Gospel of Mark Study #21

“Rotten in the Middle”

Mark 7:1-23

Study #21 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

I am an unabashed fruit-lover. I think that I like fruit better than any other kind of food. Having lived for many years in Oregon I love all kinds of temperate zone fruits—i.e., strawberries, peaches, apricots, plums, grapes, prunes, pears, berries of all sorts, a hundred different varieties of apples, and all the different kinds of sweet, succulent cherries. But I also lived in the tropics for many years, on Guam and Oahu, and in Brazil, where we got mango, papaya, passion fruit, guava, umpteen varieties of bananas, oranges and all the other citrus fruits, pineapple, lychee, tamarind, sweetsop, carambola, coconut, avocado, pomegranate, and jackfruit, just to name a few.

My problem is that I love fruit too much. When I go to the store, I often end up buying more than we can eat before it starts to go bad. The problem is that I get busy and forget to eat the fruit, and before I know it, it has started to get too ripe, and then to rot. But sometimes fruit fools you. Apples, for example, can look fine on the outside but they are already starting to go bad on the inside. Mangoes are like that too. Mangoes start rotting from the seed outward. It may still look fine on the outside, but next to the seed it has already started to turn black.

People are like that too. A person’s life can look great on the outside, but he or she can be rotten on the inside. In our text for today Jesus takes up this very issue with some religious leaders who from their outward appearance seemed fine, but they were rotten in the middle, just like the rest of humanity, although they would never admit it. This led Jesus to a discussion about the real nature of defilement and cleansing. But the other issue that Jesus was dealing with had to do with religious authority. Does religious tradition carry divine authority? Is it equal to, or superior to, the written Word of God? These are still valid questions today.

TRANSITION: In our last study together, we looked at Mark 6:45-56, which describes that storm on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus and Peter walked on the water. Through that experience the 12 disciples finally began to understand who Jesus really was—God, clothed in human flesh. After He calmed the storm, we read that Jesus directed the disciples to head the boat toward shore. Let’s read verses 53-56 just to pick up the context for today’s study.

“When they had crossed over [the Sea of Galilee], they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He went—into villages, towns, or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged Him to let them touch even the edge of His cloak, and all who touched Him were healed.”

NOTES on the Text:

Verses 1-2: The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law [i.e., Scribes] who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of His disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed.

·         Today the trip from Jerusalem to Capernaum by car is 109 miles by the most direct route. However, in Jesus’ day the trip took about 120 miles because Jews went out of their way to avoid passing through Samaria. Thus, these Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem walked approximately 240 miles roundtrip just to check up on Jesus. That is a long way! That is real dedication, or else real hatred and distrust.

·         These legal eagles observed that Jesus and His disciples did not subject themselves to the practice of ritual hand-cleaning before eating. That bothered them, a lot, because they believed that it was incumbent upon any Jew to follow the rules for ceremonial cleansing set down by the traditions of the elders.

Verses 3-4: (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the traditions 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.)

·         You will remember way back when we started this series on the Gospel of Mark that I told you that Mark wrote this account of the life and ministry of Jesus primarily with a Roman audience in mind. For this reason, throughout Mark’s Gospel he takes the time to explain Jewish customs and practices that Romans would otherwise not understand. Here in verse 3 Mark uses this phrase, “the traditions of the elders.” The Pharisees themselves use the same phrase in verse 5. What are they talking about? “The traditions of the elders” was the body of commands and teachings of the honored rabbis of the past, a body of thousands of detailed rules designed to regulate every aspect of Jewish life. The NIV Study Bible includes this observation in the note on the parallel text of Matthew 15:2 – “After the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish rabbis began to make meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of the people. These were interpretations and applications of the Law of Moses, handed down from generation to generation. In Jesus’ day this ‘tradition of the elders’ was in oral form. It was not until approximately AD 200 that it was put into writing in the Mishnah.”

·         Long ago observant Jews discovered 613 “laws” in the Torah. Around these 613 laws the elders built “fences,” which were Pharisaical rules designed to prevent anyone from breaking those original laws. The logic runs like this. Imagine the cliffs around the Grand Canyon. Dangerous! To protect the public the National Park Service puts up signs to warn people not to get too close to the edge lest they fall over. Those signs are like the 613 Laws of Moses that God gave to the Jews. But people are stupid and many disregard the signs. So, the Pharisees came up with 1,500+ “fence laws” to provide added levels of security to ensure that people won’t break the Laws and anger God. Those “fence laws” are like the fences around the Grand Canyon that force people to stay 20 feet back from the edge. The Pharisees invented these rules out of the best of intentions, but their manmade laws and restrictions became a burden too heavy for anyone to carry.

Verse 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 ‘unclean’ hands?”

