Becoming a Stronger Disciple
(Mark 7:1-23) The Pharisees
and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around
Jesus and saw some of His disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,”
that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and
all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing,
holding to the tradition of the elders.
When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they
wash. And they observe many other
traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the
Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t Your disciples live
according to the traditions of the elders instead of eating their food with
‘unclean’ hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you
hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their
hearts are far from Me. They worship Me
in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and
are holding on to the traditions of men.”
And He said to them: “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 your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone
who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father
or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’
(That is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for
his 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.” Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and
said, “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that
makes him ‘unclean.’ After He had left
the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked Him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” He asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a
man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?
For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of
his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) He went on:
“What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy,
slander, arrogance and folly. All these
evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
HOW A DISCIPLE ACTS
When a person is a genuine disciple, it’s
obvious.
1. Genuine WORSHIP
(6-7) (Jesus) replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain...’”
A. Genuine worship focuses on inward devotion not outward expression.
B. Genuine worship involves loving the Lord and living for Him.
(Psalm 29:1-2) “Ascribe to
the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to
the Lord the glory due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His
holiness.”
(Psalm 18:1-2) “I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
(Psalm 42:1-2) “As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for You, O God. My
soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
(Romans 12:1) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view
of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to
God - this is your spiritual act of worship.”
2. Genuine OBEDIENCE
(9) And He said to them:
“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe
your own traditions!”
(13) “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition
that you have handed down. And you do
many things like that.”
(Matthew 6:33) “Seek FIRST
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well.”
(Malachi 3:10) “Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will
not have room enough for it.”
A. I’m
not looking for loop holes in what God says.
B I’m
going to do what God says just because I love Him and trust Him.
3. Genuine HEART
(20) “What comes out of a
man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts,
come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice,
deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
A. What’s
in my heart is what spills out when I’m bumped.
B. A genuinely changed heart always reveals Jesus.