Earlier this year we began a series on Mark and we preached through the first six chapters before taking a break for the summer. We’re picking up on Mark again this morning and will continue to preach through it verse by verse in what is called expositional preaching. I recognize that this is new for most people, so I want to explain why we’re doing it.

First, the Bible clearly commands me to preach the Word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all of Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching and then immediately after that, Paul commands Timothy to preach the Word. If I truly believe this book is written by God and transforms lives then I’ll preach it as God wrote it.

Secondly, I want to deliver to you what God has said and not simply what I think. If I’m always jumping around the temptation is for me to think about what I believe is important for you to know and then find a passage that seems to say what I think. But when we walk through the Bible verse by verse and preach expositionally, we’re each discovering together what God thinks is important for us to know. As a preacher, I’ve been entrusted with delivering this message, not with inventing a message.

Thirdly, as we read through passages together and expose what is being said, each of you is learning along with me how to read your Bibles. I’m not doing anything magical up here that can’t be repeated by each one of us at home every day. And as you learn to read the Scriptures you can evaluate what I say and see if it is actually in accord with what God has written.

So with this in mind, I’m excited to step back into Mark. Let me read 6:53-56 again as we remember where we’ve been.

READ VS 53-56

The theme we’ve seen from Jesus so far is that he is entering into the kingdom of Satan. He is defeating the demonic forces and calling people into his kingdom by calling them to repentance. He performs miracles as a way of demonstrating his authority and his power to save. Everyone is coming to him to be healed, but will everyone come to him to be saved. And the question Mark is posing to his readers is, “Will you come to him to be saved?”

Now as we enter the rest of our text, I want you to consider two churches. One church is a clean church. The people speak very honorably of God and show him respect. They are regularly worshipping and they are teaching people to obey God. The other church is filthy. Their hearts are far from God and they reject his commandments. Their service is filled with merely vain acts. These two churches seem as different as night and day. However, in our passage, Jesus is going to demonstrate that they are the same church. All of those things are taking place within the same walls and within the same people.

He’ll describe them as honoring him with their lips while their hearts are far from him. So our question is, how can we know if we are a church that is guilty of this same offence? When the guilty party and the innocent party both appear the same on the outside, how can we know the truth? A court case might be necessary. So we’ll approach our passage today as a court case where we attempt to determine who is worshipping God rightly and who is worshipping God vainly.

Outline - The Accusation, the Defense, and the Verdict

Prayer

When court first begins session, it opens by stating the accusation.

The Accusation (7:1-5) – The Traditions should not be violated

READ VS 1-3

Here we have the Pharisees, those who are the most strict adherents to the Law of God, accusing the disciples of not washing their hands before eating. To be clear, this is a bit different than parents accusing their children of not washing their hands before eating. This has just about nothing to do with hygiene. When the Pharisees washed their hands, it wasn’t to rid themselves of germs. Rather, they did it as a way of expressing their holiness and how they were set apart from others. Interestingly, there weren’t any specific laws in the Old Testament that commanded them to do this. There were some laws about priests having to wash before doing work in the temple, but nowhere does it describe everyone as having to wash before eating meals.

If the Pharisees were so concerned about keeping the law of Moses, why are they so concerned with forcing people to wash their hands even though it is nowhere to be found in the Law? The answer is simple. Traditions.

If you’ve ever seen the movie or the play Fiddler on the Roof you’re probably familiar with the song about Tradition! That story tells of a small Jewish community in Russia in the early 1900’s. The main character Tevye tells us how the only way they have been able to survive as a community for so long is because of tradition. “We have traditions for everything,” he says. “How to sleep, how to eat, and even what to wear. You may ask how did this tradition get started. I will tell you. I don’t know. But it’s a tradition. And because of our tradition, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do”. This is played for laughs and the whole story is about learning to embrace tradition while also being flexible with it when necessary.

What’s interesting is that this caricature of tradition is both true and untrue in regards to the Pharisees. The true part is that the Pharisees believed that their traditions provided them with their identity. They did in fact see their traditions as a means of knowing who they were and what God expected them to do. The traditions gave them a sense of identity. They gave a sense of purpose. There was never a moment in their life where they were unsure of what was the right course of action. They had a tradition about everything. Look at verse 4.

