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This Sunday we explore Jesus' teaching in Mark 7, verses 1 to 23, to uncover what truly defiles a person. Not external rituals or traditions, but the sinful condition of the heart that only God's grace can cleanse. Reverend Daniel preaches the word.

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Today's gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of Mark, and together we say, Glory to Christ our Savior. I'm reading Mark chapter 7, verses 1 to 23. Now, when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is unwashed. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, according to the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots, and copper vessels and dining couches. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defile hands? And he said to them, Well, the Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with your lips, but their hearts is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teachings as doctrines, the commandments of men. You have the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. Verse 9, and he said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. For Moses' sake, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, if a man tell his father to his or his mother, whatever you would have gained from me as coban that is given to God, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. Verse 14, and he called the people to him again and said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand there is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, Then, are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? Since it enters not his heart, but his Lama and is expelled. Thus he declared all food is clean. And he said, What comes out of a person is what defiles him. From within, out of the heart of a man, come evil thoughts. Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. This is the gospel of Christ.

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We are continuing our sermon series on the gospel of Mark. And today the key issue that I would like to explore with us today from Mark chapter 7 is this. Let us pray. Father, today we come before you and we ask that you will speak to us. Lord, let your Holy Spirit shine, Lord, your revelation into our hearts that we may understand spiritual matters. We pray that you will enlighten our hearts and prepare us to receive what you would share with us through your word this morning. We pray and ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen. In the period after the Jews went into exile, their contact with non-Jews or what we call the Gentile, the Gentiles, and the way Gentiles operate, their culture increased greatly. So because of their contact with Gentiles, the Jews felt that they need to maintain their Jewish purity over and against the culture of the Gentiles. And in reach its extreme extent, with what we known during the time of Jesus as the Qumran community. So what the Qumran commun community will do is they will separate themselves even from the Pharisees, from the Jews, from the Gentiles, from every body that they know, and they live separately among themselves, and they practice daily washings, and by doing that, they hope that members will be cleansed. Members of the Qumran community will be cleansed from all defilement, especially from Jews and Gentiles. Next to the Qumran community, the Pharisees were the second most scrupulous set of Judaism with regard to matters of cleanliness. What is unclean for Pharisees were any form of human discharges. I won't elaborate on that. Women after childbirth were considered unclean. Corps, the decaying, rotting flesh of dead animals, anything that creeps along the ground, idols, certain classes of people, such as lepers, because they have opened wounds and sores, people of mixed descent, the Samaritans and also Gentiles. So ritual washings were a means of cleansing and protecting the Jews from defilement. Thus we read in Mark chapter 7, verse 1 to 5, when the Pharisees gathered together with some of the scribes, they saw that Jesus' disciples were eating with hands that were defiled, according to them, that is unwashed. So verse 3 tells us the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders. And not only that, when they come to the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And not only that, they had many other traditions that has to do with washing, such as washing of cups, of pots, of copper vessels, and dining couches. And the Pharisees and the scribes then asked Jesus, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? We see here that the Pharisees we call from Jesus' disciples who eat without first washing their hands. The washing of hands before eating was expected of Jews, and during lengthy meals, several hand washings were necessary. Unclean hands, according to the Jews, were a first grade uncleanness, which can be cleansed by a minimum amount of water, almost like uh water in a cup hands, right? So if uh you go to the toilet later, you rinse your mouth, you usually cup water and uh rinse your mouth, right? So uh that amount of water, uh water in cup hands, could actually um uh cleanse um someone before one actually partake of a meal. There's uh there's actually a graver second great uncleanness that only could be cleansed through immersion in water. That means you have to immerse your whole body in water. When does this second great uncleanness occurs? When you go to the marketplace uh where you will meet and contact all kinds of people, all kinds of perhaps