Comstock Sermon #5 Mark 7:1-23

Mark 7:-23

INTRODUCTION

When I was 15 yrs old my family and I went to visit my sister and her family in Rantoul, IL at Chanute AFB.

Despite 8 yrs difference between me and my sister we have always been close.

The night before we were supposed to leave my sister and I sat up late into the night eating salted peanuts and talking.

The next day something happened to me that I never anticipated:

-My abdomen hurt badly but not like a stomach ache

-I was not comfortable sitting, laying or standing

-I couldn’t sleep

-I was so desperate for relief I even asked my Dad to stop at a rest stop (which annoyed him) and tried to gag myself in the stall to no avail.

After an excruciating 8 hour journey home the pain subsided.

That was the first time I experienced that pain but NOT the last.

Over the course of about 7 yrs the pain came and went.

It became far more frequent after I lost about 125 lbs.

I was now 21 yrs old and experiencing episodes far too frequently.

These episodes typically started at night and lasted a solid 8 hours.

Finally, one night, after spending several hours on the bathroom floor I asked my Dad to take me to the hospital.

The Docs gave me some wonderful drug that knocked me out.

When I awoke the pain was gone and the diagnosis was in:

A bad gall bladder.

From age 15 until 22 I suffered never suspecting a bad gall bladder.

I later learned that losing a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time can also exacerbate a bad gall bladder.

I had modified my life significantly as it pertained to what I would and would not eat.

-I had learned that peanut butter and pasta sauce were things I would never eat

-I became extremely dogmatic in my diet desperately trying to keep the unwritten rules I made for myself.

My thought process was that if I controlled what I put into my system I could control the outcome.

In reality though, it was NOT the food I was putting INTO my body causing the problem(s) but the bad gall bladder WITHIN me causing all the issues.

It is this concept- the idea that it is not what ENTERS our body that defiles us rather than what COMES out of us that defiles our lives.

If I could have been more focused inwardly to find the real cause of my pain rather than outwardly creating dietary “rules” in my life I would have saved myself a ton of pain and suffering.

The Gospel writer Mark reports an encounter where Jesus is challenged by Pharisees on a similar topic- the issue of ceremonial cleansing (ritually washing hands before eating).

Jesus confronts the very crux of the issue quoting Isaiah:

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”

He un-apologetically nails down the attitude of the Pharisees saying:

(CIT)What comes out of a person is what defiles them.For it is from within, out of a person’s heart that evil thoughts come”

I find in our Christian journey we sometimes find ourselves sporting the Pharisee’s attitude.

We tend (and even enjoy in some instances) to criticize others who are not following “OUR” rules for a holy, God-centered life.

It is a slippery slope and one that Jesus repeatedly warned against.

When we pretend that we can be “more” holy or more “righteous” than others through legalistic actions we adopt the attitude of the Pharisees.

You see, it is not the rules you keep that matter but the intention of your heart.

This morning we will study the encounter described in Mark.

We will see how Jesus addresses the Pharisees attitude and how we should avoid the same pitfall.

We will study THREE ‘C’s:

The Criticism

The Commandments

The Cleansing

READ MARK 7:1-23

BACKGROUND

The text states the Pharisees had come from Jerusalem so the place of the event

Tensions were growing and the leaders of Judaism found it necessary to give Jesus more concentrated attention.

On this occasion, some of Jesus’ followers were eating without the ritual washing prescribed by the rabbis.

Twice (vv. 3, 5) “the tradition of the elders” is mentioned.

During the period between the testaments, the rabbis developed a great number of “rules” and came to regard and teach them as though inspired.

The goal of such regulations was to provide answers to every possible question about how to keep the Mosaic Law.

“The traditions thus established passed from one generation of rabbis to the next.

There were also professional scribes (or “lawyers”), most of whom apparently supported the rabbinic traditions.

There was also the sect known as Pharisees, who in turn supported these very traditions and regarded them as binding as the Torah itself.

This body of tradition ultimately came to be in written form (in about A.D. 200) in the Jewish Mishnah, part of the Talmud.