·         These religious zealots asked Jesus why He and His followers did not live according to the traditional rules set down by the elders. They were not concerned with cleanliness but rather with keeping ceremonial practices that had nothing to do with actual hygiene.

·         William Barclay in his commentary on Mark’s Gospel gives some fascinating background color on this text [cf. pp. 166-168].

The Scribes and Pharisees accused the disciples of Jesus of eating with “unclean hands.” The Greek word is koinos. Ordinarily, koinos means common; then it comes to describe something which is ordinary in the sense that it is not sacred, and finally it describes something, as it does here, which is ceremonially unclean and unfit for the service and worship of God. There were definite and rigid rules for the washing of hands. Now, note that this handwashing was not in the interests of hygienic purity; it was ceremonial cleanness which was at stake. Before every meal, and between each of the courses, the hands had to be washed, and they had to be washed in a certain way. The hands, to begin with, had to be free of any coating of sand or mortar, or gravel or any such substance. The water for washing had to be kept in special large stone jars, so that it itself was clean in the ceremonial sense, and so that it might be certain that it had been used for no other purpose, and that nothing had fallen into it or had been mixed with it. First, the hands were held with the fingertips pointing upwards; the water was poured over them and must run at least down to the wrist; the minimum amount of water was one quarter of a “log,” which is equal to one and a half egg-shells full of water. While the hands were still wet each hand had to be cleansed with the fist of the other. That is what the phrase about using the fist means; the fist of one hand was rubbed into the palm and against the surface of the other. This meant that at this stage the hands were wet with water; but that water was now itself unclean because it touched unclean hands. So, second, the hands had to be held with fingertips pointing downwards and the water had to be poured over them in such a way that it began at the wrists and ran off at the fingertips. After all that had been done the hands were clean. Now, note, that to fail to do this was in Jewish eyes, not to be guilty of bad manners, not to be dirty in the health sense, but to be unclean in the sight of God. The man who ate with unclean hands was subject to the attacks of a demon called Shibta. To omit so to wash the hands was to become liable to poverty and destruction. Bread eaten with unclean hands was no better than excrement… That to the Pharisaic and Scribal Jew was religion. It was ritual, ceremonial, rules, and regulations like that which they considered to be the essence of the service of God. Ethical religion was buried under a mass of taboos and rules and regulations.  

Verses 6-7: [Jesus] 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. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

·         Rather than acknowledging their question with a direct answer Jesus paraphrased a Scripture verse from Isaiah 29:13. He chose to quote a passage with which these people were very familiar, in which Isaiah powerfully denounced the religious leaders of his day for something similar. In so doing, Jesus was saying that Isaiah’s words were applicable to the Jews of Christ’s day too.

·         Jesus called these Scribes and Pharisees, “hypocrites.” The word literally means, “under the mask” and originally referred to actors who appeared to be what they really were not. Jesus applied it to these men who appeared to be righteous but were not.

Verse 8: “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

·         Jesus spoke directly to the Pharisees and Scribes and told them that they were doing the very same thing as the religious people in Isaiah’s day. This was not an overstatement because the Pharisees viewed their oral tradition as being more authoritative than the written law of the Old Testament Scriptures. 

Verses 9-10: And He said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ [cf. Deut. 5:16 = the 5^th Commandment] and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ [cf. Exod. 21:17]”

·         “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” Obviously, Jesus is using sarcasm here like saying to someone, “You are a great thief,” or “You are an excellent liar.” NASV translates it as: “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.” He is not commending them by saying that they have a “fine way of setting aside God’s commands.” He is just pointing out that they have gotten good at doing evil through years of practice.

·         Then He cites Moses, first from Deut. 5:16 and then from Exodus 21:17. He does this to show what God has already said on this subject.

Verses 11-13: “But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his 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.”

·         God’s instruction in the Law given through Moses was clear. They were just choosing to ignore it in favor of their own convoluted self-serving interpretation. The Jews had a tradition of making a vow to give something valuable to the Lord. It could be money, property, houses, cattle, or anything else of value. The person would vow to give this thing to God so then it would be called, “corban,” meaning a gift dedicated to God. It was like it had a big “SOLD!” sign on it. Now it belonged to God and could not be used for anything else. What was going on was that people would take the money that they should have been investing in the care of their elderly parents and giving that money “to God.” Now it was “corban,” and therefore, untouchable. They would feel good about themselves and get kudos and brownie points from their rabbi and synagogue buddies, but really, they had just robbed their parents of the money needed to take care of them. But their consciences were clear because they could say, “Oh, I am so sorry, Mom. That money is now ‘corban’ and it belongs to God.” This was just a money laundering scam to keep from doing the right thing by their parents and loved ones. The NIV Study Bible has a note about this practice: “Corban is the transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “offering.” By using this word in a religious vow an irresponsible Jewish son could formally dedicate to God (i.e., to the Temple) his earnings that otherwise would have gone for the support of his parents. The money, however, did not necessarily have to go for religious purposes. The Corban formula was simply a means of circumventing the clear responsibility of children toward their parents as prescribed in the Law. The teachers of the Law held that the Corban oath was binding, even when uttered rashly. The practice was one of many traditions that adhered to the letter of the Law while ignoring its spirit.”