unclean people, Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, and also you may be in contact with certain food that were unclean. So therefore, second great uncleanness, every time the Jews went to the marketplace and they come home, they have to have a thorough immersion in water to cleanse themselves through immersion and perhaps scrubbing themselves in a deliberate way. So the concept of transference from an object to a person in contact with the object rules the thought of Mark 7 4. Sorry, let me repeat again. The concept of transference of uncleanness, how someone becomes unclean, it flows from an object to a person. And therefore, if you are in contact with an object or with a person that makes you unclean, you become unclean. It rules the thought of Mark 7, verse 4. There are many other traditions they observe, such as the washing of cups, pots, copper vessels, dining couches. So several other factors contribute to whether an object was clean or unclean. A vessel uh that is cup or curved could contain something within it, right? So a cup or a vessel that is uh in some way curved uh could become uh one who used that vessel could become defiled and needed washing. Whereas a flat surface, maybe a teacup uh um forgot what's the word, what you use to hold uh your coffee and tea, a flat surface. Saucer, sorry. A saucer uh is because it's a flat surface, uh they were usually clean, right? So surfaces and substances that were porous like pot like pottery were susceptible to uncleanness, whereas hard surfaces like metals, unclean stone or glass were usually clean. However, we will not today go into the minute details of all this because the heart of the issue in Mark 7, the contention between Jesus and the Pharisees over what is clean and unclean actually runs much deeper. We read in Mark chapter 7, verse 6 to 7. Jesus said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the commandments of God and hold to the tradition of men. And he said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. So it's we see on screen verse 8 and 9 uh highlighted in yellow, the traditions of men. So this is the crux of the issue that is the point of contention in this passage. The tradition of the elders that Jesus got into dispute with the Pharisees about. The phrase, the tradition of the elders, your tradition, occurs five times in Mark chapter 7. And if if you like to annotate your Bible or take notes, it occurs in verse 3, verse 5, verse 8, verse 9, and verse 13. The tradition of the elders. So along with the above cleansing rituals between uh what is clean and unclean, the tradition of the elders became what was known during the time of Jesus as the oral tradition. And it became more pronounced after the close of the Old Testament. According to the Old Testament, only priests were required to wash before entering the tabernacle. Right? Otherwise, the washing of hands was prescribed only if one touched a bodily discharge. This is made clear in Leviticus 15, verse 11. It says, anyone whom the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. So minimum guidelines in terms of washing. And it's only when you are in contact with a bodily discharge that you need to wash your hands. But by the time of Jesus, adherence to the unwritten oral tradition or what is known in Mark 7 as the tradition of the elders became more important than God's law, the Torah itself, than the Old Testament. Because the Torah, how the Jews understand it was the Torah is what God decreed. This is what must take place. The oral tradition focused more on the interpretation, it's like a fence around the Torah. And it meant to explain further how God's law, the Torah, is to be fulfilled in actual circumstances and different varying cases. So there was a growing divide between what God intended in God's law, the Torah, versus the oral tradition that more and more contains many peripheral matters that obscured and perverted what God truly intended. So Jesus used very strong words to describe this uh tradition of men or the tradition of the elders. He says in Mark 7, verse 9 to the Pharisees and the scribes, you have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. Strong verbs being used. They reject God's commandment to establish their tradition, their own tradition. God's law, the commandments are set aside because the oral tradition became the prime uh guidance for their day-to-day living. So the example in Mark chapter 7, verse 10 to 13 of Koban uh brings Jesus' critic of the oral tradition to concrete expression. Mark 7, 10 to 13 says, For Moses said, honor your father and mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. So this is God's command to honor your father and your mother. But the oral tradition, the tradition of the elders, verse 11 says, if a man tells his father or his mother, whatever you have gained for me, from me is Koban, that is given to God, to the temple, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. In the case of Koban, a person could kind of dedicate uh their goods to God in pledge and withdraw them from ordinary use. However, the person who dedicates something to God as Koban could still retain control over the things that is dedicated to God. So in Mark chapter 7, verse 10 to 13, when the son declares his property Koban, which only at his death would pass into the possession of the temple or to the God or to God, uh to God's use. However, in the meantime, the son retains control over the property, and because of that, his control devised, deprives his parents of the support that would have been uh done in their old