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Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
7Now when the
Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around
him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with
defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the
Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their
hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do
not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many
other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze
kettles.) 5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do
your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with
defiled hands?” 6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly
about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people
honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’
8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human
tradition.”
14Then he called the crowd again and said to them,
“Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing
outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are
what defile.” 21For it is from within, from the human heart,
that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery,
avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All
these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
·
We don’t talk
much about defiling, do we? It’s not a word we often use. It can mean soiling
something, but the idea takes us far beyond just getting dirty from work. It
bears the idea of a conscious decision to mess up something moral or spiritual that
should not be messed up.
·
Here Jesus is
faced with criticism of his disciples’ ritual impurity, that their behaviour
made them “unclean” according to the Law. What bothers Jesus is not the Law or
those who uphold it, but what comes down to a selfish interpretation of the
Law.
·
The Mosaic Law
states that things are to be done a certain way, specifically the washing of
food, pots and pans, and the person’s hands. We don’t usually see such things
as spiritual or religious duties. Then, should things not be done properly, it
was a matter religious defilement. Today we see it as a matter of hygiene and
proper preparation of food. The pandemic had reinforced the idea of washing our
hands often, although it really never was a bad idea.
·
Still Jesus
does say that defilement is possible and he makes sure that all his hearers
understand. Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a
person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what
defile. He lists a number of them and they have little or nothing
to do with the washing of pots and jugs and hands. They are not examples of
“ritual defilement.” Jesus tell us that it is from within the human heart that
true defilement comes and it is there that such things are to be dealt with.
·
The word
“defilement” still seems an odd one to use. Defilement appears to be related to
the term “sacred.” If that’s the case, what would “defiling” and “sacred” have
to do with us?
·
Could it be
that WE are sacred? The Book of Genesis tells us that we are made in the image
of God: So God created
humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and
female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) This may be
an important idea when we discuss this text.
·
The things
that corrupt and defile come from within the heart. I think we all know that.
We’ve seen it in history and often in our own lives. Without going into
the list of evil intentions that Jesus speaks of, we’ve all experienced this.
·
As an example
of the evil intention of the heart, look at the first letter to Timothy which
talks about money. For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil… (1 Timothy 6:10) It is not money, but the love of money – a corruption of the heart
– that causes the problem.
·
For this to
be remedied, there needs to be a change of heart, a conversion. This can only
happen through God’s grace, since none of us are without fault. It is through
the love and mercy of God that our hearts can be healed and redirected toward
the will of God and, in that, the common good of all creation.
·
It is in this
love and mercy that we all hope and this has been promised to us – freely given
by God through Jesus in the Spirit. It is in that Spirit of God that we live as
redeemed sinners and people of the Good News.
Listen
to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by
going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.
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