Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Mark 7-8
Mark 7:1-23 - Notice how the Pharisees are obsessed with the "outward". They confront Jesus about not washing His hands before he ate. The phrase "the tradition of the elders" is key to understanding what is going on here. The religious leaders of this time had created several teachings about "ritual cleansing". According to them, in order to be pleasing to God, you had to go thru these ritual cleansings. According to them, to violate one of these was a sin. Here, Jesus purposefully disobeys one of the "traditions" to prove a point. His point is direct and confrontational. Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 and judges these men and their teachings. In these leaders, the "traditions of the elders" seemed to carry more weight than the Scriptures. It's kind of like exalting modern day "church rules, practices, constitutions or by-laws" above God's Word. We fall into this trap of "legalistic religion" when we exalt the outward over the inward. God works from the inside-out. He changes our hearts and nature and the results are a change in the outward behavior. When you start on the outside and try to work your way in, you totally misrepresent the "way" God works. This misreprestation of God by the religious leaders is why Jesus is so harsh. Today, whenever Churches or believers emphasize dress codes and outward appearance, we fall into this deception. The deception starts by drifting from or adding to what the Scriptures teach.
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You know, I really love to read the "red letters" because those are words that Jesus spoke. Whenever I feel I need an answer, I always go to the red letters. I really felt like In Mark 7, Jesus was really emphasizing people to really guard their hearts and check and see if there is anything unclean in their hearts. Sometimes, God will cause you to go through things to make your heart pure and cause you to see the things in your heart. He does not want people to so-call worship him with their lips, in other words, lip-service just to look good to others. He wants a humble heart of service and forgiveness and not follow the traditions of men. It is easy to fall into that trap when you are a people pleaser. But when you really encounter the Presence of the Holy Spirit, who wants to follow the traditions of men. You don't even think about it. All you want is Jesus. And what about these miracles. How awsome is that!! What encouragement it should bring to those who are hungry, doubtful, and in need of healing. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He can and is and does the same miraculous things today. Look around us. You can see miracles everywhere you look. How cool is that!!!!
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