Spiritual Geography

Spiritual Geography

I. Jesus explains what defiles (10-14)

(10-11) The explanation of being clean

- Quick Review of last week.

* The Pharisees and Scribes questioned Jesus about His disciples not holding to the tradition of elders in regards to washing their hands before eating. (i.e. on account of being unclean)

* Jesus doesn’t answer the question but gives another question that highlights their holding up of tradition over holding to the Word of God.

* He gives the example of labeling something “corban” from the oral tradition that allows a person to ignore the command from God.

- After speaking about this with these religious authorities, he addresses the crowd to be involved in the discussion.

* The crowd stood back from the discussion between Jesus and these men out of either respect for the nature of these authorities or their insignificance in light of their lowly status.

* Jesus summons the crowd to come to Him so that they can be taught properly about the nature of being clean and unclean.

* Ironically, Jesus doesn’t answer the question asked by the Pharisees about their tradition of being unclean but He wants to bring it up with the crowd.

- Let’s talk about the idea of being ‘unclean’.

* The Jews were worshipping a Holy God and were to be Holy

“Holy” – unique, set apart, different.

* A holy God requires treating God with holiness and worship with holiness, such as what was acceptable to bring to worship. (not something common) example “He placed the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. From it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”

* The word used in our passage for “defilement” or being “impure” is - κοινός The normal meaning of this word is “common”. This word is adapted to mean things that are not unique or set apart in relation to God. (unclean)

* If Aaron and Moses didn’t washed their hands and feet ceremonially, they would have been considered “unclean” because what they were doing wasn’t ordinary compared to the rest of their other activities.

- Jesus explains the issue of being unclean (defiled) in relationship to the mouth.

* The thought that being made unclean by touching things that were ceremonial impure goes beyond the idea of holiness and being unclean.

* During the normal activities of the day, it was thought that the person was made unclean by coming into contact with Gentiles and other things with their hands. Thus, eating the food with your hands made all of you unclean.

* What Jesus highlights is that the things from outside of the body don’t make someone ceremonially unclean. Things from the outside don’t defile but the true defilement comes from what is already inside someone.

(12) Jesus is alerted

- The disciples think that they are helping Jesus by pointing out the situation.

* Mark informs the detail that this conversation by telling us the conversation occurs in someone’s house later.

* The fact that the disciples knew about it tells us the nature of these men’s complaints. (playing both sides… Jesus > disciples; disciples>Jesus)

* Jesus’ explanation on the fundamental nature of what defiles somebody had caused the Pharisees to be offended. This word offended is skandalizw which conveys the idea of stumbling over something like it was a trap. Only here, it isn’t a trap to sin but a tripping over the path to true righteousness.

- The reason for letting Jesus know of the offense is silly.

* I think the disciples are really concerned about the opposition and maybe a bit fearful of the Pharisees’ reaction.

* Jesus knew when He responded how things would be viewed by them. As James Montgomery Boice says “Of course they were offended by His teaching. Self-righteous persons are always offended when we speak of their sin or their inability to please God by their own corrupt and wicked efforts. Truth is resented.”

(13-14) A call to ignore their decisions

- Jesus answers that He isn’t concerned about these leaders.

* He doesn’t consider that they are part of the crop that is dispensing truth, by using this horticultural metaphor.

* Since these plants are being uprooted, the teaching found in these plants doesn’t have lasting value.

* Some would say that the plants refer to the teaching, while others make the point that the plants are the religious leaders.

* I wouldn’t make a distinction but say that they are both the leaders and their teaching that is founded upon works righteousness.

- The call is to ignore their judgment.

* Leaving them alone meant to have nothing to do with their values and opinions on things.

* He refers to them as blind men whom are guiding other blind men that is heading into a pit.

* Leon Morris points out that “Eye diseases were common in first-century Palestine, and the resulting blindness meant that blind beggars were not uncommon. Blind people were often in need of guides, but people who were themselves blind were not of much use as guides to others.”

* The pit is a fitting destination because the guides (Pharisees) and those being led to them will end up in a place of destruction.