READ VS 4

Their traditions guided them in every aspect of life. But here is where the assessment of Tevye from Fiddle on the Roof is wrong. They knew exactly where these traditions came from. And they knew exactly why their traditions were important. They were protecting the Word of God which was given to Moses. And keeping them was their way of obeying God’s commands. That is a good and right motive. The traditions were developed as a way of more clearly understanding God’s Word.

For instance, one law in Exodus states, “You shall not mistreat a widow or an orphan”. Good. That law makes sense. But you have to ask… what counts as mistreating them? Obviously stealing from them and hitting them would be mistreatment. But if you see them begging for food and you don’t go help them, is your inaction a mistreatment? If they are extremely rude to you and they wrong you and you call them a name, is that mistreatment? There are a lot of specific instances where it is unclear how to apply this law. So the Pharisees established a bunch of traditions to help them interpret God’s laws. We still do this today in our own legal system. It’s called case law, where you interpret the law in specific cases, based on a precedent (or we could say tradition) that was determined by an earlier court. You can imagine that after centuries and centuries of developing tradition that they had developed a tradition for just about everything imaginable.

Now this may be the part where you anticipate me telling you how bad traditions are and how we should let go of all of them so that we don’t become Pharisees. And certainly I have heard sermons like that. But I don’t think that’s necessarily where this text is leading. Because did you know that there are other places in the Scriptures where traditions are spoken of very highly. In 1 Corinthians we read this:

“Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.” - 1 Corinthians 11:2

Paul commends the church in Corinth because they kept the traditions he gave. Look in Thessalonians.

“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Here Paul doesn’t just approve of a church keeping traditions he actually commands that they keep specific traditions. One more from Thessalonians.

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.” - 2 Thessalonians 3:6

Now we’ve escalated from “traditions are good” to “you should keep them” to “don’t even associate with anyone who fails to keep them.” So based on the way the Bible talks about traditions, I’m hesitant to just come out and say, “Abandon your traditions!” There is clearly great value in the traditions. And this is important because we have lots of traditions here. Once you start pointing them out, you’ll notice that they are everywhere. What we wear to church. What type of building we meet in. The times during the week that we meet. The types of instruments used in worship. The use of pews. The use of a pulpit. The specifics of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The place for the children to be. The holidays that we observe. The types of ministries we engage in. The church is filled with traditions. Many of which are very important. In an effort to show honor to God, aren’t these the types of things we ought to preserve and hold on to?

Maybe perhaps the Pharisees are even right. It’s possible that the disciples are playing too loosely with God’s laws and they should be more careful about how they act. They should live their lives with greater dignity and respect as a means of showing honor to God. So let’s consider, maybe the Pharisees are right.

Let’s see what Jesus has to say to these accusations.

The Defense (7:6-13) – The Commandments of God should not be violated

READ VS 6-8

Jesus comes out of the gate pretty strongly against the Pharisees. Clearly he has no problem with condemning their traditions. He calls them hypocrites and quotes Isaiah 29:13. Perhaps you’ve heard this before, but the word hypocrite comes from the world of theater. A hypocrite was an actor. In their normal life they acted one way, but then stepping on the stage they took on a new persona. Jesus is accusing them of stepping onto a stage.

And the drama they display on the stage is flawless. They honor God with their lips. They worship him. They are teaching the commandments. They are keeping the laws. But at the same time, off the stage, their heart is far from him. Their words are vain. They have abandoned God’s commandments.

READ VS 9

It’s not as if in their efforts to keep God’s law they have missed the mark by a little bit. Jesus says that their traditions are not only failing to protect God’s law, they are actively opposing God’s laws. Your traditions are making it impossible to keep the commandments of God. How could that be possible? How could something originally designed to support God’s laws become something that actively opposes them?

Well, Jesus gives an example.

