The Pharisees questioned Jesus's disciples for not ritually washing their hands before eating, as was the Pharisees' tradition. Jesus accused the Pharisees of elevating their own traditions above God's commands, allowing them to ignore caring for their parents by claiming gifts dedicated to God. Jesus said it is not what goes into people that defiles them, but what comes out of their hearts, such as evil thoughts and deeds.

1. A Matter of Ritual Purity
Mark 7:1-4 The Pharisees, along with
some religion scholars who had come
from Jerusalem, gathered around him.
They noticed that some of his disciples
weren’t being careful with ritual
washings before meals.The Pharisees—
Jews in general, in fact—would never
eat a meal without going through the
motions of a ritual hand-washing, with
an especially vigorous scrubbing if they
had just come from the market (to say
nothing of the scourings they’d give jugs
and pots and pans).
5 The Pharisees and religion scholars
asked,“Why do your disciples flout the
rules, showing up at meals without
washing their hands?”

2. Way Ahead of
Their Time?

3. “The Pharisees held their traditions in high regard; unwilling to
innovate more than necessary, they grounded everything they
could in the teaching of their predecessors.Thus they wanted
to know where Jesus, as a popular teacher, stands on issues on
which their tradition commented (such as washing hands), they
can evaluate his teaching accordingly.”
Craig S. Keener
Litmus Tests
Same-sex MarriageImmigration Reform Gun ControlFemale Leaders
Evolution GamblingEnd TimesInerrancy Drinking Dancing Smoking

4. Isaiah Predicted This
Mark 7:6-8 Jesus answered,“Isaiah was right
about frauds like you, hit the bull’s-eye in fact:
These people make a big show of
saying the right thing, but their
heart isn’t in it. They act like they
are worshiping me, but they don’t
mean it. They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their
fancy, ditching God’s command
and taking up the latest fads.”

5. “The very thing the Pharisees prized as spiritual--the traditions
derived from many pious and wise teachers who had tried to
interpret and apply God’s law--Jesus claims is
undercutting the plain message of God.”
Craig S. Keener
Religious in Form
But Not Close to God in Heart
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

6. It’s Supposed to Be about
Right Relationships
Mark 7:9-13 He went on,“Well,
good for you.You get rid of God’s
command so you won’t be
inconvenienced in following the
religious fashions! Moses said,‘Respect
your father and mother,’ and,‘Anyone
denouncing father or mother should be
killed.’ But you weasel out of that by
saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to
say to father or mother,‘Gift! What I
owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’
thus relieving yourselves of obligation
to father or mother.You scratch out
God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its
place.You do a lot of things like this.”
14-15 Jesus called the crowd together
again and said,“Listen now, all of you—
take this to heart. It’s not what you
swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what
you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”
corban

7. Jesus was attacking the Pharisees because they were such
HYPOCRITES--constantly emphasizing certain parts of
God’s law while conveniently creating loopholes for themselves
so that they could violate the spirit of the law while appearing
to be strictly focused it.
Legal Loopholes
Matthew 7:5 “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and
then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

8. Heart Disease
Mark 7:17 When he was back home
after being with the crowd, his disciples
said,“We don’t get it. Put it in plain
language.”
18-19 Jesus said,“Are you being willfully
stupid? Don’t you see that what you
swallow can’t contaminate you? It
doesn’t enter your heart but your
stomach, works its way through the
intestines, and is finally flushed.”
(That took care of dietary quibbling;
Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to
eat.)
20-23 He went on:“It’s what comes out
of a person that pollutes: obscenities,
lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed,
depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing,
mean looks, slander, arrogance,
foolishness—all these are vomit
from the heart. There is the source
of your pollution.”

9. Questions Seeking
Answers
What is it about many of our Rules and
Requirements that rub Jesus the wrong way?
What does life together look like when we
stress Right Relationships more than
simply Following the Rules?
What does Jesus want us to learn from his
“inside, not outside” assertion?

10. We instinctively form
Exclusive Groups

11. To Exclude & Expel
Girls Rule,Boys Drool
No Gurls Allowed
East Asians Only
Hipsters Only
Only IfYou’re Like Us
Definitely NotYou

12. We destroy what we
believe we’re protecting.

13. No gays
Not you
Too many
questions
Too messy
Too sinful
Too scandalous
Where’s the WIDENESS of God’s
Mercy?
Keep out
Not like us
Only we
meet God’s
requirements and
follow enough of
God’s rules.
Yay, us!
you’re
out
“What a
pathetic
bunch of
arrogant,
irrelevant,
ignorant,
shallow,
heartless,
conceited,
God-less
hypocrites.”

14. Christ’s Love Is Unconditional
Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned
out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll
recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.Walk
with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the
unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-
fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live
freely and lightly.”
This is the plain message of God.