Wash Your Heart

Wash Your Heart

Mark 7:1-23

When the prophet Samuel was sent to Jesse’s house to anoint a king for Israel, we are told that the Lord said to Samuel…

1 Samuel 16:7 "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." NKJV

In the NT, the Pharisees found ways to appear outwardly righteous without ever entering into genuine worship of God; they honored God with their lips, without a true heart change.

We can only come to a complete surrender to the Spirit of God, through a heart change and then we can become true worshipers.

Religion promotes self effort and defiles a person, because religion only addresses our behaviors; a relationship with Jesus, changes our hearts and make us free to love and worship Him.

None of this can happen for us, without a complete heart transformation, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

It has been said, “The wicked think their sin is nothing, the moral think their sin is small, and the religious think their sin is manageable.”

All sin is against God; only He can cleanse and transform us!

Please open your Bibles to Mark 7 as we continue that study

Last week, we learned that immediately after they finished serving the crowd and eating their lunch; Jesus made the Disciples get into the boat without Him, and go to Bethsaida.

In the middle of the night, the Disciples were out on the water straining at rowing, and Jesus was up on the mountain praying; but, He was also aware of what was happening to the Disciples.

Jesus walked on the water and He would have passed them by; but, He came over to them because they cried out to Him.

Jesus is always present, simply waiting for us to call on Him!

At this point in the narrative, Peter asked Jesus to let him walk on the water, but the Gospel of Mark seems to omit this detail.

Peter displayed radical faith, getting out of the boat and walking on the water; before he looked at the storm and then sank.

After the boat arrived on the other side, their break time was over; because as soon as they anchored, people recognized Jesus and ran to Him for a miracle touch from the Savior.

With our failures, the Lord is faithful to forgive us and to turn the situation around; to work it out for our good and His glory.

This morning, we will learn how the Pharisees traveled about 70 miles to come and correct Jesus about His Disciples eating without properly washing their hands, according to traditions.

I. The accusation.

Read Mark 7:1-5

Have you ever had someone come to you with a question that was not really a question at all; but they really wanted to argue?

You know, they start out with a question and before you can begin to offer an explanation, they have several rebuttal questions and comments ready to refute whatever you say.

In Mark 7, this is the second delegation from the Pharisees, and they traveled 70 miles from Jerusalem, having heard about the all of the miracles of Jesus, who people believed was Messiah.

At face value, the idea of the religious leaders sending men to evaluate the ministry of Jesus was a good thing; because it was the Pharisees responsibility to protect Israel from false prophets.

But, these religious leaders ignore the many sick people healed by Jesus and they ignore the miracle of feeding the thousands.

The Pharisees wanted to debate the fact that the Disciples were breaking the traditions of the Elders by the way they were eating

It is important to remember that this scene takes place right after the feeding of the 5000 men, plus women and children.

The religious leaders did not come to refute the reports of these miracles; rather, they were upset that Jesus did not make these people follow their religious rules.

Jesus meets the people’s needs; but, the religious leaders were more concerned with appearances and rules, than the needs of the people.

Notice, the accusation from the religious leaders was not, “Why do Your Disciples break Biblical Law”…

Rather the religious leaders’ accusation was, “Why do Your Disciples not walk according to the tradition of the Elders?”

We must be so careful, not to be offended by different people’s worship styles, just because they are different than us.

The methods of how we worship or communicate the Gospel can be different as long as they don’t go against Scripture.

There were two books the Jewish leaders relied on, in addition to the Old Testament of the Bible; the Mishna and the Talmud.