CLEAN HANDS, DIRTY HEARTS
Mark 7:1-23
INTRO: How do I have a closer relationship with God? How can I know God better? Really get to know God? Move from religion to relationship? You can’t drown if you don’t get wet; "Tradition is a fence around the law." But often our traditions become a wall.
PREV: Today we will see steps in this direction, toward this end. We will discover something we must elevate, something we must eliminate, and something we must emphasize in order to move toward a real, significant, close relationship with the Lord. Its found in Mark chapter 7. Turn there with me please.
As I read vv. 1-5, some religious leaders see some things they don¡¦t like in Jesus¡¦ followers, and it leads them to question Jesus. Notice what they see, and what they ask Jesus.
1The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2saw 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. 4When 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.„T )
5So 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?¡¨
Mark 7:1-5
A. Leaders accuse Jesus of ignoring tradition
Pharisees and religious teachers ¡V the scribes ¡V experts.
They see disciples eating with ¡§unclean¡¨ hands.
Hygiene not the issue, but ceremonial purity.
To be impure, unclean, defiled was serious business.
Mark explains what is going on.
Tradition of elders - interp of Law by Scribes, synagogue leaders, Pharisees, revered persons. intended to regulate every aspect of life. Keeeping the law was so important ¡V tradition was a ¡¥fence around the law.¡¦ Considered binding as written law, passed down. Collected and codified in 220 AD ¡V Mishnah
A vast legal complex, entrusted to scribes.
Like our laws, interpreted by various courts.
Hand washing was the most common tradition.
Hand washing a good example of how it worked.
Priests are commanded to wash their hands before entering the tabernacle ¡V Ex. 30:19; 40:13.
In their zeal, the Pharisees assumed these priestly purity laws, and imposed them on all the people.
To eat with "unclean" hands made food unclean, defiled body
Pharisees were convinced that strict discipline of conduct was necessary before one acknowledged God as sovereign.
Even hand washing was carefully regulated: used a cupped hand, fingers flexed, a small amount of water. Not to be confused with sprinkling, or dipping to the joints.
Jesus held responsible for disciples’ actions. They thought it signified a larger problem - disregard for the ¡§tradition of the elders¡¨ ¡V the oral tradition..
Jesus responds to this accusation with one of his own. Note what he calls these religious leaders as I read vv. 6-8.
6He 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.
7They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.¡¦
8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.¡¨
Mark 7:6 - 8
B. Jesus accuses Leaders of ignoring God’s Word
Refers not to disciples, but to real issue - source of authority
Applies Isaiah’s prophesy (29:13) to them - hypocrites!
He contrasts lip-service with heart devotion.
Hypocrit ¡V a contradiction between what a man seems to be in the opinion of his peers and what he is before God.
These leaders were outwardly impeccable, but inwardly they had not surrendered to God.
They talk spiritually, but hearts are distant! Worship is futile:
They teach men’s rules as authoritative (divine). All this over a request to wash their hands?
You have dropped God’s commands and picked up men’s rules instead. Emphasizes human origin of rules.
They have chosen oral traditions over written commands.
Jesus calls them the traditions of men.
Jesus categorically rejects the authority of the oral law.
Jesus says you have it all backwards. You have put your tradition above God¡¦s commands. When you do that, you are on the road to hypocrisy.
Appl: Perhaps you¡¦ve been asked, ¡§Why don¡¦t you ¡K¡¨
Baptize babies
Sing hymns/Sing choruses
Wear a dress/tie to church/dress casually for church
Wear shorter/longer hair
Worship like us
Read a certain version of the Bible
Give an altar call
Pray to Mary
Go to confession
Show more reverance/enthusiasm
Have Sunday night or Wednesday night service?
All of these are intended to keep you from breaking God¡¦s commands or draw you close to God. But when they are put in place of God¡¦s word, his commands, we¡¦re off base.
We form whole denominations on our traditions.
This is the first step to a closer walk with God.
I. ELEVATE GOD’S WORD ABOVE MAN’S RULES (1-8)
Put God¡¦s word ahead of all other rules and regulations. We must not let the rules, traditions, approaches of men come before God¡¦s word.
Early Free Church leaders always said ¡§Where stands it written?¡¨
The only way to get there is the read the Book!
Illus: I met Carlos and Donna when they elevated the Word¡K
You won¡¦t be a hypocrite; Your worshiop
Trans: Jesus is going to continue and give an example of how they elevate their traditions above the words of God. In this example we willsee the 2nd step to a closer relationship with God. Read vv. 9-13
9And he said to them: ¡§You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe„T your own traditions! 10For Moses said, ¡¥Honor your father and your mother,¡¦„T and, ¡¥Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.¡¦„T 11But 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), 12then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.¡¨
Mark 7:9 - 13
A. Their tradition negated God¡¦s Word.
Once rules replace God’s Word in priority, rules then take precedence. The rules take precedence over the commands of God. In v. 9 they are your traditions. Even more cutting.
