Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 6
May 10, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(306)
1901 ASV
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. Jesus' Accusation Illustrated.
- A. The essence of the accusation is that The Pharisees and Some of The Scribes have hearts that are "far" from the God to Whom they give deceitful "lip-service". [Note Stephen's accusation in Acts 7:42-43 covering the entire 40 years of the wanderings.]
- 1. The focus is upon the heart: the problem is the root-value system which the metaphor of a "heart" represents. The physical heart pumps the "blood", in which is "the life" ("the life is in the blood" [Leviticus 17:11-14] because it carries both the oxygen and all of the moisture and nutrients for the cells of the body ... without the moisture the blood cannot flow and without the flow the oxygen and nutrients cannot get to the cells, and without the oxygen and nutrients the cells die). This physical reality has these elements as the basis for the metaphor.
- 2. This focus is upon the distance that the heart is held away from: "...but their heart is 'holding' distantly from-from Me". [outos o laos tois cheilesin me tima, e de kardia auton porro apechei ap emou maten de sebontai me didaskontes didaskalias entalmata anthropon. aphentes ten entolen tou theou krateite ten paradosin ton anthropon]. The verb is Active Voice, present tense: the heart is doing the "holding from". The heart knows the threats to its dominion and functions in a fearful alertness (in Deuteronomy 29:4 Moses declares that this terrible condition of the heart will create chaos until the day when God actually gives "a heart to know"; this is the essence of the New Covenant promise: Jeremiah 31:33 and 32:39).
- B. The impact of this essence is the removal of the commandment of The God to a distant setting and the establishment of "your tradition" in the near setting that belongs to the commandment.
- C. The illustration.
- 1. Arises from Moses (Exodus 20:12 and 21:17).
- a. Exodus 20:12 establishes the requirement that each person "honor" his/her father and mother.
- b. Exodus 21:17 establishes, on the heels of 21:15, the requirement that anyone who "curses" his/her father/mother is to be put to death (a capital crime).
- 2. The requirement of "honor" is the fifth commandment of the Ten, and the first of the six that are directed toward one's treatment of his/her fellow man.
- a. This requirement addresses the issue of "honor"; the issue of the "hypocrisy" of deceitful lips.
- b. The issue of "honor", as already established, is the issue of placing a monetary value upon some one/thing.
- 1) This is characterized as a function of the lips: this makes it an "external" matter.
- 2) As an external matter of monetary value, it drives directly toward parents who have external needs that money can address (for any number of reasons).
- 3) Also as an external matter, it is at least one step removed from "motive" (money can be spent upon the needs of one's parents for any number of reasons).
- c. As to the order of the Ten Commandments and the placement of this commandment as a "fifth" and a "first", Jesus' choice is very deliberate.
- 1) All of the commandments that are addressed toward one's treatment of other human beings are "unnecessary" for those whose hearts "love" properly; they only address those whose attitude toward their parents is "inimical".
- 2) Paul called this commandment "the first commandment with a promise" (Ephesians 6:2).
- 3) As the "fifth" commandment, it follows hard on the heels of the four preceding ones, which have everything to do with one's relationship with God; as the "first" of those, which address one's relationships with other human beings, it puts one's treatment of parents foremost.
- 3. The requirement of death for anyone who curses father or mother.
- a. This requirement places "cursing of parents" into the category of a capital crime; thus, it takes center stage because physical life is at stake.
- b. Jesus' coupling of this requirement to the prior commandment to "honor" strongly suggests that "cursing" is a "heart" issue long before it is a "lips" issue.
- 4. "But you are saying...".
- a. "If a man should say to the father or the mother...".
- b. "...Corban..."
- c. "...whatever is a gift, that if out of me you should be profited..."
- d. "...no longer are you permitting him to do anything for the father or the mother..."
- e. "...revoking the word of The God for your tradition, which you handed down..."
- f. "...and you are doing many things such as this".
- 5. This "decree" handed down by tradition from the elders is only a way to express one's heart's dishonor and hatefulness toward his parents.