As we all know, looks can be deceiving. Many of us, after the course of several years, might have run across some really outwardly beautiful people. People who look like they just stepped out of a glamor magazine or movie set. However, once you get to know them, you find that their personality is nasty. They are rude, mean to others, demanding, etc. People found that out with a certain serial killer several decades ago - strikingly handsome on the outside, but an evil murderer on the inside. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. The old saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is a true one. The inside is what matters. This is the lesson that Jesus is teaching in today’s Scripture.
As our passage from the Gospel of Mark opens, the Pharisees have begun criticizing the disciples of Jesus for not ceremoniously washing their hands before eating (vs. 2-3). It wasn’t that the disciples came to the table with filthy hands. Over the years the Pharisees had devised elaborate hand washing rituals involving several steps, and if one didn’t go through this ritual several times a day, they were considered unclean. This elaborate, ritualistic washing of hands was to cleanse off any supposed uncleanness or defilement they felt they got from contact with unclean or Gentile people. They had devised other rituals for how to wash dishes, clean tables, etc. (vs. 4). These were all man-made traditions found in the Talmud, not anything that had come from the Old Testament Law or Scripture. Yet the Pharisees held to these traditions more closely than they did Scripture.
The Pharisees then turn on Jesus, and question Him why His disciples do not follow their traditions (vs. 5). The response Jesus gives is to quote from Scripture. He recites Isaiah 29:13 to them (vs. 6). This was a problem with the Pharisees. They placed their man-made rules and traditions ahead of what was in the Word of God (vs. 8 - 13).
Jesus brought up one particular man-made law that a number of the Pharisees were following, which He felt was deplorable, which was called Corban (vs. 9-13). God had declared in Scripture that children were to honor their parents, which would include that when they were old and infirm, adult children were to care for them (Exodus 20:12). However, many Pharisees would declare their money and possessions “Corban”, a gift to God, and give it to the Temple. Then they had a crooked priest absolve them of their vow, and give it back to them for a small percentage. Their parents would be left destitute. We should give money and time to God, but we must never use God as an excuse to neglect our responsibilities. God saw and marked this.
The Pharisees were hypocrites because their worship was not for love of God, but was for wanting to appear holy to others, and to increase their status with the public. Substituting tradition for real worship of God has been a problem for ages. Human-created religious traditions can allow people to praise God vocally without having a heart for Him. Rituals can take the place of genuine faith. Performing rituals and traditions does not matter. Instead it’s the condition of the heart which is important, having a heart that is fully devoted to God. We frequently see seemingly religious people who talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. They exalt their rituals, but their heart is far from God.
Jesus then continues to teach His disciples and the other people who were gathered around that it’s what’s inside of a person that will make them clean or unclean, not whether they follow man-made traditions or eat certain foods (vs. 14-23). What is in our heart is what is important, not how we look or what we eat (I Samuel 16:7; I Chronicles 28:9). Sin begins in the attitudes and intentions of the heart. We become pure on the inside, not by following rituals or eating or not eating certain foods.
As we conclude our passage today we should take a closer look at ourselves. Are we overly concerned with beautifying our outward appearance, but neglecting what is inside of ourselves? What comes out of the heart is what a person is really like, and makes them clean or unclean, pure-hearted or a sinner. We can scrub the outside of a pot, but until we clean the inside, it is not really clean. When we come up against temptations and anger, what is inside of us will be what comes out. How do we react? Do we react with loving words, patience and kindness, or with anger and retaliation? Let’s be sure we work on our heart attitude rather than just appearing holy to others.
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