The Elders Miss the Point…Again
The text this week is Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23. This is the tale of the Pharisees and some of the scribes criticizing Jesus and His disciples for not following the traditional Jewish customs regarding the washing of hands and dishes, etc, before they eat. These traditions are not simply about good hygiene. They are about traditional rituals that prevent one from eating with what they consider “defiled” hands. The elders consider this kind of ritual defilement an affront to God.
All this is an ancient form of an all-too-common problem. It is simply an early version of our old friend Works Righteousness. This, of course, is the hoary notion that we can perform external works to earn God’s favor, and His salvation. It always devolves into a checklist of items that the “righteous” must perform in order to be on the “in”. Besides being a theological and spiritual dead-end, it always devolves into very picayune rules and regulations designed to control everything we do. It is as if God was the worst micromanager you ever reported to. Fortunately for us, God is not such a micromanager, and we should see clearly that the leaders have missed the point.
Jesus Sets Us Free From This Nonsense
Jesus as is always the case sets out what is most important. He calls out the elders for ignoring the weightier matters of the law. He goes so far as to throw the Prophet Isaiah at them. He immediately exposes them as hypocrites. They seek to disparage others for not following all the picayune rules, while at the same time treating people poorly. Indeed, Jesus goes so far as to call these types of rules “human tradition” (Verse 8).
Then Jesus teaches us something profoundly simple, yet profoundly radical. He points out that nothing that we put into put bodies can defile. He teaches us that it is what comes out of our mouth that can defile. This comes from within, from our heart. Obviously, if we trust God and His good and gracious word then we are far less likely to defile ourselves and others by what comes from our mouths. I say less likely because we are imperfect and will fall short of the glory of God, as Paul reminds us. Nonetheless, we will be better by far if we trust first, then act accordingly.
The profoundly radical thing that Jesus does here is to completely and in a rather casual manner toss out the Jewish dietary laws. These acts of works are a source of the elders’ authority over the Jewish population. No doubt this kind of attitude by Jesus toward these customs rankles at best and at worst feeds into the Temple authorities desire to be rid of Him by any means possible. Nevertheless, these customs of “human tradition” are out as binding upon the conscience of the faithful. It should get us thinking about what other traditions are really just picayune acts of useless works that only serve to enhance someone’s earthly power and control, however, this examination would take multiple books to cover.
Suffice it to say that we should refocus on the core of what Jesus is offering, an eternal relationship with our Father in Heaven through faith in His Son Jesus the Christ. Then we can be so confident in the salvation that has been given us that we can far more effectively put things out from our mouths that do not defile, but rather uplift. That is just Jesus telling us to believe, then obey.
Praise Be to God
