MARKAN MEDITATIONS

Meditations in the Gospel of St.Mark

St. Mark 7:1-23

=====

THIS SECTION is longer than usual, but it is all one theme. The paragraph heading given in the NIV entitles this section as 'Clean and unclean'. However although these verses speak of this, the real matter which Jesus is dealing with is religious tradition and its dangers, of which the problem of what is clean or not clean is just an example. Religious tradition is always present in the visible church. In certain sections of the visible church it is given more significance and authority than the Bible. This is what had happened in the Jewish church of Jesus' day, and Jesus is warning us against the evil this tradition had brought into the church. The parallel with what is happening through tradition in the church today is exact, so we need to take note of the teaching of Jesus here, and seek the reform of the church in the light of it.

The religious tradition before us in the opening verses of this section was concerning religious purification before eating. If ones hands were not ceremonially washed then in some way the person is defiled by the food being contaminated by the unwashed hands. Now it is important for proper hygiene to have hands free of germs so that the body is not effected by some virus or germ. However the concern of the Jews by their law was something different. It was concerned with being acceptable in the eyes of God. Thus, something that has no spiritual significance or any value or effect in the spiritual realm, had become mandatory by human tradition, and thought to be necessary for purity before God. In fact such traditions had more to do with pleasing men, and gaining acceptance before the church, than anything in a Godward direction. Verse 5 shows us that a person was condemned and despised if they did not conform to this tradition, and it was implied that God also condemned them.

Jesus exposes the false thinking concerning tradition as it was demonstrated through this tradition of washing the hands. Jesus uses Scripture for this. Scripture was the authority which the Pharisees could not reject, and which the church should never reject. From this passage in Isaiah - Isaiah 29:13 - he points out that the worship of the Jews was false. It outwardly seemed to be giving honour to God, but in reality it was rejected by God. Jesus exposes a great failing in tradition. Traditions usually if not always major on outward action, and fail to touch or effect the heart for good. This is invariably the result when the thoughts of men replace the Word of God.

Jesus goes on to show how dangerous human traditions become in verses 8-13. Here is a tradition whereby, under the show of great piety, a person could circumnavigate God's law, and nullify it completely. God's law, which is always for our good and best interests in life, states clearly that we should honour our parents. This means that throughout their lives, children, whatever their age and standing, have a responsibility to love and care for the welfare of their parents. A tradition had grown up where a person could say to his parents that he or she was dedicating their life to God, and this would absolve them from any responsibility for their parents. Such a tradition was wholly false, because it allowed people a respectable way to avoid what was right, and it denied the way of God. The way of God is that consecration to the Lord involves obeying the law as God has given it.

Here is a grand test of all tradition. If tradition in anyway subverts the Word of God, or contradicts its teaching, it is wrong, dangerous and false. Tradition flourishes when the Word of God is neglected. It is a habit of those who hold to tradition, however they may deny it, to give to tradition an authority over the Bible. This means that if there is a clash between the Bible truth and tradition, tradition is allowed to win the day.

Jesus reveals the folly of tradition by exposing the folly of this particular tradition concerning the outward washing of hands. Jesus makes the point in verse 15 that nothing which is outside a person can make them unclean before God. It may make the body dirty, but this is of no significance before God unless it is a symptom of laziness or some other evil. Jesus then says that it is what comes out of a person which defiles that person.

The disciples are puzzled at this saying, so Jesus amplifies it in verses 17-23. Jesus points out the source of evil is within human beings. Jesus tells us that evil thoughts and actions of every kind issue from the heart and disposition of all of us. By this Jesus is teaching the Biblical truth, so often denied in the church, that we are fallen and sinful creatures with a bias and a propensity to evil. We love evil, though we would vehemently deny it. It is only God's common grace in the world, seen in rules of society, laws and governments, that keeps sinful humanity in check.

When the church relies on traditions then it by-passes the remedy for our human sinfulness which is revealed in the Bible. These traditions may have some effect of curbing some aspects of human evil, but it does nothing to change the heart within a person from which the evil issues, and which is the breeding ground for all Satanic temptation. We are unclean, not by outward actions we may perform so much as because we are born unclean within. What we all need is a new heart, that is to be born again with new and holy life. This alone makes us acceptable God, and gives the ability to overcome our fallen flesh.

Traditions rarely if ever address the problem of the heart. It is only the Good News in Jesus Christ which brings new life within. This teaching on tradition may seem to some academic and not relevant today. However tradition has effected, in the church, the meaning of Holy Communion, Baptism, the church's ministry and much else. What is believed and taught is at root human tradition and not the teaching of the Bible. This teaching is hiding the real Gospel from the people, and so endangering their souls. What people are believing in is a false human tradition which nullifies the Gospel. Thus people remain unforgiven and unjustified before God and in fact outside the kingdom of God even when they feel they are members of the kingdom of God. There could not be anything so awful as this. Things are so bad that it is hard to see how the church can be reformed. Only another work of God like the reformation will accomplish this, and for this we need to pray earnestly. The church of Jesus' day missed their Messiah and salvation through tradition taking over the church. We are in danger of the same loss today unless the church is reformed.