Thank you for joining me for the message again this week. It is always a privilege and a pleasure to post these messages. I hope that everyone is doing OK.
We finally made it through Mark 6 last week, so that means we start chapter 7 this week. Our passage today is long, but it contains two core messages.
The religious leaders of Jesus' day were always trying to trap Him or get Him in trouble so as to discredit Him in the eyes of the people. On this occasion, they observed that Jesus' disciples did not do the ritual hand washing before they ate. They saw this as a grave violation, and they brought it to Jesus' attention.
Jesus used their criticism to launch a message about what was really important. He started by telling them about the importance of really following the way of the Lord verses simply following a tradition. Jesus used the example of the religious leaders saying that if something had been pledged to God they couldn't even use it to help their father or mother. Jesus said that this was a clear violation of the commandment to honor father and mother in the Ten Commandments.
Jesus made it clear that what goes into a person from the outside is not what spiritually defiles a person. On the contrary, what defiles a person are the actions that are manifested from a spirit that is not aligned with the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus then finished His discourse by saying what the behaviors were that demonstrated the true defilement that comes from within. These include greed, slander and arrogance.
The first thing I want to point out in Jesus teaching is what He said about people following traditions instead of the clear teachings of the word. There is a lot of that that goes on today. People condemn others and make rules and regulations that don't have any basis in the Scriptures.
In the churches I grew up in as a boy, the tradition that was taught and enforced is that is was wrong for a man to have longer hair or a beard. There is nothing in the Bible about this. It is man made rules. Also, many churches I knew back then had a rule or tradition that the pastor had to be married. This is actually in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus and Paul.
What we need to do in our lives is to concentrate on putting into practice the things actually taught by the Lord. We could all do well to live according to the Golden Rule and the Great Commandment and the second commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself. If we would focus on those, the other things would all fall into place.
I also want to point out what Jesus was saying about what defiles a person. There aren't many places in the Gospels where Jesus outlines things that are sinful. This is one passage. Jesus says clearly, that adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly are sins. We would all do well to heed the words of Jesus and make sure that these behaviors are not a part of our lives. When Jesus speaks about things like this, we need to pay very close attention.
If we focus on following the exact and clear teachings of the Lord Jesus, we will not go or be led astray. Let us all follow Him and His Way until we see Him face to face.
Prayer Requests
I have sold my house, and things are progressing. However, I am having an issue finding a new place to stay. I get the money for the sale on Monday. Then, I am going full bore into finding a place. Please pray I will find one quickly.
Keep praying for an end to Ebola and Cyclospora outbreaks. Pray that the sick will recover.
Remember to keep praying for peace. The Middle East and Ukraine and Sudan all need our prayers.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Senegal and Suriname. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, I will post the verses on Tuesday, and for the message we will continue in Mark. May God bless you all.
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