Monday: Clean Hands or Clean Heart?
Daily Lesson for Monday 5th of August 2024
Read Mark 7:14-19. What did Jesus mean by the riddle in Mark 7:15?
Jesus’ words in this passage have been a conundrum for many as they ponder their relationship to the teachings of Leviticus 11:1-47 regarding clean and unclean foods. Is Jesus doing away with such distinctions? Are Seventh-day Adventists mistaken in teaching that church members who eat meat are to eat it only from the clean-animal list?
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First, it would be odd for Jesus suddenly to dismiss Mosaic instructions in Mark 7:14-19 when He had just defended Moses against tradition in Mark 7:6-13. Second, the very tradition that the Pharisees were promoting does not have a basis in Old Testament teaching; the food laws, in contrast, do. Third, what Mark 7:19 means when it says that Jesus cleanses all food is not that the food laws are abolished but instead that the tradition of touch contamination that the Pharisees had made was invalid. This, for example, is that false notion that if you could be contaminated by coming in contact with Gentiles, then you also could be contaminated through contact with food that they had touched.
Read Mark 7:20-23. What did Jesus say causes contamination of a person?
In Mark 7:19, Jesus notes that food does not go into the heart but into the stomach and then passes out through the intestinal tract. But in Mark 7:21-23, He notes that evil comes from inside the heart, from the center of who a person is. He presents a list of vices that start from evil thoughts but then end in evil actions.
When the reference to the fifth commandment in Mark 7:10 is included with the vice list, every commandment of the second table of the Decalogue is there. Further, Jesus refers to vain worship, in Mark 7:7, the breaking of what is at the heart of the first four commands of the Decalogue. Thus, Jesus stands as a defender of the Law of God throughout this passage.
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You might have the right theology, but who fully and ultimately has your heart? |
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Dirty hands can be washed by us. Clean hearts come about by letting God wash our hearts.
Psalm 51:7
1 John 1:9
The only things most of you know about me is what I write here on Sabbath School Net. I know that what you read could easily be a "paint job". It is easy for me to write spiritual-sounding words for an audience that likes spiritual thoughts. There is a whole thesaurus of religious words available for composing a couple of paragraphs that invite a chorus of "Amens". However, the real me is potentially quite different from what you read.
The problem is that I can quite easily convince myself that my words are the important thing and be completely unaware that I am quite rotten inside.
I love eating pears. They have beautiful pale green skin, tinged with a bit of gold, They exude an aromatic fruity perfume that indicates they are at the peak of ripeness. But, one bite can reveal that all is not well at the core and it is only fit to be trashed.
We look at Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees and are tempted to pray; "Dear Lord, we are so thankful that we are not like those hypercritical Pharisees that Jesus condemned."
Spiritual depth is much more than a veneer of high-sounding spiritual words but comes from a clean heart and a pure heart that can only be given to us through Jesus.
The Psalmist says:
Its refreshing to read that `its not what goes in us that defile us, but what comes out our heart, mouth that defiles us`.
The heart is the battle ground for good and evil. To win the battle for we need to connect strongly to prayer, trust in God, Bible-reading and the Holy Spirit.
Maurice Ashton, I am grateful for your humble reply in bringing out from this lesson what I too have pondered! Your beautiful illustration of a clean heart is that of diligence and it's all about soul searching! As Jesus stands at the door of my heart, Lord "Have mercy upon me" Purge me too with hyssop and make me clean is my prayer! God is Love! He longs to scoop us within His bosom and to keep us there! Keeping us prayerfully by our words, motives and in humility with one another! We are the sheep of his pasture and we must guard our hearts from a devisive spirit which prevents us from sharing the gospel! Even if I'm not able to travel to Egypt or some far land, being a soldier for Christ, is more than just being able to stand fully for Him but also by kneeling and by looking upwards from the foot of the Cross asking Pass me not Oh Gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling do not pass me by!
I just shared a post, hopefully explaining the confusion some may have with clean and unclean meat in today’s passage.
https://ssnet.org/blog/does-mark-7-tell-us-it-is-okay-to-eat-pork/
Mark 7:17-19 includes something which appears to receive not enough attention in today’s lesson. Jesus addresses His disciples, those who have been with Him for a good while already, having observed and experienced all His works, but are still not able to understand the spiritual aspects of His teachings at that time.
Mark quotes Jesus addressing His disciples saying: ”are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart . . .”
Jesus’ statement explaining what defiles a man is so very important to understand, as it points out the core aspect of all His teachings – the spiritual impact the Word of God has on every living soul which reveals to us that ‘righteousness/cleanness’ is gained through faith, that it is the Grace of God makes us 'clean'; eating or handling clean or unclean foods cannot change this Truth.
There is something curious about why the lesson-focus is placed only on the last portion of verse 19. Is it used to defend a doctrine regarding purity based on a guideline established when God set apart His people Israel from other nations around them? I think that Jesus’ disciples were confused because the ‘new’ teaching regarding what is considered pure did not match what the Law of Moses required. It was new to them that: ”whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him.”; explaining: ”… because it does not enter his heart but his stomach and is eliminated ...” Mark17:18-19
To me, this sounds pretty much straight forward, though there is something odd about the remaining portion of this passage: ” . . . thus purifying all foods?”; it does not seem to fit with the first part of His answer.
Two ways to understand might be possible: either ‘the stomach/body simply ‘eliminates’ all food’, or someone speaking in the third person added: ...‘thus purifying all food’?.
Regrettably, I do not know the original wording from which this portion of Jesus’ quote was translated. ..., “thus purifying all foods” may have come from someone who wanted to keep the requirements of the Law of Moses relevant by adding it to Jesus’ answer. No wonder it presents “a ‘conundrum’ for many as they ponder their relationship with Lev.11:1-47 as we have been given a new Covenant - the Covenant of Faith.
Keeping a clean heart is the work of the Holy Spirit in response to those who seek after righteousness; it helps to know which food is detrimental or beneficial to one’s health because we want to present a 'clean' vessel for the Spirit of God to work through us.
Brigitte, what you suggest as "adding it to Jesus’ answer" does occur occasionally in Bible translations and, perhaps, even by copyists of original manuscripts. That sort of "clarifying" addition is quite common in modern "dynamic" translations that seek to give the sense of the original, rather than conveying a word-for-word translation. That's why it's always good to consult several translations to get a better idea of the possibilities inherent in the original text.
But for these texts, take a look at William's post, Does Mark 7 Tell Us it is Okay to Eat Pork? and see if that helps.
I agree, the emphasis by the lesson on the last part of the verse (re: food cleanness and whether adventist get it correct) seems to be missing the point of the verse, kind of like the disciples asking Christ for clarification re: the rules. Isn’t point of the verse to draw us into a discussion re: cleanness of heart and what comes out of it? Even Christ draws the disciples thoughts back to this when asked by the disciples.
I really want to know more about why God said that the foods we eat through out mouth that we will remove it from the anus does it mean that what we eat can't defile us? That we can eat anything
The big picture that Jesus is addressing in this illustration is that God is more interested in the cleanliness of our heart and the appearnce of cleanliness by ceremonies and rituals. This scriptue should not be read as an oracle on what foods we can eat.
head knowledge that cant lead to heart conversion is at best useless. Unless Jesus creates in us a new heart that can receive and live his commandments we will remain in our sins however much we may be knowledgeable in theology and religious issues.
Hebrews 10
[15] Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
[16] This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
[17] And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
We can only be obedient to God the moment we surrender our heart for the surgery outline in Hebrews 10:15-17