Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 85

March 26;      Mark 7:20;       35/260(IV);        ‘Defiled’

Mark 7:20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

As per usual, the Pharisees and scribes were looking to criticize Jesus and often they criticized His disciples as well.  These religious hypocrites were criticizing the disciples for eating bread without first washing their hands.  The Pharisees washed their hands in a special way according to the elders’ tradition.  They also washed various items in special ways.  It is easy to do outward things and feel very proud of yourself, when in reality the Lord is not interested in any of this except for the possible keeping yourself and your plates clean for eating purposes.  Jesus then teaches the multitude that it is what comes out of a person that defiles them and not what enters them.  The Lord went on to say that what comes out of a person’s heart is what defiles them.  Evil thoughts, immorality, murder and many other evil things defile a person.  Holding yourself accountable for what comes out of your mouth is what the Lord is interested in you dealing with.  Religion likes to look good, but there is no real spiritual substance to their superficial spirituality.  Additionally, they pray in areas everyone can watch them.  They give offerings in crowded streets so they can be admired by everyone as to how generous they are. They love to be given the best seats at banquets.  No wonder the people were so excited when Jesus came.  How refreshing and real His ministry was.  People could relate to Jesus and His teachings were with authority.  His miracles caused the multitudes to glorify God.  It is so easy to see that as the popularity of Jesus increased, the jealousy and hatred of the religious toward Him increased more and more.  Jesus exposed the religious hypocrisy.  Soon He would have to die.