READ VS 10-13

What’s happening in this example? We’re all familiar with the 10 Commandments. The 5th Commandment is “Honor your father and mother”. There’s another command in Exodus 21 that takes it a step further and says if you curse your parents you should die. These are very clear commands from God’s Word. They absolutely must be kept. These are the types of commands that the traditions are meant to support, clarify, and protect.

But they had a tradition of dedicating things to God called Corban. The simplified version is that this was a little bit like writing in their will that all of their property would be given to the temple for God’s use after they die. They take an oath declaring, “My house is Corban.” So when I die it can be used or sold by the temple in whatever way they saw fit. The same could be said of any of their possessions even down to all the money that they own. Thus, when their parents said, “We’re struggling as we get old. We need to come live with you.” A man might say, “I’m sorry. My home is Corban and it cannot be used outside of the service of God.” Or if they ask him for money he might say the same thing. He gets to keep everything for himself, but also appears religious at the same time. One commentator described it this way, that Corban was a “formality of vowing something to God, not that he may give it to God, but in order to prevent some other person from having it.”

And this is just one example of how their traditions over time had become opposed to God’s laws. Jesus said, “And many such things you do”. This was just the tip of the iceberg. They enjoyed their traditions. They gained their identity from their traditions. Their traditions were a way for them to feel as if they were obeying God, yet in reality they were doing the opposite.

Is it possible that today in our effort to uphold God’s laws and protect them with our traditions, we may actually be found opposing God’s laws? Are there people today who speak honorable words to God, who show up to worship, who teach the commandments, and who dedicate everything they own to God and yet are doing the opposite of upholding God’s laws? Could it be me? Could it be you?

This is exactly the crisis that Martin Luther and the other Reformers encountered when evaluating the Catholic church at the time of the Reformation. They had established traditions that obstructed the worship of God. For instance, the church had placed such high respect on the wine which was served during the Lord’s Supper that they were terrified of it ever being disrespectfully spilt on the ground. So the tradition was that churchgoers could not drink the wine at all. They could only take the bread which must be placed in their mouth by a priest. Their tradition was blocking people from keeping Christ’s command to remember him at the Lord’s Table.

Or another example was the practice of indulgences, where the church promised that you could receive forgiveness from your sins if you paid enough money to the church. They should have been teaching people to repent from their sins and call out to Christ for forgiveness, but instead they were encouraging them just to throw money at it. In this way, they were obstructing God’s clear command to repent.

We could go on to talk about how they refused to allow common people access to the Bible. They conducted their worship services in a language no one understood. They forbid people from pursuing the blessing of marriage. The list goes on.

But certainly that was then and this is now. None of our traditions could possibly be antagonistic to God’s Word. Could they? If they were, how could we possibly know?

The only way to evaluate our church’s traditions is to compare each of them directly to the clear commands of Scripture. Do you notice that’s what Jesus does? He says, let me compare you to what Isaiah says - in the Bible.  Then he says let me compare your traditions to what Moses says - in the Bible. The Pharisees are great at quoting their elders. They are very familiar with the culture of worship that they grew up in. But Jesus says, take it back to the Word of God. Do your practices line up with this? Because this is the standard and nothing we concoct can ever oppose it.

For example, many churches might say, “In recent traditions we think it is necessary to have a praise band that consists probably of two guitarists, a drummer, a keyboard, and three vocalists.” And they will fight vehemently for it as a necessity and defend it with practical reasons, but is that tradition from the word of God? Can they explain it with this?

Or others might say, “The church needs to have a formal small group ministry where everyone is in a small group” or others “No, your church needs to have a strong Sunday School ministry where everyone is welcomed to a Sunday school class” and these two groups will argue with one another. But in our battle over traditions and practical concerns, does our reasoning come directly from the Word of God or is the best we have to offer just “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

The application here might be that we should reevaluate some of our traditions that we hold dear, but it might also be that we should know our Bibles well enough to be clear on what God has actually commanded. This is a challenge to me as much as anyone. If your defense doesn’t come from God’s Word, then it’s possible that it’s opposing God’s Word.

The Pharisees have accused Jesus. Jesus has defended himself. And now he gives the universal principle that he wants all of his followers including us to walk away with.

