In the first 5 verses of mark, chapter 7 we see the religionists have found fault with Jesus' disciples.
The religionists were on a fact-finding commission from Jerusalem. They had come to investigate Jesus, to see exactly what was going on.
News of His preaching and healing and of His conflicts with local authorities were constantly being brought to the attention of the Jerusalem leaders. They had already sent one fact-finding commission to confront Jesus and their report had not been good.
They had accused Jesus of healing and casting out demons by Beelzebub or casting out demons by the power of Satan. They had also accused Him of breaking the Sabbath law.
The whole country was buzzing with news of Jesus' claims and unbelievable miracles. People were stirred up.
All this demanded that another commission be sent out to investigate Jesus.
When they arrived, they immediately saw the disciples breaking one of their traditions.
The disciples were eating with unwashed hands…
They did not mean that the disciples had bad manners, or that they were practicing bad health. They meant the disciples were unclean in the eyes of God.
Why? Because the disciples had not washed their hands as a sign to God that they were offering themselves and their food to God.
The traditional ceremony of washing your hands before meals (as a sign of thanksgiving to God) had been broken and the disciples were ceremonially unclean.
The Law of Moses prescribed washing before handling some items. The idea was to instill within the people the
holiness of God and His temple, and the need for man to be spiritually clean before approaching Him or handling His
affairs.
But what had happened was that some religionists had added to God's Word. They had taken the Law of God,
including the laws of cleansing, and had added thousands and thousands of rules and regulations.
There was a rule governing practically every thing a person did, so many rules in fact that no one could conceivably keep them.
Instead of pointing a person to God and to the need for the cleansing of the heart, the rules caused a person to focus on the rules and the keeping of rules in stead of maintaining a personal relationship with God.
The rules became the center and focus of everyone’s attention, instead of God.
In the case of the disciples, the rule being broken was that of washing the hands before eating a meal.
In the eyes of the investigating committee, they were unclean in the sight of God. They had broken a tradition of the elders and there was no excuse for it, not if they were the disciples of a true Rabbi.
A true Rabbi would be teaching his disciples the traditions of the elders, not ignoring and violating them.
So, the commission brought their charge to Jesus (v.5). “5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?””
Jump down to verses 14-23 and let’s see what Jesus had to say about the difference between internal and external cleansing.
Jesus called the multitude to Him, and says, in verse 14 “hear me, everyone and understand”
Don’t simply hear what I am about to say, but understand it. It is of supreme importance."
LOOK at v. 15-20.
To put it simply…a person is not defiled by what enters the body, but by what comes out of the heart.
There is absolutely no connection between what we eat and our spirituality.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that excessive eating and lack of self control are not wrong.
But when it comes to the items themselves, the food and drink, there is no merit or value, no morality or virtue to them.
It is what we do with those things, It’s what our heart does, that makes us either good or bad, spiritually.
what Jesus was saying: "It is not things that defile a person. It is the heart that defiles a man.
Look at v21; The word heart, in the Bible refers to that blood pumping muscle as well as to the
most important part of a person, that is, to man's innermost being. The heart is the central part, the very center of a person's life. It is the most vital part of my being. This goes beyond the blood pumping muscle…right to the very center of my soul…
1. The heart is the source of our rational understanding and thinking
2. The heart is the source of our emotions: like joy…our affections…our desires…
3. The heart is the source of our conscience…will…our faith…
In v. 21; Here we can clearly see the progression of sin.
1) It begins in human nature: "within, out of the heart."
2) It develops in the human mind: in "evil thoughts."
3) It is expressed in human actions:
Evil Thoughts: as used here are thoughts and imaginations and ideas and concepts that are wicked, immoral, unjust.
Adultery is lusting after the opposite sex, with someone else’s spouse, whether in person, magazines, books, on beaches, or anywhere else. Imagining and lusting within the heart is the very same as committing the act.
Matthew 5:27-28. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Fornication here is a broad word including all forms and kinds of immoral and sexual acts. It is pre-marital
sex and adultery; it is abnormal sex, all kinds.
Murder means to kill, to take the life of another. Murder is a sin against the sixth commandment.
"Thou shalt not kill" (Ex.20:13).
1 Jn.3:15. “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” Family member…church family…Christian family…
Verse 22 Thefts means to cheat and steal; to take wrongfully from another person, legally or illegally.
Covetousness is to lcrave for more and more; to have a starving appetite for something. It means to hunger for possessions, pleasure, power, fame.
Covetousness lacks restraint. you lose your ability to discriminate.
