Mark 7:14-23 / Sermon Prep

Preparation

Pray

Lord, please bring them back. Let the word sink into their hearts to bring real transformation. Thank you for how you are doing that in the hearts of many. Bring the power. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Just Meditate

Questions for the passage / first illumination

You can be externally clean, but internally villainous.

He said it to all the people.

He left the people and explained more thoroughly to his disciples.

They cannot understand unless it is revealed.

How did this moment declare all foods clean?

The results of our life apart from Christ expose our inner dirtiness

“From within”

Out of the heart… this is why we do not follow our heart.

Mood/Emotion of the Passage

Clarifying

Confrontational

Word-studies

None for now

Cross References / Passages that illustrate

Each person is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Commentary

Context / Overview

“Jesus radically departs from the Pharisees’ teaching that contact with ritually unclean things makes one impure. This suggests that Jesus viewed the purposes of the laws about uncleanness as rituals (e.g., Lev 7:19–21) meant to remind the people of Israel of their need to be holy (set apart) before God. Rather, He says, impurity comes from a person’s sinful desires.” - John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Mk 7:14–23.

“Jesus teaches that the purity of a person is not determined by external actions but an internal heart attitude.” Rodney L. Cooper, Mark, vol. 2, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 119.

“Jesus showed how the observance of external rules does not correct the “nature” of the heart.” Rodney L. Cooper, Mark, vol. 2, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 119.

“Although it may not seem so now, this passage, when it was first spoken, was well-nigh the most revolutionary passage in the New Testament.” (Barclay)

“Food ends up in the stomach, but sin begins in the heart.” - CCE

Versus

21

“Throughout Scripture, the heart refers to the center of one’s being, including the mind, emotions, and will.” - esv study

Application

Relational application (love your neighbor)

Thinking application (mind)

The problem is not exclusively “out there”

We are not dormant good people who simply need education and opportunity to ignite our inner beauty.

We are consumed with physical health, but are we passionate about spiritual health?

Feeling application (heart, soul)

God sees past the mask of religious ritual

Action application (strength)

You can change your diet, your apps, and your environment; but can you change your heart?

Illustration

Verbal Illustrations

The seed of every sin lies within the heart of every human.

Why being a monk cannot cleans you from sin - you’d still be stuck with yourself (the insanity of Luther or the guy who lived alone on a post)

Begin the message with a poll “do you think people are generally good or generally bad?”

“I believe people are good” song

How to clean pollution

Visual Illustrations

Begin with pictures of seeds, see if they can guess which fruit it belongs to.

Audience

pains/problems

Some may think they can please God with external conformity

Some think that all people are generally good

passions/purposes

Some feel dirty and want to feel clean

Questions/arguments they may have for the text

Why does it matter that food is declared clean?

Pre outline

Main Ideas of the text

Eating certain foods and doing certain rituals does not make you clean before God.

Your heart is polluted with evil.

The source of evil is not exclusively external. Bad thoughts and actions are birthed out of the heart.

So what?

If your heart is polluted with sin, how can you make it clean?

What would this look like lived out?

You would recognize that change happens at the heart level.

Title ideas

Inside Out change

“The seed of every sin”

The heart of man

The heart of the matter

Diagnosing the heart

Heart failure

Potential Outlines

Correct habits can’t change your heart. The source of your most serious problems is your own heart.