December 16, 2015 (Wednesday)
This evening at Bethel Baptist Church, Ingleside, we will study Mark 7:1-23. In the preceding chapter, Mark told of Jesus’ miracle of feeding 5,000 people with a tiny amount of bread and fish, His walking on the water and healings of many people. In Mark 7, we see that the Pharisees and teachers of the law have come all the way from Jerusalem to investigate.
The visitors make no comments about the marvelous miracles and the good that was being done. They seemed to pay no attention to these marvelous happenings. Instead, they looked for something to criticize. They came to Jesus and asked why his disciples were not observing ceremonial washings before eating, accusing them of eating with defiled hands.
Jesus replied that they were hypocrites, setting aside God’s clear moral demands in favor of purely human traditions. He then turned to the crowd and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them” (Mark 7:14-15). Later his disciples asked for further explanation, and Jesus reminded them that a person is not defiled by what he eats or how he eats it, but “what comes out of a person is what defiles them.” He continued, “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come–sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23).
This direct confrontation set the stage for continued opposition by the religious leaders, and would eventually result in the crucifixion of Jesus. Tragically, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were so committed to legalism that they became unable to see spiritual truth. Jesus offered to set people free from their legalistic burdens and would later say to the crowds: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:30). Later, after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, the apostle Paul would declare, “By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any person should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Sin defiles. Christ cleanses.