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As we continue Meandering Through Mark, this week we dive into Mark 7 exploring the concept of - No Matter how much we wash our hands, it doesnt change the state of our heart.
Mark 7v 1-23 NIV
7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’[b]
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e] 11 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Where we find ourselves in this story:
The world at large endured the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and during that time we were washing our hands and sanitizing at every opportunity - though once the virus took hold, handwashing and sanitizing could not remove it. This virus very quickly became suffocating, defeating and absolutely debilitating.
Is this not the state of man at large – us walking around on a daily basis with a state of virus;
a hardened heart,
a bitter anger,
an evil thought or deed
unfulfilled promise
all of which become crippling, suffocating and defeating. And every day we return to our sinks in hope that by washing our hands - the choke hold would be released
In Mark 7 we see how the disciples were ridiculed by the Pharisees and the leaders of the time when they were seen to eat without washing their hands – at that time a very strict procedure was followed prior to eating or returning from the marketplace, all of which had become religious law: a very specific, certain way of doing things. Jesus goes on to explain to them that nothing that comes from the outside can defile a man – that which defiles a man comes from the inside. He describes how they have elevated the traditions of man, and in doing so completely thrown out the word of God. He points us to the condition of the heart where foolishness, envy, sensuality, murder, jealous, greed, deceit and arrogance can take hold – that the real Sin comes from inside out, not the outside in.
No Amount of washing your hands will change the state of the heart
Jesus is the one who makes unclean - clean, he is the one that can soar through a heart riddled with anger, bitterness, sin and arrogance and restore the heart to purity. That’s where Jesus wants us, a heart ready to be filled with him – rather than stuck in doing things in hope those things are the “fix”. He is the one and only true fix!
Perhaps you find yourself in a space where you are in a state or Virus -
a hardened heart,
a bitter anger,
an evil thought or deed
unfulfilled promise
~all of which become crippling, suffocating and defeating.
A Reassurnace:
Ezekiel 36:25-27
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Perhaps you find yourself in a space where you:
Come to church, attend a Life Group, Tithe - and you need a fresh wind of God in your heart!
Have a scar, an impurity - an experience, memory, or current state that has become so heavy and tiring to carry - like a stone in your chest - you need to be vulnerable just one more time to allow God to soar in and take victory over what is holding you down!
Have an idol in your life that has claimed your worship, time, finance,s and vision, but it leaves you feeling empty and isolated - today is the day that you can turn your eyes towards Jesus and allow him to fill you from the inside out!
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
This is the power of the gospel. We come to a place where we are truly dead in our sin. Broken, battered, and wrapped up in a sheet. God takes all of that, says tell me of this – tell me where your heart is at – do you love the Lord your God with all your Heart, mind and soul – are you willing to lay that all down, bare your heart just one more time so that the Lord your God can restore you from the Inside out!
LIFE GROUP GUIDE
Like last week, set aside time to break bread at the table.
As we break bread; our dining tables become sacred spaces of celebration and remembrance of our hope in Jesus.
Additional questions to discuss
S - Surrender What is that thing that keeps your running back to the basin?
K - Kneel What is standing in the way of you accepting that Jesus is the one who can cleanse and restore you?
O - Own Up Name the thing that has been keeping you at the basin, the first step is admitting where you are and allowing Jesus the space to take the victory!
O - Obedience What do you feel God is calling you to do now, knowing the above?
N - New In Jesus, he makes everything New, what is something you can hold onto as God sets your Free and restores you from the inside out?
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