This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and 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.
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."     He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "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 but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

- Mark 7:1-23

Yesterday we read that, when evening came, the boat in which the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee was in the middle of the sea; and Jesus was alone on the land (where He had stayed on the mountain to pray).  Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them.  Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.  And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.  But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased.  And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.  For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.  When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.  And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was.  Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched Him were made well.

 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and 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.  And in vain they worship Me,  Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."     He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- '(that is, a gift to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  Jesus does not prohibit Jewish customs or traditions, and that is not the issue here, says my study bible (see Matthew 5:17-19; 23:23).  The real issue here is setting human tradition which is contrary to the tradition of God.  The tradition of the elders is a body of interpretations of the Law.  For the Pharisees and scribes, this was as authoritative as the Law, often superseding it.  Under that tradition, offerings (called Corban) could be promised to God in a way that property or earnings could still be used by an individual, but not anybody else.  That, in effect, excluded parents.  These secondary traditions, says my study bible, obscure the primary tradition of the Law, which is contained in God's commandments.  The whole structure of the Law was aimed at creating a community with God at the center, ensuring "right-relatedness" among the members of that community.  Jesus' criticism of the Pharisees and scribes is that their tradition enables derailment of that aim; in this case the neglect of dependent parents.

When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "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 but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."  My study bible tells us that food cannot defile a person because it is created by God and is therefore pure.  Evil things are not from God -- these are what defile a person. 

Jesus teaches us what is truly evil:  "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."  A focus on these things takes us out of a legalistic framework based on particular action, and the seemingly "detail oriented" legalism of the traditions that were built up around the Law.  Jesus speaks about the things that we harbor within ourselves, within the heart.  Elsewhere He speaks about what we nurture and dwell upon within ourselves that is as harmful to our souls as acts of violation of the Law.  Harboring and nurturing lust, or covetousness (another form of lust, if one thinks about it), or anger and hatred fall into Jesus' condemnation of what is evil (Matthew 5:21-30).  These things, Jesus teaches, put us in danger of the Judgment.  If we look closely, they are things that do harm to relationship, to community.  They are ways in which we treat people not as persons but as objects.  Jesus shifts us into an entirely different way of thinking about sin. Sin is not just about breaking a rule, it is about being in violation of the love of God that extends to love of neighbor.  Elsewhere He teaches that all the Law and the Prophets hang on two commandments:   "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:5).   Jesus calls this the first and greatest commandment.  And the second, He says, is similar: "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18).  "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments," says Jesus (see Matthew 22:36-40).  At this point in His ministry, Jesus is inviting us into a new perspective on sinfulness, even on what it is that we call evil.  He affirms the basic goodness of the world: there are not objects created by God that are evil in and of themselves.  Everything depends on our orientation.  Do we face life within a relationship with God, of forward movement into a greater understanding of the two great commandments of love -- or do we face the "other way," a life in which everything is merely objectified and driven down into things that are either useful or not?  If we look closely at Jesus' healing ministry, all kinds of people considered "unclean" and therefore cast out of the community are brought in through His healing, even His touch when it is forbidden.  This includes the healing of a leper earlier in Mark's Gospel, or the woman with the blood flow, who touched His hem when it was forbidden to her by the Law.  Jesus takes as disciples those hated by the community:  tax collectors.  And He dares to spend time with them, "eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners."  In response to the criticism for this by the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus replies, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."   This is the doctrine of the New Covenant, with an entirely new orientation toward what sin is, how it works, how it is overcome.  What is essential is our own orientation toward God, our capacity for repentance, and perhaps most of all, our willingness for healing.  Healing always involves reconciliation with God and with community.  In Christ we find hope, and a new kind of understanding that gives us depth and insight into the Law.  How does our love for God as Person create a charitable love for one another as persons?  When you argue with someone, for instance, what is the temptation to call them names (as in Jesus' example of what puts us in danger of hell fire - Matthew 5:22)?   Do we simply exclude those who are not on "our side" from our capacity for compassion and treatment of them as persons?   Jesus calls us always to the awareness of the basic laws of love and relationship, and what it means that we, like God, are persons.  How do you work today to expand your understanding of that teaching?  How can we accept this ever-expanding doctrine of the New Covenant?