·         The real principle is in verse 13 and it applies to many different situations. Thus, you nullify the Word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. To nullify means to render null and void, to make invalid, or worthless. Jesus says that man, by his stupid traditions can invalidate the Word of God. Of course, we cannot really do that. God’s Word will stand forever, but in our lives, we can talk ourselves into thinking that man’s religious rules are more important than God’s eternal principles and laws. Specifically, Jesus is saying that this stupid Corban Law sets aside the Mosaic Law principle spoken by God that a man is responsible to care for his parents. To not do that is shameful, no matter how much money he donates to the church’s building fund, for example.

Verses 14-16: Again, Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’ ¹⁶ If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”

·         Up until then Jesus had been dialoguing with the Scribes and Pharisees. But then He turned and directed His comments to the crowd that was listening. Here is where Jesus gets into the heart of the issue: looking religiously good on the outside versus genuine godly character on the inside. To teach this principle, Jesus attacked one of the hobby-horse doctrines of the Pharisees, namely, ceremonial washings and “Kosher” foods.

·         Jesus says, “Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’” In other words, nothing that goes into our mouth makes us unclean in God’s sight. That means...

o   You can eat with ceremonially unclean hands, and it will not make you “unclean” to God.

o   You can eat rotten fruit, and it will not make you rotten.

o   You can eat pig meat, and it will not make you a pig.

o   You can eat a dirty sandwich, and it will not make you dirty.

o   You can drink spoiled milk, and it will not make you spoiled.

·         Rather, God is concerned with the kind of garbage and rottenness that comes out of us, through our words, our actions, our attitudes, our dirty looks, our hand gestures, etc. 

Verses 17-19: 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 man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)

·         After the crowd had dispersed and gone home Jesus was left alone with His disciples. Remember, up until a short while before this day, these 12 guys had been steeped in the same religious thought that drove the Scribes and Pharisees. That is what these guys had grown up with, so we need to cut them some slack. Jesus called them “dull,” but I think they were pedaling as fast as they could, trying to keep up with Him. It is hard for a new convert to divorce himself from unbiblical teaching. If you do not believe me, ask any person who has come to Christ from Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witnesses or Hinduism. It takes time for the “renewing of the mind” to occur (cf. Romans 12:1-2).

·         Jesus patiently explained to His disciples the human digestive process, how that food we take in through our mouth works its way through our system and eventually comes out the other end, without passing anywhere close to the heart and without changing us as a person.

·         Finally, Mark adds his observation that by Jesus’ statement at the end of verse 19 He set aside once and for all the Levitical distinction between things that are “clean” and “unclean” (cf. Acts 10:14-15).

Verses 20-23: He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ²¹ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²² greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

·         Obviously, Jesus was more concerned with these men’s hearts than with their bowels. Evil is not related to what we eat, but to what we think. It is not about what goes into us, but rather, what comes out. Jesus says, “...from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, etc.”

·         That is why we Christians are so stuck on talking about being “born again.” You see, no amount of cosmetic change to a life can bring about the fundamental change that is needed for us to have a relationship with God. Our problem as humans is not the externals of life. It is the fact that we are all rotten in the middle, at the core of our being, in what the Bible calls our “heart.” Getting a makeover cannot fix that. Getting a better job and buying a better house cannot solve our basic problem. Wearing nicer clothes and stopping smoking, drinking, and cussing will not change what we are on the inside. Only God can change a person’s heart, and He only does it through us confessing to Him that we are lost sinners and putting our complete faith and trust in Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. That act of faith results in us being, as the Bible puts it, “saved.” And in 2 Cor. 5:17 the apostle Paul describes the change this way: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and behold, the new has come!”

CONCLUSION:

In a sense, Jesus and these highly religious people spoke different languages. Because He had no regard for their manmade rules and regulations, they considered Him a bad man. There are two kinds of people in the world: (1) Those who believe that religion is all about good deeds, rituals, ceremonial rules, and regulations to earn salvation; and (2) Christians, who see true religion as loving God and loving their fellowmen, not to gain salvation, but as the by-product of a supernaturally transformed life.

FEEDBACK:

What is it about manmade religion based on rules and regulations that is so appealing to most humans? How do we help people see that there is nothing we can do to earn our way to God and to Heaven?