Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (NRSV)
Read Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, Verse 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. Verse 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; Verse 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.) Verse 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?" Verse 6He said to them, "Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
Verse 14Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: Verse 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." Verse 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, Verse 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. Verse 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."
Devotion
C. S. Lewis once wrote that when people become Christians, if they are not careful, their sinning often shifts from the overt, outward, visible sins of lying, cheating, stealing, cursing and swearing, to the more inward, hidden, non-apparent invisible ones. Among these he lists "a critical spirit.” In fact, he points out that this sin is the one more commonly committed by church people than by those who are not.
Apparently, this problem has been around “God-believing folk” for a long time. Jesus even accuses the Pharisees and the scribes by quoting Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Today, let us look at those around us in the Spirit of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy rather than with eyes of criticism. Today, let us honor God with our lips and with our hearts.
Prayer
Gracious and Merciful God – You have made all of humanity in your image. May we see with your eyes, the beauty and the wonder of our fellow creatures. Amen