Untitled Sermon (24)

Mark 7:1

HCSB

1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Him.

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“What’s going on up there?”

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Today, if a religious leader is causing a ruckus, their opponents will just jump on Twitter and start arguments with them,

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back then they actually had to travel before they could beef.

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Who are the Pharisees and the Scribes?

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Basically lawyers, and pastors.

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Mark 7:2

HCSB

2 They observed that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unclean —that is, unwashed—hands.

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So our English translation struggles to capture the issue here. The issue wasn’t dirty hands, it was ritual.

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Mark gives us a bunch of context so that we understand.

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Mark 7:3–4

HCSB

3 (For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, jugs, copper utensils, and dining couches. )

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Mark 7:5–8

HCSB

5 Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ritually unclean hands?” 6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men. 8 Disregarding the command of God, you keep the tradition of men.”

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it’s not even about the law.

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‌It’s about traditions of the elders.

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Talmud Conversation

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Toilet Paper Example

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‌The Pharisees weren’t worried about germs OR respect for God as much as they were interested in respecting themselves. They were concerned with ritual.

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‌This is exemplified in Technicolor by the Pharisees, who had become elite Navy Seals in the art of ritual, but had let go of the heart of the law.

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They did this because they wanted to protect the law, but in so doing they actually gut the law.

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Like leaning on a splintery walking stick so you don’t wear out the strong one.

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Jesus goes on by giving them an example:

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Mark 7:9–13

HCSB

9 He also said to them, “You completely invalidate God’s command in order to maintain your tradition! 10 For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban’ ” (that is, a gift committed to the temple), 12 “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”

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New Testament II: Mark (Revised) (How Mammon Orchestrates the Poverty of Parents)

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Chrysostom: Christ says, “Care for the poor”; Mammon says, “Take away even those things the poor possess.” Christ says, “Empty yourself of what you have”;19 Mammon says, “Take also what they possess.” Do you see the opposition, the strife between them? See how it is that one cannot obey both, but must reject one?… Christ says, “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions”; Mammon says, “Take the bread from the hungry.” Christ says, “Cover the naked”;21 the other says, “Strip the naked.” Christ says, “You shall not turn away from your own family, and those of your own house”;23 Mammon says, “You shall not show mercy to those of your own family. Though you see your mother or your father in want, despise them.”

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This is obviously evil.

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The problem is the Pharisees would use a minor commandment to completely gut a major one.

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And since they were doing a small good, they completely ignored the great evil.

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This brings into question the purpose of the law.

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3 uses of the law:

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“What purposes does the Law then serve?”

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First, the Law helps to control violent outbursts of sin and keeps order in the world (a curb).

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Second, the Law accuses us and shows us our sin (a mirror).

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Third, the Law teaches us Christians what we should and should not do to live a God-pleasing life (a guide). The power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel.”

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A proper understanding of the law reveals that things are actually much worse than being ceremonially unclean.

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Mark 7:14–16

HCSB

14 Summoning the crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. 16 [If anyone has ears to hear, he should listen!]”

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I love the fact that Jesus is gathering people to Him here.

The contrast with the Pharisees and scribes is striking.

This is a complicated issue of law.

When we encounter difficult questions like this in life,

It’s extremely grounding to have someone in authority who you trust say “Listen, I’m going to show you the truth.”

In this case the person in authority is far and away the one who should be listened to concerning the weighty matters of the law.

Compare Jesus to these people.

The word “Pharisee” means set apart.

They were a religious sect that literally positioned themselves as holier than others.

And the scribes, were considered experts in the law because they wrote the law down.

So you have the holy guys and the experts.

Who is holier than Yahweh?

Who is a better expert on the law than the one who breathed it out?

Jesus is always the faithful interpreter of the law because He spoke it to Moses.

The audacity of these men to come from Jerusalem to try and attack Jesus is stunning.

And Jesus knows it’s confusing to the people.

And I imagine that He was gripped with the same compassion that He had for the crowd last week.

Sheep without a shepherd.

In the Matthew account of this story the disciples tell Jesus that the Pharisees were offended by this and his response to them is

Leave them; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Jesus is dead serious about the well being of His sheep, and He is not concerned about the hurt feelings of those who are leading His sheep astray.

