Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
May 3, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(304)
1901 ASV
7:7 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching [as their] doctrines the precepts of men.
7:8 Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.
7:9 And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition.
7:10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death:
7:11 but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given [to God];
7:12 ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother;
7:13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.
7:14 And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear me all of you, and understand:
7:15 there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
7:16 [If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.]
7:17 And when he was entered into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him the parable.
7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, [it] cannot defile him;
7:19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? [This he said], making all meats clean.
7:20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man.
7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
7:22 covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:
7:23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.
- I. The Highlighted Flaw.
- A. In answering the Pharisees and the scribes, Jesus put His focus upon a major fault.
- 1. Mark's record at this point turns to what Jesus said to justify His attribution of hypocrisy to them.
- a. Jesus did not answer their "question" regarding why some of His disciples did not wash their hands before they ate their food (though He did in 7:14 and following).
- b. Instead, Jesus addressed the real issue of the Pharisees: their embrace in their "core" of strong antagonism toward Him.
- 2. Though there are almost always layers of issues, the "layer" we are to consider carefully is the one established by the words of God.
- a. By "layers of issues", I mean that, in a cause/effect universe, there are almost always "layers" of truth that lie beneath the one highlighted and others that rest upon the one being highlighted.
- 1) Jesus has already introduced the "layer" of "the use of the lips" as well as the "layer" of "the true values of the heart" as the primary issues of "hypocrisy".
- a) The "use of the lips" is man's attempt to proclaim to others "what God means by what He says in words" as a subterfuge for self-exaltation and the accomplishment of personal objectives.
- b) The "true values of the heart" are the real objectives sought by the use of the lips.
- 2) The "use of the lips" is the "following actions" that are taken when the thoughts of the mind and the decisions that are made out of those thoughts are "settled". "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34; KJV).
- 3) The "true values of the heart" are the "values" held in the secret recesses of the heart that are sponsoring both thoughts, and choices and instigating actions in harmony with those values (1 Corinthians 14:25/Romans 2:16).
- b. What we are to focus upon are the words Jesus spoke to make the "point" of what He wants to establish as "truth".
- B. At this level of "layers", this "major fault" consists of two parts.
- 1. There is "the worship" of God; i.e., "the proclamation (the use of the lips) of the foundations of that worship".
- 2. There is "the content" of that proclamation; either "the commandments of God" or "the derivative commandments of men".
- a. There is the "layer" that I have called "the derivative commandments of men".
- 1) This is an inescapable "layer" because of the issues of hermeneutics: the words of God do not escape the steps in the processes involved when men's ears hear the sounds of words, or when their eyes read words.
- 2) All that men can do when proclaiming "God's commandments" is to utter instructions out of their attempts to proclaim God's meaning for His words.
- a) IF they have God-given insights, their instructions will be in harmony with God's revelations of truth (this is the point Paul made in 1 Corinthians 7:25-40). Men cannot go directly from hearing/seeing the words of God to proclamation of His truths: they must pray and think/ponder/harmonize. There would be no basis for Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 if men had the ability to go directly from God's words to their proclamations of His will. Neither would there be any basis for Jesus' promise of John 16:13 that His "replacement" on earth would "guide you into all the truth" (a promise made to His apostles, not to His people in general).
- b) IF they have no God-given insights (as per 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 and 2 Timothy 2:7), all of their proclamations of God's "meaning" will only be their "meaning". Note also Luke 24:25-27. The profound danger/consequence of this is that their "meaning" will be in harmony with the values of their hearts.
- c) The outcome of man's interactions with the words of God are called "the precepts of men" (NASB). The word so translated is only used in three texts of the New Testament and this current text is relatively explanatory: men instructing men regarding how to live under divine authority.
- b. And there is the "layer" that the text calls "the commandment of God".
- 1) Mark uses the word translated "commandment" in six places in his record and his meaning is pretty much established by all six: a divine imperative rooted in the nature of God, His creation, and its relationship to Him.
- 2) In every case the issue is "something God insists upon". Because it is out of God's "insistence", what it means in each given context is important. God makes no rules just to have rules; He insists upon those actions which gender "Life". In the specific issue of "washings", the "problem" is physical-death-inducing contamination.
- 3. What Jesus points out is the twisting by men of God's words to seek the achievements of their own hearts (2 Peter 3:16).
- a. This is the inescapable "bottom line": men pursue the objectives of their own hearts.
- b. This is not a problem if the objectives of their own hearts have been altered by God so that their objectives are His objectives.
- c. But this is a massive failure if their objectives are not His: every word from God will be trampled under foot by the intentions of wickedness. The "sounds of the lips" will be "sounds of authenticity", but those sounds will be extreme in deception.
- 1) There will be a "forsaking" (aphiemi) of the commandment of God.
- 2) There will be an intense "organization" (krateo) of words of "tradition" from men.
- 3) There will be a "setting aside" (atheteo) of the commandment of God in order to make the tradition "stand" (histemi).
- 4) These three elements are the essence of "walking" (peripateo) according to the traditions: trampling one possible choice in order to proceed in the alternative direction of an alternative choice. Treating the teachings of the "elders" with disdain is what set the flame to the fuse of the rage of the Pharisees and scribes.