The Verdict (7:14-23) – Cleanse your heart before your hands

In a few short words, Jesus is able to identify for everyone what is the real source of this battle over traditions. The Pharisees have come to prioritize the wrong thing and Jesus addresses it.

READ VS 14-15

There are two things to consider here. The outside and the inside. The Pharisees are operating under the assumption that if they are able to manage the outside then the inside will be taken care of. If we keep ourselves away from the bad things, the bad people, and the bad places, then we will be acceptable before God. They thought their responsibility was to protect their pure insides from a dirty outside. They were trying to avoid contamination by keeping their hands clean.

Jesus flips it around backwards. He says no, the outside is not what should concern you. Rather you should cleanse the inside. Your great problem is not bad things, bad people, and bad places. Your great problem is a bad heart. He says, you are already contaminated.

The disciples are a bit confused by this and he explains further to them.

READ VS 17-19

Jesus says, “You’re concerned about food? It goes into you then it leaves you.” or maybe “You’re concerned about who touches you? They leave and you wash your clothes and it’s all gone” or even “You’re concerned about being contaminated by walking in the wrong places? You leave the place and everything is back to normal. These aren’t the things that determine your cleanliness before God.” But on the other hand,

READ VS 20-23

If your heart is contaminated, then every single thing you do all day long, every person you interact with and every place you go will also be contaminated. Jesus is telling them that the problem is not with their hands being unclean. It is with their heart being unclean.

Do you notice how the Pharisees are only worried about hands? Look earlier at verse 2 - their hands were defiled. Verse 3 - they always wash their hands. Verse 5 - you’re eating with defiled hands. But Jesus instead is always talking about the heart. Verse 7 - their heart is far from me. Verse 19 - food doesn’t enter your heart. Verse 21 - out of the heart come evil thoughts.

The Pharisees traditions were saying, you have to clean your hands, you have to clean your hands! But Jesus says that doesn’t matter if you don’t have a clean heart!

As Christians today we are so often guilty of the same exact error. We are so concerned with how we appear on the outside to others and will fight with all our power to appear as if we have clean hands. Meanwhile the condition of our heart takes a back seat and maybe we’ll get to that if we can someday. Ask yourself this morning, which do you lose sleep over, your reputation before others or your heart before God?

We all know what it’s like to put on our church face. We show up on Sunday and act as if we are doing great. Our life is great. We don’t have struggles. We don’t have shame. We don’t have sin. We’re a model citizen. But then in the privacy of your own home, that couldn’t be further from the truth. You’re filled with so much shame. You’re battling so much sin. You’re overwhelmed with a myriad of struggles. Our heart may be defiled, but hey at least our hands looked clean.

In so many ways it’s a blessing to live in a part of the world and a part of this country that is just inundated with churches. It’s a blessing to live in a place where Christ is spoken of freely and where God is celebrated publicly. However, one of the major difficulties is that everyone feels the pressure to keep up appearances here. We all want to look Christian to everyone else. But this pressure we place on ourselves is based on an incredibly false assumption. The reason we show up with church face is because we believe the wrong things about what makes us Christians.

The most Christian thing you can do is not being sinless. That’s impossible. The most Christian thing you can do is repent. That’s what Jesus has been calling people to in the whole book of Mark. When he arrives on the scene in chapter 1, the first thing he says is “Repent and believe in the gospel.” And yet we too often live by the message of the Pharisees. “Wash your hands and look clean on the outside”. Jesus will not cleanse our hearts when we hide them and sweep our guilt under the rug. He cleanses those who expose their hearts, who confess their sin to Him, to those they’ve sinned against, and to those who can help.

When you wash your hands with water, they will just get dirty again. No matter how often you cleanse them, the dirt always finds a way back. But when Jesus Christ washes your heart, he makes it whiter than snow. He removes our sin from us as far as the east is from the west.

If there is any tradition that becomes sacred in our church, any tradition that we fight for and require of anyone who would become a part of this body, I pray that it’s the tradition of confessing our sin, repenting before the Lord, and having Christ cleanse our heart.

Prayer