Jesus gives a scathing illustration:
5th comm. stated (Ex. 20:12, Dt. 5:16; Ex. 21:17, Lv. 20:9) in both its positive and negative form.
This honor for parents included both financial and practical help (1 Tim. 5:4,8)
This is the command, the written word of God.
The Corban vow was a "loophole" ¡V it referred to dedication of property to God.
Surrender, however, wasn’t required until death. The income from the property, for instance, still yours. The vow was considered absolutely binding.
The Pharisees took this vow stuff seriously, upholding the strict legal requirements of Num. 30:1-2. They uphelpd the letter of the law: if you uttered such a vow, even rashly, it was binding. You could not break it even to help your parents. Hypocrits took advantage of this. Jesus says this misses the whole point of the law. You can¡¦t use one law to nullify another.
This tradition nullified the Word! Just 1 of many examples.
Jesus has differed with them on other issues: Healing on Sabbath - cf. 3:1-6; eating with outcasts ¡V cf. 2:15-17
B. We must avoid traditions that nullify God¡¦s Word.
We must get rid of any tradition that contradicts God’s Word.
Illus: Spirituality through activity, ignoring rest and family
Confession, praying to saints, ignoring "no mediator needed"
Judging dress, grooming, behavior codes, ignoring love.
Church business meetings Roles of pastors/members
This is the second step, and it follows the first. Once we are committed to elevating God¡¦s word above man¡¦s traditions, then we search out and:
II. ELIMINATE TRADITIONS THAT CONTRADICT GOD’S WORD (9-13)
We must not let the traditions of men (or churches) keep us from following God¡¦s Word. This is what makes you distant from God, because what you serve, what you have a relationship with, is not God, but somebody¡¦s way of doing things.
Trans.: In v. 14, Jesus returns and gives a more direct answer to the question of impurity, relating back to the question: why don¡¦t you guys wash your hands (purify them) before you eat? Notice what Jesus says can and can¡¦t make you impure. Read vv. 14-19.
14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ¡§Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him ¡¥unclean¡¦ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ¡¥unclean.¡¦„T¡¨
17After 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¡¦? 19For 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.¡¨) Mark 7:14 - 19
A. Its not our hands, its our hearts that count
A man is not made impure by what he eats, even with unwashed hands ¡V ¡§unclean¡¨ hands.
It isn¡¦t what goes in, its what comes out.
He means this morally, not medically!
The problem with purity isn¡¦t external, its internal.
They didn¡¦t understand this ¡V this was new thinking!
Eating doesn¡¦t make you impure. Food is just a biological process ¡V its just goes into the stomach and out again.
It doesn¡¦t touch the heart! This is the new part ¡V the heart!
The heart is the source of all spiritual and moral conduct, the center of personality which determines mans action and inaction.
A radical statement! All food clean. Mark sees Jesus¡¦ comments about purity laws applying to the whole system.
True intent of food laws: defiled by disobedience, not food.
Principle fuels the practice, not vice versa.
Following all the oral traditions, rules, etc, doesn¡¦t do anything to make you pure ¡V its your heart that matters.
Fulfilling the oral law doesn¡¦t change a person¡¦s heart!
Don¡¦t think all your religious observance does you one bit of good if you have an impure heart.
B. Our hearts need purifying!
Its your heart that makes you unclean!
Ceremony and tradition won’t help your ugly heart.!
Illus: waxing car won’t fix the engine.
As we read vv. 20-23, Jesus tells us about our hearts.
20He went on: ¡§What comes out of a man is what makes him ¡¥unclean.¡¦ 21For from within, out of men¡¦s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man ¡¥unclean.¡¦¡¨ Mark 7:20 - 23
Evil thoughts: root cause, specifics follow:
1. Actions
6 plural nouns - repeated actions:
sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice.
2. Attitudes
6 singular nouns - dispositions or attitudes:
deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, folly.
This catalogue of impurity includes us all. These are the things that make us impure, and they have their source in a heart that is in open rebellion against God. Fellowship with God is not destroyed by unclean hands, but by personal sin. The human heart ¡V your heart, my heart ¡V desperately needs renewing and cleansing. Wash your heart, not your hands!
This is the third step to knowing God better, to being closer to him.
III. EMPHASIZE INTERNAL PURITY OVER EXTERNAL OBSERVANCE (14-23)
Come to Jesus and let him wash your heart ¡V purify your heart. All the religious stuff in the world isn¡¦t enough to purify our ugly hearts. But God, in Christ, offers to cleanse you, purify you. Don¡¦t think you can hide your dirty heart from God!
CONCL: Jesus said you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free (John 8:31,32). Moving from tradition to truth can be truly liberating. Go from religion to relationship!