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Mark 7:17–19

HCSB

17 When He went into the house away from the crowd, the disciples asked Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated.” (As a result, He made all foods clean. )

‌What we learn here is that the Pharisees traditions had become so ingrained in the consciousness of the Jewish people that Jesus’ disciples have to be told twice and even three times for this to get through their heads.

Additionally, we have an extra note from Mark that all foods were made clean.

This issue was perpetually confusing for Jewish Christians even after the resurrection.

Why?

Well, under the Old Covenant, there were lots of food that actually were declared unclean by God.

The crux of the issue is WHY were they unclean.

The people of God were supposed to be a holy people, and the rituals given by God for being made clean were all for the purpose of drawing near to God in the temple.

Ritual uncleanness wasn’t about whether or not you were a sinner, it was about whether or not you could draw near to a Holy God.

NOW everything is changing.

If you want to get a better grip on these things read the book of Hebrews,

Where we see that Jesus is now the High Priest of a new and better covenant.

And in this New and Better covenant ritual uncleanness is no longer a thing because the true source of uncleanness can be resolved now.

And what is that source?

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Mark 7:20–23

HCSB

20 Then He said, “What comes out of a person—that defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, promiscuity, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

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AHHHH here we are.

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It’s the inside that’s the problem!

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This is about original sin!

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Because of the sin of Adam, the source of the problem is in here!

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The well itself is poisoned.

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I have a car with a blown head gasket right now.

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A blown head gasket occurs when two things that are not supposed to mix in your engine, mix.

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The oil and the water, are together.

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If you’ve ever seen inside an engine with a blown head gasket,

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the oil that is usually supposed to be smooth and dark,

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looks like chocolate milk.

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And the only way to resolve it is to clean it all out and replace the parts.

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So how absurd would it be to say,

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“Well darn. I guess I’ll give it a new paintjob.”

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This is what pursuing anything other than Christ gets us.

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Foolishness!

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When you have a catastrophic engine failure you need a new engine!

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Not a paintjob!

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Bringing ourselves to Jesus is approaching the master mechanic.

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That’s how faith works.

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We know who we need to bring our hearts to, and when we trust Him with our hearts that is faith.

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2 Points to conclude:

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1. Jesus sees directly through our actions right to our intentions.

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This shouldn’t surprise us at this point in the story.

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The man knows our very thoughts because He is God.

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The Pharisees thought they had found Jesus to be a lawbreaker, but in reality they ended up being the lawbreakers.

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So to those in the room who are tempted to believe that it is anything other than faith in Jesus Christ that will save you or keep you saved,

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than let the law be your mirror,

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God is perfect.

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God is holy.

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And if you expect to get by on being a good person,

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than you are damned.

Because deep down we are law breakers!

And Jesus knows this because He is the lawgiver.

Go down the list of the 10 commandments and discover that you have broken every single one of them,

and when the legalism starts creeping back in and you say “Well I’ve never murdered someone” or “I’ve not slept with my neighbor’s wife” read Jesus sermon on the mount in Matthew and discover Jesus informing you in no uncertain terms,

actually you HAVE, for hating your brother in your heart and lusting after your neighbor’s wife damn you all the same.

You are in peril.

With the law as our mirror, the picture that it portrays is ugly.

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The other trap that we can fall into that I think is more likely in this room is what happens when when we swing the pendulum all the way to the other side.

I think if anything we are likely to be antinomians.

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Who believe that because Jesus has paid for our sin than it doesn’t matter if we obey God or not.

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"We are justified by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone," R.C. Sproul

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? James 2:14

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26

“If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” John 14:15

Why do we keep God’s commands?

Because they are the fruit of love.

“God doesn’t need your good works but your neighbor does.”

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2. Jesus can actually change our intentions so that we can obey him.

So now let’s assume that we are all on the same page now,

The second use of the law has shown us ourselves in the mirror, we know we don’t obey God, but because of the gift of faith and regeneration, now we WANT to.

That’s where the 3rd use of the law is found.

Now with our hearts changed we actually can obey God.

This is what life as a Christian looks like in the long game.

To illustrate this I want to tell you about a man named David Brainerd.

Presbyterian Missionary in early 1700s

Diary reveals a tortured man in seminary.

Ministers to the Mohican and Delaware Indians for roughly 6 years and dies at the age of 29.