What did Jesus say about Religion?(Mk.7:1-23)

What did Jesus say about… • Heaven • Following Him• Suffering • Patience

What did Jesus say about Religion?(Mk.7:1-23)

The Hostility of the Religious Elite

• Grain fields (Mk.2:23-28)

• Man with shriveled hand (Mk.3:1-6)

• ‘By the prince of demons…’ (Mk.3:22-30)

The Hostility of the Religious Elite

‘They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 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 it were healed.’ (Mk.6:55,56)

The Tradition of Men

“Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food

with ‘unclean’ hands?” (Mk.7:5)

Jesus’ answer – ‘their hearts are far from me’

‘traditions of men’ - ‘commands of God’

‘unclean’ - ‘clean’

‘outside’ - ‘inside’

Jesus’ answer – ‘their hearts are far from me’

‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their

teachings are merely human rules.’ (Mk.7:6,7)

‘You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’

(Mk.7:8)

Jesus’ answer – ‘their hearts are far from me’

‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor

your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) — then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do

many things like that.’ (Mk.7:9-13)

Jesus’ answer – ‘their hearts are far from me’

‘Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a

person that defiles them.’ (Mk.7:15)

Is your heart clean or unclean?

‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that

evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils

come from inside and defile a person.’ (Mk.7:20-23)

Is your heart clean or unclean?

‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at

the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the

heart.’ (1 Sam. 16:7)

Is your heart clean or unclean?

‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’

(Prov. 4:23)

“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than eating at McDonald’s makes you a hamburger!”

Jesus declared all foods clean

“Jesus is saying, As of now I make these foods clean. I called the world into being; I called the

storm to a halt; I called a girl back from death. And now I call all foods clean.”

Tim Keller

Jesus declared all foods clean

‘The blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, purifies us from all sin.’ (1 Jn.1:7)

‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the

righteousness of God.’ (2 Cor.5:21)

Jesus declared all foods clean“Through Jesus Christ, at

infinite cost to himself, God has clothed us in costly

clean garments. It cost him his blood. And it is the only thing that can deal with the

problem of your heart.”‘Jesus the King’ Tim Keller

What did Jesus say about Religion?(Mk.7:1-23)

‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’