Look Inside First

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

LOOK INSIDE FIRST

Mark 7:14-15

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" 

NIV

Jesus is certainly continuing to discuss the accusations of the Pharisees about his disciples eating without washing their hands in the traditional ceremonial way. We have heard the phrase, “A little dirt won’t kill you” or something like that, but this is not about dirt, it is about the Pharisees and their extreme adherence to traditions that have no basis in the scriptures. We can make all our lists of do’s and don’ts, we can adhere to all sorts of rules and regulations, abstaining from certain foods, or drinks, types of entertainment or activities considered to be questionable that have been passed down to us from a more puritanical era but has no real basis in the scripture. Where does it actually say, “Do not smoke?” Where does it actually say, “Do not drink wine, or some other ‘adult beverage’?” Where does it actually say, “Do not eat red meat or pork, or sugar, or whatever else we what?” Jesus is making the point here that nothing we eat or drink makes us unclean, but it is the condition of our heart, or mind which makes us unclean. Sure we use that we such not defile our bodies because there are the temple of God. So if we refrain from drinking wine, but judge, accuse or gospel about those who do. Who has defiled their body according to what Jesus just said? Some desire to cling to rules and regulations thinking that is the way to holiness. But it is what is in our heart which makes us holy and it is what we think and say about others which make us unholy. It is back to the beginning again about who should we be following, the traditions of men or the commands of God? When we examine his commands, they are not about what we eat or drink, but about what is in our heart. Jesus said that what we think or what is in our heart is who we actually are (paraphrased). The commands of God deal with who we are on the inside, which is what comes out on the outside. So let us be more concerned with our heart rather than our stomach. Let us be more concerned with our thoughts rather than some rule about what we should or should not eat or drink, or how we should go about eating or drinking. If we desire to be clean, look inside first.