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These last few years have been historic. People are defined by those who lived through the COVID Pandemic. Studies will continue being performed about differing generations for how they were impacted. For example, the issue of loneliness/isolation has profoundly deepened among many. Most of us can list off several negative impacts with whatever soap box topic we’d like to opine. Yet, one of the positive habits from that era was the heightened emphasis about germs and needing better healthcare.

• People wash their hands more frequently and fervently
• Church Worship scheduled greeting moment shelved[1]

Interestingly, the topic of cleanliness was a side emphasis in Bible times with a group known as the Pharisees. The problem was their motivation was more about superficial holiness than sanitization or hygiene. Today’s message will explore the important of relationship over rules with God.  

EXAMINE     Relationship Over Rules (Mark 7:1-23)

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 defiled hands, 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.³) 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?”

WE NEED LESS RIVALRY AND MORE CHARITY.

• Pharisees were watching & studying the disciples’ actions. They viewed themselves as the morality police and better than others; a rivalry to anyone upsetting their influence.
• Pharisees were judging disciples’ motivations; ritually, unwashed hands = unsanctified hearts. And this is where Pharisees crossed boundaries from accountability to arrogant control. These Pharisees came from Jerusalem, thus were an official delegation or AKA: “theological hitmen.”[2] They were out to trick, trap, and terminate Jesus.
• ILLUS: Imagine you/I attempting to instruct or critique LeBron or Wemby about bball; or Pete Alonso how to hit HR; or Jeff Bezos how to operate business; or TSwift how to write songs… yet the Pharisees were attempting to correct Jesus = Son of God!
• Pharisees promoted human tradition more than God’s truth.
  • Mishnah (Jewish oral law) indicates traditions became a wall around the fence around God’s Law. Ex^[3]:
    • On Sabbath, looking in mirror was forbidden bc tempted to work to pull out a gray hair
• • • On Sabbath, wearing dentures was forbidden bc insert or if fall out was work
• • • Rabbis debated about a man w/ wooden leg could carry his leg out of his house fire
• • • Not washing hands became demand for excommunication.
• • • One Rabbi who was in prison illustrates the depths of this fear: He was in a Roman prison for disobedience to Roman allegiance. He received a daily ration of water, however, the Rabbi was so fearful of spiritual disobedience that he used the water for ritual cleansing instead of hydration, and he died.
  • Talmud (summary commentary on Mishnah) was just as confusing, and the Rabbi’s preferred it that way to keep the people relying upon them…
  • >>> One story is recorded with a Rabbi speaking with a rural resident who was unlearned and asking for understanding of the Law. The Rabbi explains, “You’ll never understand,” but the resident pleaded to learn. So, the Rabbi tells a parable: “One day two burglars enter a house by way of the chimney and find themselves in the living room of a farmer. One burglar has a dirty face and the other a clean face. Which one washes their face & hands first?” The peasant reflected and responded, “The one with the dirty face/hands washes first.” The Rabbie responds, “See, I told you that you’d never understand the Law. The one with the dirty face looked at the one with the clean face and assumed he was clean, so he did nothing. Yet, the one with the clean face looked at the one with the dirty face, and assuming his own face was dirty, he washed.” The resident reflected, “Ahh, thank you Rabbie. Now I understand God’s Law is meant to help us view ourselves the way others see us.” Yet, the Rabbi went further, “No, you still don’t understand. How could you think two burglars could enter a house by way of a chimney and only one have a dirty face?”^[4]

So, the Pharisees valued rivalry of opinions that forced people to come to them as sources of wisdom and peace. And they did not appreciate that Jesus was being viewed as coming from God and speaking with authority of the sacred Scriptures.

>> Ro 12:10 “Outdo one another in showing honor”
 We redeem rivalry thru charity by
a) assuming best instead of worst of others,
b) problem solve > problem identifier,
c) celebrate wins, so success motivates vs intimidates.

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.”

WE NEED LESS CHORES AND MORE CONVICTIONS.