Covetousness is an unclassifiable craving of the flesh that cannot be satisfied
It is a craving so deep that a person can only find happiness in things instead of in God.
Wickedness means to be depraved, to be actively evil, to be malicious, dangerous and destructive.
It is the idea of actually pursuing others in order to harm them or to get even with them.
Deceit means to bait, to mislead, to be crafty and deceitful, or give a false impression by word, act, or influence.
It is conniving and twisting the truth to get my own way.
A deceitful person will plot and deceive, doing whatever has to be done in order to get what they want.
HERE IS A BIG WORD: KJV uses Lasciviousness NKJV uses the word Lewdness,
which means filthiness, indecency, shamelessness.
It means unrestrained evil thoughts and behavior.
It is giving in to savage and lustful desires, a readiness for any pleasure. It means having no restraint, whatsoever.
It is a person who has sinned so much that he/she no longer cares what people say or think.
It is something far more distasteful than just doing wrong.
The person who simply, misbehaves usually tries to hide their wrong, but a lascivious person does not care who knows or who sees.
Back in the 80s I was working in a local Toyota dealer, as a mechanic. One day this young couple came in to have some work done. Boy am I glad I didn’t get their car!. They sat in the car all over each other…steaming up the windows. When the mechanic told them they needed to get out of the car, so he could work on it, they did. They moved from the car to his work bench, which was probably more comfortable than the front seat of that small car.
They did not care that the shop was full of men…it didn’t faze them that there were ladies in the parts room and families in the waiting room…
Evil Eye is not “That look” that most wives give their husbands when they do something wrong.
It means to look where you shouldn’t; to look at that which I should not; to envy, covet, to satisfy those lusts and desires by looking.
Blasphemy is to slander, insult, revile, speak evil of God or another human being…
Pride is to be concerned with self-glorification, to be filled with conceit, arrogance, self-importance or having the attitude that we can’t make it without you…
It’s putting myself above others, looking down upon others, with scorn and disrespect.
Pride can be hidden in the heart as well as openly displayed.
Jas.4:6 “6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.””
Foolishness is having no moral sense. It’s being reckless, thoughtless…
It is a person who acts foolish, lacking any morals whatsoever.
Every last one of these issues are caused by a heart condition…according to verse 23 the source of evil or sin is the heart.
The problem is that evil comes from within. It has, absolutely, nothing to do with the outer man.
Listen to the local news in any city on any given day and you will see a number of evil things reported.
Now keep in mind-the evil that what you see, takes place in our own city/county.
Multiply that evil by every city in every State and just think of all the evil that is being done every day, and that is
just what gets reported.
Now think of the evil words and evil treatment and evil thoughts being done, within the boundary lines of each of those cities
What Jesus meant was that man's heart is his problem. It is from the heart that these evil things come.
We know better. We have more intelligence than to allow so much evil in our lives and homes and communities and cities and world.
SO what’s wrong!? It boils down to a control issue. We don’t have control of our heart.
We make three fatal mistakes when dealing with the problems of the law and evil, or shall we say with the problems of the heart.
1. people judge evil to be external only.
We judge the sinful act, only.
In the eyes of society, you and I would be considered perfect if we never PUBLICALLY did anything bad or if we never broke the law or even stolen a pencil from the office…
2. People fail to see (or confess) that evil rises up from deep within the person.
Because of this, we put little if any restraint on our thoughts. There just thoughts…they can’t hurt you, CAN THEY?
People seldom think beyond the act; we don’t concern ourselves with the reason for the lust and thought; so the result is that people struggle and always will struggle with the problem and tragedy of evil.
3. people fail to see and acknowledge that the human heart needs to be changed.
We refuse to face up to the fact that is so clearly seen: a new person is what is needed.
You can watch all the Dr. Phil shows you can stand…go to all the seminars you can afford…pay all the doctors you can find and you will still be in a mess tomorrow.
King David thought he had his sin well hid. He was home one day instead of being out with his men, who were fighting in a major battle. He decided to go to the roof and relax but what he saw caused him to drool instead of cool. There was Bathsheba bathing down below and his eyes pulled his heart out of place and King David set a plan in motion to have this beauty for himself. He didn’t kill Uriah but he had it done. Murdered one of his best men because of a deadly heart condition…
David thought he had gotten away with this terrible sin…Have you gotten away with some? Are you sure?
Numbers 32: 23 “But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.”
So how do we fix the heart problem? Maybe the same way David did, after Nathan confronted him with his heart problem…
Ps 51: 7-12“7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow.
8Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
9Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”
Do you need a clean heart, today? Come and receive…Invitation.
