Mark 7: 1-23 (Daily Bread of 11/11/2017)

YOU PHARISEES ARE HYPOCRITES.

Key verse 7: 6

Jesus highlights the importance of the heart that is obedient towards God’s commandements. However, by this Word we get to see how much the leaders’ hearts were far from God because of their formal way of serving Him.

You are just being holding on to your tradition (1-13)

The religious leaders came to Jesus to accuse him. At that very moment they saw the disciples chunk down some food. The problem was that they were happily eating without having washed their hands. This was against their tradition. The leaders thus began criticising them by calling them impure. Jesus called them hypocrites. Hypocrites are those who mask their true identity with a façade. They smiled but inside there were full of rapines. They thought, or at least hoped to, make themselves look decent through their vain formalities. However, in reality this façade did not help them to ameliorate their spiritual condition as they where deeply corrupt. Jesus lamented because of their formalist spiritualisme that was uncorrectable. God is not interested in our facial or outward appearance but the motivation of a man’s heart before Him is what counts. The religious leaders used their traditional law of the qorban to avertir obeying the Word which spoke about honouring one’s parents. Therefore our multiple traditions annuls God’s Word.
2. The parable about food (14-23)

Jesus that the only thing that renders man impure is that which comes out of him not that which goes in like food. That which enters through our mouths is evacuated whereas that which comes from our hearts is not. Therefore if our hearts are impure so are our mouths and vice versa. When de speak bas words our hearts become impure, that’s the reality. The religious leaders wanted to camouflage their evil hearts by their outward appearance and by their sophisticated tradition. However they were evil and because of their silly religious ways their hearts were far from God. They were thus disobedient to God. Isaiah spoke about this (6b-7). Jesus said to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. The meaning of this is not transubstantiate but rather it's a call on individual repentance.