Romans 1 and 2, and Whatever Happened to Acid Rain?

Clean Hands, Pure Heart

(Mark 7:1-23, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 17, 2019)

[1] Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, [2] they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. [3] (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, [4] and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) [5] And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

[6] And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

[7] in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

[8] You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” [9] And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! [10] For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ [11] But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)—[12] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, [13] thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

[14] And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: [15] There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” [17] And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. [18] And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, [19] since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [20] And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Unwashed hands

Jesus had an eye for faith; the scribes and Pharisees for defiled hands. When they saw that some of his disciples did not follow the spiritual cleansing customs of their tradition, they were alarmed enough to express their concern.

The serious Jews who were looking to follow the Law of God had a voluminous tradition that was used to help them to be in accord with ceremonial righteousness. The oral and written traditions of the rabbis eventually became codified in the second century document called the Mishnah. This resource included six major categories of Jewish law: 1. Agriculture, 2. Appointed Times (especially Sabbath), 3. Marriage and divorce, 4. Civil and criminal law, 5. Sacrifices and sacred things (including dietary laws), and 6. Ritual purity (including ceremonial washing).

Our passage today touches on matters that were important to the final two of these six categories. That meant that there was a great deal of teaching on what was considered a most important topic: how to make your hands ritually clean after being out in the Gentile infected world. Mark tells us scribes and Pharisees had much to say about the proper way to keep not only clean hands, but also cups, pots, and even dining couches.

Hearts far from God

Clean hands? Check. But they gave less attention to the joylessness of their souls.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13 to them which was part of a larger prophecy against Jerusalem. Isaiah said that some would be “hypocrites.” They would give honor with their lips, but they would not love the Lord in their hearts. Others would be humble, according to 29:19, “The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” True obedience and joy are good friends.

They chose their traditions, like “Corban,” and refused to follow the fifth commandment that God gave to Moses on Sinai: “Honor thy father and thy mother,” including old and poor parents. Even the Gentiles could have figured that out. The Pharisees were so steeped in their own indignation about their superiority that they could not see how silly and obviously immoral their system was.

What comes into your mouth and what comes out of your heart

The big picture for us is clear. It is not Gentile dust that ruins our standing before God, but our true sin which emanates from a joyless soul. We will never become holy by a solution that gives us a rigorous bath or addresses only our digestive system. We need a pure heart (Psalm 24). Because of our true inner defilement, we need a better washing than the Mishnah described. We need the blood of Christ to cleanse our filthy consciences, and a river of living water from the Holy Spirit to give us new lives.

Jesus was a very intimidating figure until he was nailed to a cross. That was when people generally considered it safe to criticize him. If we see annoying people earlier in his ministry coming to him indignant about something or other, like hand purification, we know that they are very obsessed with that issue, and they just can't help themselves from speaking about it. The scribes and Pharisees were upset about lack of ceremonial righteousness in the Jesus camp. A system of man-made righteousness can make people very passionate, but it needs to be easy enough to do and something where you have an edge over “those people” who don't do it. Religious hand washing was perfect for this. It was easy to do, and allowed people to visibly prove to one another how much better we all were when compared to those that didn't even bother to get all the Gentile dust off of their hands before they ate. That's how this works: I do this very doable thing. You don't. I am better than you. Shame on you. People in every time and place do this. (See dueling etiquette in the 19^th century and the right belief about acid rain in the 1980s.)

1. Hand washing makes me look good at your expense and requires very little sacrifice.

2. Dying on a cross makes me look bad for your benefit and costs me everything.

The scribes and Pharisees chose option number 1; Jesus chose option 2. Nonetheless, all who embrace their own ceremonial works cannot have peace. All who put their trust in the cross love of Christ find joy in believing God and doing what he truly commands.

Religious works often focus on outward regulations, but a relationship with the Almighty requires attention to the condition of the heart. We do want clean hands, but what good is ceremonial holiness if there is no way to have a joyful soul? Go with faith.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 96 – Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness

New Testament Reading—James 1:19-21 – Receive with meekness the implanted word