The main contention between the chief interpreters of Judaism and Jesus was about these traditions—including:

table fellowship with “sinners” (2:15–17);

fasting (2:18–22),

and Sabbath observance (2:23–28);

It comes into play again here.

NARRATIVE

I. THE CRITICISM—vv. 1–8

A. Complaint—vv. 1–3. Eating without washing the hands. This was a violation of a Jewish custom. The disciples did not follow this custom!

The Pharisees were not really “asking a question” for they were not truly seeking an answer.

When the hypocritical Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples ignoring their humanly given practice of ceremonial cleansing they were offended because they saw themselves as the “makers of the rules” rather than God.

As they read the Commandments Yahweh had given they expanded on those Commands by detailing what it meant to “observe the Sabbath” for instance or what it meant to “not to take the Lord’s name in vain.”

Relevance: I find it interesting when we first come to Jesus we are broken and humbled. We are grateful just to be included into the family of God.

Ironically as time passes and we study God’s Word we make interpretations of what Christian life is supposed to look like.

It is at that point we are vulnerable to complaining if we come across a brother or sister in Christ who does not esteem our “rules”.

We may even go so far as to say they are “backsliding” or in sin because they do not adhere to what we adhere to.

The Pharisees certainly felt they disciples were not being faithful to God by eating with “defiled” hands.

“Defiled” (Greek koinos) originally meant “common” or “shared.”

Then it came to be used in the sense of common as opposed to special, profane as opposed to sacred, thus polluted or unclean.

For them, hands not ceremonially washed were by definition polluted.

Consequently, they found fault with Jesus.

Here and earlier, in the matter of plucking grain on the Sabbath (2:23–28), as well as in the matter of Fasting (2:18), Mark refers only to the practice of the disciples which is then made an occasion for criticism of Jesus.

Even if Jesus Himself had observed the ritual, the fact that His disciples did not would reflect on Him as their teacher.

“Found fault” (Greek memphomai, not in all manuscripts) means to blame or criticize for something blameworthy.

B. Ceremony—vv. 4–5. This was only a Jewish ceremonial law. These laws were not God’s laws!

It is vital to understand the traditions of which the Pharisees speak were not God given inspired laws.

These were “traditions” of men but they were elevating them to the level of scripture.

Relevance: Exactly what manmade traditions are WE elevating to the level of scripture?

There are Christian churches out there that believe if you do not read/preach from the King James Version Bible you are un-biblical.

There are other Christians who would not dream of attending a church unless they sing hymns from the baptist hymnal.

I am not saying there is not solid doctrinal practices we should keep. For instance:

Water baptism by immersion or the practice of communion

What I am saying is best encapsulated in the often quoted statement:

“"in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity."

C. Conflict—v. 6. Prophecy of Isaiah 29:13. Lip service is not enough!

D. Commandment—vv. 7–8. The commandments of Christ were put aside, and man-made laws were followed. They tried to force these ceremonial laws upon others.

II. THE COMMANDMENTS—vv. 9–13

A. Rejection—v. 9. They rejected God’s laws, accepting tradition!

B. Respect—vv. 10–11. “For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother.’ … But you say it is perfectly all right for a man to disregard his needy parents, telling them, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you! For I have given to God what I could have given to you’ ” (LB).

C. Results—vv. 12–13. God’s commands had no influence upon them. The man-made laws meant more to them.

III. THE CLEANSING—vv. 14–23

A. Contamination—vv. 14–16. “Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. ‘All of you listen,’ he said, ‘and try to understand. Your souls aren’t harmed by what you eat, but by what you think and say’ ” (LB).

B. Concern—v. 17. People wanted to know the truth.

C. Conscience—vv. 18–20. What you eat doesn’t defile you, it’s what comes out—meaning how you talk and act.

D. Control—vv. 21–23. If the inner man is not controlled, then you will have these thirteen sins listed here. Note they come from within.

Pentz, C. M. (1975). Outlines from Mark and Acts (p. 19). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.