can justify on the excuse of doing something on behalf of God.
The “Heart” of the Lesson 14-23
You can tell Jesus is riled up about this topic. Probably the Pharisees and teachers of the law would like to drop the subject, but instead he calls over a crowd.
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
You’ve got to love the disciples. They no doubt had listened to the whole debate between Jesus and the Pharisees. They were, after all, the case study that the religious leaders had brought up. Jesus gives a response that is the envy of anyone engaged in a debate or a lawyer making his case and then closes with the superb conclusion that puts the whole subject in true perspective: 15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’
The disciples look at each other and say, “Do you know what he means?” “I don’t know what he means.” “You got any idea?” “Nope, not me.” Fortunately, they had the nerve to ask Jesus and pass it on to Mark!
Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? Guess he never listened to his mother! Unpurified water, fruit that hasn’t been washed, why, there are a lot of things that would pollute the body from the outside. We will avoid a graphic description of Jesus’ comment that what goes into the stomach then goes out of the body. But here is the point he is making. Outward ceremony – how one eats, what one eats, the rituals that accompany eating – these things do not make a person morally clean or unclean. They might affect physical health, but they do not sicken the soul. The condition of one’s heart determines a person’s moral purity and makes him clean or unclean.
That’s it; that’s the lesson of the passage. The condition of your heart is what determines your status with God, not the rituals and traditions you follow.
Laws
That’s a good lesson. What about application? Mark gives his own. It is in verse 19: (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean”). Mark is adding his own comment that Jesus’ lesson settles the food issue of the early church. The early church, remember, was made up first of Jews. It was natural for them to assume that all the Jewish laws remained in place, notwithstanding that salvation was through faith in Jesus. But the entry of gentiles brought this assumption into question. Did they also have to obey all the laws, including the dietary laws that delineated between “clean” and “unclean” meat? The answer is no.
This specific application about food takes us into the wider question of the Old Testament laws. What applies today and what no longer must be observed? This is an important question because Christians can go to extremes on either side.
The laws of the Old Testament can be divided into three categories. There are laws that tell what kinds of animals can be eaten, and what makes a person clean or unclean, and how to get clean if you become unclean. These are ceremonial laws. They serve as illustrations about holiness and atonement. They point to the real cleansing work that Jesus will do and the real sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. There are laws that make up the judicial and governing system for the nation of Israel. These laws regulated marriage and family life, and farming and business. They are called judicial laws. These laws may be good, but they no longer have the binding power they had before Christ and during the life of Israel as a political nation. Then there are the moral laws. The Ten Commandments are moral laws. These are laws that teach what is morally and ethically right and wrong. There may be some disagreement over what law fits into what category, but most of them are not that difficult to determine.
Understanding these distinctions is essential to keep us from making serious errors about how we are to live. Some Christians think we are to keep all the judicial laws possible and most of the ceremonial ones that are not related to sacrifices and the temple. But the more widespread scenario is the person who claims that none of the laws apply except for those of general principle. This very passage, they would claim, supports them. Isn’t Jesus telling us that it’s what’s inside that counts and not law keeping? Doesn’t he say elsewhere that what matters is to love God and one’s neighbor? Doesn’t Paul say that loving one’s neighbor fulfills the laws? Let me give an example.
There are efforts today to justify homosexuality for Christians. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 clearly prohibit homosexual acts. Such proponents would say that we cannot appeal to those laws because there are others in the same section that we clearly do not believe we need to practice. For example, 19:19 forbids wearing clothing woven of two kinds of material. Why obey 18:22 and disobey 19:19? The answer is easy; because 18:22 addresses a moral sexual issue. It is clear that it should be taken as an ethical matter. 19:19 clearly covers a ceremonial issue that illustrates the principle of keeping oneself pure. There is clearly no ethical issue involved. Indeed, the argument is too strong for those proponents. The verse before 18:22 forbids sacrificing children and the verse after forbids sex with animals. Do they not recognize those commands as being different from wearing a particular type of material?
Jesus is not appealing to us to obey our hearts over God’s laws. Far from it. He is saying our sin problem springs from our hearts. The Pharisees thought sin was something that contaminated them from the outside. It’s unclean things outside of them that they had to be on guard against. Jesus is saying it’s what’s on the inside we need to give attention to. The heart is a factory for sin. 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
It is true that outside influences can lead us to sin. Pornography can lead a man to sexual immorality. The barrage of messages about wealth can lead one to greed, and so on. But these things stir up the sin that is within us. The heart is wicked and the heart is deceitful. Do you want to know why Jesus was more effective with the “sinners” of society than the religious leaders? It is because the “sinners” knew they were sinners. The religious folks looked at their hearts and concluded that they were okay.
Our problem today is that everybody thinks they are okay. We can be adulterers, thieves, con artists, gossips; it doesn’t matter; deep down we have good hearts and we trust God knows. That then leads to the really dangerous teaching today, which is also the most accepted and widespread – that we should follow our hearts. Every feel-good movie, TV show, book, and song hammers this into our brains: you’ve got to follow your heart. If your heart says to break the rules, you break the rules. Trust your gut feeling.
“It can’t be wrong when it feels so right.”
“But more, much more than this, I did it my way.”
If there is one commandment that is universal and which to break is to invite condemnation, it is Thou must be true to thy heart. Don’t listen to tradition or to rules or to anyone, for that matter. Listen to what your heart tells you. The only truth is what is true for you. Nobody can tell you what to do; you’ve got to be true to yourself; you’ve got to follow your own path and only you know what is right for yourself. This is the stuff the world drills into the children. The only authority to trust is what comes from the heart.
To this the Bible says No! Jesus says No! Do you claim to love me, he says? Then obey my commandments. What are my commandments? To love one another; also, live holy lives. Follow me, not your heart. Believe what I teach and do what I say, regardless of what your heart tells you.
The Bible never says to follow our hearts; it tells us to examine them.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23,24).
If you are going to do anything with your heart do this: trust the Lord. Trust what he says in his Word. If he says something that doesn’t seem right to your heart, trust him rather than yourself.
We have messed up this world and our lives enough already by doing what seems right in our own eyes. When I have died, I don’t want anyone saying, “He followed his heart; he remained faithful to himself.” I would consider it an insult to have it said that I did it my way. I hope they will say, “He followed the Lord; with his heart he loved and obey his Savior and Lord faithfully.” That is what matters.