age. So by giving, by offering their property uh as coban to God, they nullify the commandment to honor your father and your mother and thus fail to provide for them. So the spirit of second person plural pronouns in verse 12 to 13, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down many such things you do, um reveals that they actually nullify God's word through their tradition that has been handed down. So the relegating and nullifying of the Torah of God's law by the tradition of the elders is met by a sharp and urgent appeal by Jesus. So we see a turning point of this uh account in Mark 7, verse 14 to 15. And Jesus then called the people to him again and said to them, Hear me, all of you who understand. Hear me, all of you who understand. This the word for hear occurs nine times in Mark in the context of solemn pronunciation. Uh sorry, solemn pronouncements. So whenever you see the word here in Mark, it means that Jesus is saying something important. Of the fact that Jesus said, uh, especially in the gospel of Mark, key to discipleship is actually right hearing. So when God's word is being declared, it falls on various soil. So a lot of uh those that the the word that fell on uh certain soils that didn't take root on rocky ground, on among thorns, are those who hear the word of God. And when they hear the word of God is not being applied to their lives, it's like one year in, one year out. And the word hear in the context of Mark chapter 4 is actually uh a simple hearing and then forgetting, and yet uh in in Mark chapter 4, verse 20, Jesus said, Those who hear the word and accept it, those who who uh sow the word on good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit. And the word hear here speaks of a continual hearing opposed to just a short term one year in, one year out hearing. So here is arresting, Jesus is telling the people, hear, listen, so that you're able to understand what it means to be my disciple. And this is the truth or the punchline that he wants to make known to the disciples. There is nothing outside a person, Mark chapter 7, verse 15, that by going into him can defile him. But the things that come out of a person are what defile him. The Jews fully agree that eating defiled food contaminated one and necessitated a cleansing bath. However, Jesus here kind of reverses the direction of the flow, it is our inner impurities that defile the things outside. Addressing the original accusation that the disciples were. Eating with defiled hands in Mark 7 verse 2, Jesus pronounces that nothing outside a person can defile him by going into him. Father, it is what that comes out of a person that defiles him. Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees is well put forth in Matthew 23, 25. It says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. The importance of the inner impurities that defile a person is further underscored by Jesus speaking to the disciples. It's like a separate instruction in a house. And again in Mark, common commonly, place of divine revelation comes in the place of a house removed from the crowds. And in this case, we see in Mark chapter 7, verse 17 to 23. It says, And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? Since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled. Thus he declared all foods clean. And he said, What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and they defile a person. We see the importance Jesus places on the heart and what comes out of it. Mark 7 21 says, For from within, out of the heart of a man, come evil thoughts. If we recall Mark chapter 7, verse 6, initially Jesus against the Pharisees and the scribes, he was saying, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. So it's all about the matter of the heart. What comes out of the heart? So here Proverbs 27 verse 19 provides some insights. Proverbs 27 verse 19 says, As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. In the original Hebrew, the word reflect, reflects is not there. So a literal reading would sound something like this: As in water face, so the heart of man, the man. So as the face reflected in the water, you see, is actually your actual a reflection of your actual face. So what is in the heart of man is who we are, is the man himself. So our heart is really who we are. It's part of us that thinks and feels at the same time. So it's astounding or it's revealing that Jesus talks about the heart in Mark chapter 7, verse 21 to 22. He says, from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. The first six terms in Mark 7.21 occurs in the plural and it denotes small evil acts, things that we do. Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, and all these are in some way related to the Ten Commandments and also doing wickedness. The last six items occur in the singular and it denotes a certain kind of attitude or posture: deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. I won't at this point try to expound every issue or every point of the sins that are being mentioned. But I think what is arresting is actually all 12 terms of what comes out of the heart of man I actually lodge in the evil thoughts of the heart. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts. So true defilement is what comes out from the heart. So this is precisely where the tradition of the elders failed to address, because it failed to represent either God's commandment or his will. The essential purpose of God's law of the Torah is about our inward heart, our inward purity, the right motive and intent, rather than external compliance to rituals and washings. So defilement is not considered a property of objects, but rather a description of our inner attitudes, a condition of the heart. The goodness of our deeds today depends not so much in its doing, but primarily on its intent. What comes out of the intent of our hearts, the evil thoughts of our hearts is what defile us. And one of the again the most arresting scriptures in the Bible is found in the Sermon of the Mount. Again, these are the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 5, verse 21 to 22 and verse 27 to 28. In Matthew 5, 21 to 22, he said, uh, in the sermon of the mount, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. So the act of murder, uh of course, you are liable to a cord. When you commit a murder, uh you are liable to judgment and to the law. But Jesus went deeper, he said, anyone, everyone, meaning that none of us are exempted. Who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. So he goes beyond the act of committing murder to the very starting point of where murder begins. It begins in the thought, in the evil thoughts of our hearts. Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Again in Matthew 5, 27 to 28, Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. So Jesus is citing the commandments, but he's going deeper than just uh acts that we do. He said, I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already fulfilled the act of adultery in his heart. So none of us is exempted uh from uh such sin, such lust. None of us, I believe if we are honest with ourselves, uh, have not uh been angry with someone. None of us, I would say, uh have not lasted. If not after a woman, maybe it's coveting or lasting after what someone has, someone desires, the cravings, wanting more and more in life, the lust of the flesh. So Jesus goes beyond the act of murder and adultery and goes to the heart of the issue. Murder is rooted in a heart that is angry, and adultery begins with lust in the mind. It begins in one at one's taught life. So I mean, those of us who drive, you know, I don't know, some of us are more patient drivers. Some of us, like me, when I'm in a hurry, uh, I'm I get a bit more impatient. And sometimes, especially to the drivers on the road, sometimes we do say words that we don't mean, but sometimes we mean it at the moment of anger or frustration. So, yeah, so we are all liable for the thoughts that come to our mind. So he Jesus advises his hearers in Matthew 5, 29 to 30. He gives again a very poignant, arresting image. He says, if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it's better that you lose one of your members than your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, throw it away. For it's better that you lose one of your members than your whole body go to hell. I mean, none of us will do that, right? We will uh tell our eye or cut off our hand. But Jesus uses this to bring about the point that we need to deal with the thoughts and intents of our hearts. And what comes out of it before more drastic action happens. Right? I believe I believe none none of uh the men, or now we have perhaps also women who commit adultery begin just with the act of uh of adultery. But you take many steps back and go back to first principles. How did the affair begin? Perhaps it began with a thought about the person. Maybe you find the person attractive, you find maybe you should try to get to know the person better, frequent contacts, frequent dialogues, conversations, uh emotional connection is being formed. And yeah, but it all begins with the thought. And of course, murder does not begin at the act of murder, but it begins when we are constantly in a posture of anger towards people, frustration. Perhaps it's a signal for us that we may need uh a timeout, a break. Maybe go for a uh sabbatical if you are a pastor, if you are not, then take leave, you know, take a break and try to uh find find yourself again as and seek the Lord. So we are to deal with the intent of our hearts and what comes out of it. Jesus said drastic action must be taken before worse things happen. I'd like to close with a word from Paul in 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3 to 6. Here Paul actually defends his apostolic ministry, that's in a different context, against those who kind of challenge his authority as apostle, basing looking at him and uh making judgments on his style of preaching and the message he brings, because he wasn't as an eloquent speaker as those who were itinerant preachers. So they called his apostolic ministry into question. As a result, you know, they are they are questioning the validity, the validity of the gospel itself. So when Paul writes 2 Corinthians chapter 10, actually 10 to 13, very intense chapters that Paul wrote, 2 Corinthians 10 to 13, in which he wrote to defend the ministry and his posture as he serves God in the ministry. And he says this in the beginning, few verses. For though we walk in the flesh, we are living in the flesh, we are facing all kinds of temptations, oppressions, pressures, influences, we are not waging war according to the flesh. Paul says, For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but it has divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. For us, each time an evil thought enters our mind and it affects how we think, how we feel, we are to arrest it before it takes root and birth into actual acts of sin. So we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against what is true, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

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