• Jesus rebuked Pharisees for their aggressive agitation. He labels them hypocrites bc of the commands for washing hands, & dishes, & all sorts of items that daily life became a burden; extra-biblical chores blinded the convictional truth that God commanded – teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
• ⁹ You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God to establish your tradition! Jesus uses stinging sarcasm and a scolding quote from Isaiah 29:13 about honoring God with lips but not their heart. Religious people can fool others but never God, as He fully knows the motive of our words and ambitions of our heart.
  >>Is your faith impactful to you (genuine)?
• Tradition (living faith of those dead) vs Traditionalism (dead faith of the living). The latter has created so many rules they have forgotten the principles behind their purpose – ¹³ thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down
• Corban simply means “offering to God.”[5] Yet, additional practices shifted its usage so that items designated to the Lord were forbidden for other usage. And people devised crafty schemes to declare something “Corban,” so that it couldn’t be used by others. Thus what began as a religious act of offering eventually functioned as a curse, denying compassion for others.^[6] In this case, dedicating finances to God and neglecting parents was immoral.

Specifically, we don’t have “Corban,” but modern-day practices might be

• Purchasing larger/multiple houses instead of practicing generosity & hospitality.
  Note: it’s not a sin to have either, but it’s the “instead of” emphasis.
• Trusting God with heart but not giving hands of time, talent, treasure… and this includes the starting point of prioritizing gathering on Sundays. Many have made a faith profession in the past but then drifted away physically and spiritually. And we must realize Jesus’ words from the prophet about impostor faith and hollow hearts.
• Any number of ways that one presents altruistic on the outside but internally is selfish.

>> How much of your secret life on earth be rebuked or rewarded in heaven?
Replace selfishness for sincere altruism.
“For the love of Christ compels us to live no longer for self but for Him who died and was raised” (2Cor 5:14-15) /
James 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, and keeping oneself unstained from the world.”

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.”

WE NEED LESS CEREMONY AND MORE VULNERABILITY.

• The Jews were aware of forbidden foods and dietary restrictions that would cause them religious impurity. Yet, Jesus reverses the flow by saying it’s not what is outside a person that makes them impure. Instead, innermost thoughts and hidden desires are what reflect the character of one.
  • Evil thoughts = mean, callous, angry, hateful, even a murderer in your heart
• • Lust = fornicator or adulterer
• • Envy = thief  
  • Pride = idolater
• Gospel writer Mark interludes: Thus he declared all foods clean.
  • Ac 10 Jesus instructs Peter to eat different kinds of meat
• • 1 Cor 8:8 “Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, or better off if we do.”
  • Ro 14:17 “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
• The Pharisees emphasized public ceremony more than personal vulnerability and repentance.
  • *It’s election season with intense and slim margins in some campaigns. What’s shocking, yet not surprising, is how politicians public persona don’t match personal integrity; they promote a set of standards but personally exempt themselves. As repulsive as this is to us today, we still see people casting votes in great amounts – indicating people do anything for power and maintain their preferred traditions.
• Jesus also says, “Come to me, all who are heavy laden [with hypocritical rulers and hollow standards], and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your soul.” (Mt 11:28-29)

APPLY/TAKEAWAY
Our lives are like clay in God’s hands.

• The Pharisees were clay hardened with rules and traditions that they believed were correct.
• But Jesus was teaching them they needed softened.
• Thankfully, the book Jesus quotes with stinging rebuke – Isaiah – offers us the water of God’s word to help soften and mold us: Isaiah 66:2 “this is the one God looks: one who is humble and contrite and spirit and trembles at God’s word.”

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[1] First, if you have to schedule a greeting time to force people to speak to each other, then how friendly can your church be? Second, while extroverts may have appreciated this moment, the majority of others who have varying levels of introversion, not to mention first time attendees and guests, all dreaded this moment with mental notes to not return – – – or to show up late if they did. Rant over… sorry, not sorry!

[2] R. Kent Hughes, Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, vol. 1, Preaching the Word (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 162–164.

^[3] R. Kent Hughes, Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, vol. 1, Preaching the Word (Westchester, IL: Crossway Books, 1989), 164.

^[4] Adapted from Brad H. Young, Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007), 117, who quotes: Nathan Ausubel, A Treasury of Jewish Folklore (New York: Crown Publisher, 1975), 3–4

[5] https://biblehub.com/greek/2878.htm

^[6] Gene Henderson, “Corban,” in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 341.