Lent - Day 20
What Defiles a Man
"Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand: Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.
“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him. For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.” Mark 7:14-23
This is Day 20 in this 40 day journey through the Book of Mark. And we continue from the passage from yesterday.
We read that the religious leaders asked Jesus why His followers do not follow the traditions that they have about the washing of their hands as well as the other ceremonial washings that they ought to do because it is "required' of them in the name of their "religion".
Appropos
I find it interesting that we are talking about the washing of the hands, which is so appropriate to the season we have right now. Yes, we do have to wash our hands and not just before eating but very frequently, particularly in this pandemic time.
But no, not because our religion "requires" us to do so. But common sense, common decency and proper hygeine requires it.
Jesus
These ceremonial washings are symbolic of what took place when Jesus washed our sins, white as snow. But this is an illustration and it is not some "religious' ritual that we ought to do. This is typical of Jesus as He taught using illustrations, through stories, parables, similes and metaphors.
Teacher
In the passage above, Jesus again made this situation or question into a teachable moment. Jesus did this all the time, at every opportunity and today, God's Spirit is still doing the same, whether we are listening or not.
He uses everything and anything and everything we go through, anything around us to "teach" us. And as usual people, even His closest followers could not understand and this is why He needs to explains it to us.
Willfully Dull
He does this to those who are slow but he doesn't do it to those who willfully act dull or stupid or arrogant, who are mainly the religious leaders of His day.
Essentially, Jesus is saying it is not the things that we eat that pollute us.
But rather, He said it is the things that come out from us that do.
Obscenities, lusts, deceptive dealings, carousings, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness, these are some of the things that comes out from us and they come out from deep down — from our hearts. These are the things that we have to be "clean" of.
Let those with ears to hear, let them hear.
We are now half way in our 40 day Lenten journey, and I pray that you are joining us by reading through the Book of Mark, praying, fasting and abstaining from some of our daily activities that we could do without.
It is not too late if you want to join up, just read two readings in a day, even if you need to start from Day 1.
Shalom.
"Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand: Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
After Jesus had left the crowd and gone into the house, His disciples inquired about the parable.
“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him. For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.” Mark 7:14-23
This is Day 20 in this 40 day journey through the Book of Mark. And we continue from the passage from yesterday.
We read that the religious leaders asked Jesus why His followers do not follow the traditions that they have about the washing of their hands as well as the other ceremonial washings that they ought to do because it is "required' of them in the name of their "religion".
Appropos
I find it interesting that we are talking about the washing of the hands, which is so appropriate to the season we have right now. Yes, we do have to wash our hands and not just before eating but very frequently, particularly in this pandemic time.
But no, not because our religion "requires" us to do so. But common sense, common decency and proper hygeine requires it.
Jesus
These ceremonial washings are symbolic of what took place when Jesus washed our sins, white as snow. But this is an illustration and it is not some "religious' ritual that we ought to do. This is typical of Jesus as He taught using illustrations, through stories, parables, similes and metaphors.
Teacher
In the passage above, Jesus again made this situation or question into a teachable moment. Jesus did this all the time, at every opportunity and today, God's Spirit is still doing the same, whether we are listening or not.
He uses everything and anything and everything we go through, anything around us to "teach" us. And as usual people, even His closest followers could not understand and this is why He needs to explains it to us.
Willfully Dull
He does this to those who are slow but he doesn't do it to those who willfully act dull or stupid or arrogant, who are mainly the religious leaders of His day.
Essentially, Jesus is saying it is not the things that we eat that pollute us.
But rather, He said it is the things that come out from us that do.
Obscenities, lusts, deceptive dealings, carousings, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness, these are some of the things that comes out from us and they come out from deep down — from our hearts. These are the things that we have to be "clean" of.
Let those with ears to hear, let them hear.
We are now half way in our 40 day Lenten journey, and I pray that you are joining us by reading through the Book of Mark, praying, fasting and abstaining from some of our daily activities that we could do without.
It is not too late if you want to join up, just read two readings in a day, even if you need to start from Day 1.
Shalom.
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