Prelude
Where does revival begin? Purpose: Let’s understand that revival begins on the inside. Plan: Let’s discuss revival in Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.
Traditions without Heart (Mark 7:1-4)
Mark 7:1 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
The Pharisees added traditions to the law, a second Talmud, like some churches add tradition to scripture and give them equal stature. Old Testament ritual washings, meant for the priests only, were applied to everyone, requiring a ritual hand washing before a meal. The word baptize originally just meant to wash or cleanse. Man-made cleansing traditions made a bigger deal of outward ceremonies than the inner heart.
A Façade of Piety (Mark 7:5-8)
Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.” 6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ 8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”
Jesus did not criticize religion, but hypocrisy. This is not an excuse for dirty hands. It was a ritual tradition that ignored love. It was a façade of piety that hid evil hearts. Tradition is not sin, but substituting tradition for love, is hypocrisy.
Misuse of Tradition (Mark 7:14-15)
[Mark 7:9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition . 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”]
Mark 7:14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Any tradition is an idol when placed before God or cancels the word of God. Have we allowed our traditions, confessions, or basis of union to sidestep God’s word?
Tradition without Heart (Mark 7:21-23)
[Mark 7:17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) 20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.]
Mark 7:21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness . 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
In Acts 10 God commanded Peter to eat unclean foods. Uncleanness comes not from food but our hearts. Basic Christian rituals are few, such as baptism and communion, because matters of the heart are most important. Rituals picture what should be happening inside our hearts.
Jesus challenged religious traditions because His priority in revival is the inner person. Do we focus on outward forms of worship, but like the Pharisees, forget the heart? Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to revive the inside and the outside will take care of itself.
The Church has always been imperfect, but it also has the Gospel, the solution to all human problems. Our real problem is not that the Church occasionally gets things wrong, but that we forget the human heart is the real work of the Church, and we need the power of Jesus Christ to change our human hearts.
Cain’s offering was half-hearted, while his brother’s was whole-hearted. True circumcision is in our hearts not our flesh. David was a man after God’s own heart. Hezekiah sought God with his whole heart. Jehoshaphat’s heart took delight in the ways of the Lord.
Postlude
True revival does not come with outward phenomena alone. But, it begins with a change in our hearts, a change away from sin and a turning to God.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
