Mark Chapter 7
The Pharisees have travelled from Jerusalem for the main purpose of finding fault with Jesus. This time, they attacked Jesus indirectly by targeting His disciples on ceremony before eating by washing hands in a special way. These rules were not even coming from Scripture, so Jesus used prophet Isaiah’s words to rebuke them for being hypocrites and for giving too much weight to the “tradition of the elders”. But Jesus wasn’t against all traditions. He was against those who made their traditions more important than God’s Word. God’s Word should always be the focus and tradition is a means of bringing the Word of God to life.
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Mark 7:15-16).
Ceremonially unclean hands or foods do not affect our heart, but what comes out of our heart that matters to God. In Mark 7:21-22, Lord Jesus lists 13 sins, all of which are horrible in a person’s mind, and all these evil things come from the heart; they are what defile us.
The Pharisee’s actual nature is buried deep within their heart, but Jesus knows their real “heart”. He called The Pharisees hypocrites, because they honoured God outwardly, but not inwardly; and they worshiped God for wrong reasons. Their worship was not motivated by love but by a desire to attain some benefit, which is to appear holy and to increase their status.
Outward appearances often mask the genuine nature of a person. We will not know one’s spiritual condition by looking at outward appearances. How people behave in church and speak are only outward signs and do not show the true spirituality of a person. But The Lord knows everyone’s hearts.
Another horrible thing that the Pharisees did was they also used God as an excuse to avoid helping their families. They thought it was more important to give money to God’s temple than to help their needy parents. We should offer our money and time to God, but we should never use God as an excuse to neglect our responsibilities. Helping those in need is one of the most important ways to honour God.
In conclusion, true worship involves drawing near to God with our heart, not just mouthing words of praise. So let us commit our hearts completely to God and ask The Holy Spirit to help us in living by God’s Word alone.