There will be people and there will be movements over certain issues that seek to define spirituality or growth. What must always matter is that it starts and ends with God’s Word. (train tracks Word & Christ)

II. Where is the real problem? (15-20)

(15-16) Peter asks the real question

- Peter asks for some clarity on the parable.

* It isn’t that Peter doesn’t understand the nature of a sentence but is struggling with the understanding of holiness on the basis of what Jesus has said.

* If you recall, Peter would be confronted by Paul about his eating practices with the Gentiles in .

* “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.”

* The issue is that some Jews believed that Gentiles would render eating as unclean and Peter still struggled with this issue that was a problem when he hears the truth here.

- Jesus bluntly responds by asking if they are also fools in their thinking.

* The word is translated “no understanding” but the idea of being a fool is to not understand something.

* The faulty thinking comes from a lack of comprehending the truth, which leads to living like a fool. (i.e. foolish)

* The length of time that the disciples had been with Jesus as He has been teaching them leads Jesus to ask the question of disapproval for not connecting the dots to where the theology has been leading.

(17) Jesus starts with what comes into the mouth.

- Jesus is going to break down his teaching into the two components and how it does or doesn’t relate to being unclean.

- He deals with food as it comes into the stomach.

* He explains the process of digesting food not for a biology class but for how it affects the body. The word “stomach” is really referring to the abdominal area in general, which is all part of the digestion process. * It eventually is eliminated. Literally in the Greek it says “it is cast out into the latrine.

* The word “stomach” is really referring to the abdominal area in general, which is all part of the digestion process.

* It eventually is eliminated. Literally in the Greek it says “it is cast out into the latrine.

* The point is that there is nothing in the process that is involved with the food that leads to a person being spiritually defiled. There are no parts of the body that makes the body go from being clean to unclean.

(18) Jesus deals with the real source of being unclean.

- The Gospel of Mark mentions that the problem was the heart.

* “Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated?”

- The picture of what proceeds from the mouth comes from the defiled heart.

* In the culture of The New Testament, the heart is the center of the human personality. (the will, the source of desires, the determiner of conduct)

* Remember the quote Jesus used from Isaiah in verses 8 & 9. “ THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ ”

(19) Understanding the process of sins

- It is best to understand “evil thoughts” as the category and everything else fitting in that category.

* The sinful thoughts/reasoning of a person is the start of the problem. διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί

* Note that the word for reasoning (διαλογισμοὶ) is used in (The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple). “And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” The word “thought” is the word in question here.

- The sinful actions come from the heart.

* These behaviors of sin listed are some of the more noted ones in Scripture that Jesus points out.

* A couple of examples on how these are tied together:

* Fornications – sexual immorality

The heart’s evil thoughts are at work > Lust is at work & so is the sinful reasoning that ‘this won’t hurt anybody’; ‘God made these desires in me’; ‘wow, this desire is so strong that I can’t help myself’

Thefts – all types (example: steal from work)

The heart’s evil thoughts are at work > Lust for that thing is at work & so is the sinful reasoning that ‘they don’t really need it’; ‘I deserve this since I work hard and I haven’t gotten a raise’; ‘this won’t hurt the company’

False witness – lies

The heart’s evil thoughts are at work > ‘My husband doesn’t even listen to me so I won’t tell him what is really going on’; ‘What I want is right so how I get it doesn’t matter’; ‘She made me angry so she doesn’t deserve to hear the truth from me’

(20) The heart is the issue

- The sinful actions of man are what defile a man but not the ceremonial washing of hands.

- The real source of the problem doesn’t come from external things but from the eternal.

* In a nutshell, this is why the Gospel is so fundamentally different than any other form of religion. Other religions focus on maintaining external rules to create holiness (outside – in).

* In a sense this gives a feeling of helplessness because if things can’t reach the heart, then the heart is already unholy. As says ““The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

* Another way to say it there is a sin problem in the heart because humanity has been broken from long ago and we all have that problem. If the external doesn’t help, what does?

* The Gospel says that you need a new heart. “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”