But their heart is far away from Me.

Mark 7:1-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem, ² and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) ⁵ The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” ⁶ And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁷ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” ⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ ¹² you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Jesus certainly was not a fan of the religious leaders in His day. Many times throughout His ministry here on earth He called them out for their hypocrisy. In today’s text He sums up His primary charge against the religious leaders, quoting the prophet Isaiah:  And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ⁷ ‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’            “Their hearts are far from Me”, that’s really the issue, God and Jesus want our hearts.   Jesus says the great commandment is this: “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”       In Deuteronomy 6:4-5, God is giving Israel the law and begins with:    "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.          It is first a matter of the heart.        

Religion is:  1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects:   the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

God is really not interested in religion. From the very beginning God created man in His own image. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27) In Genesis 3:8-9, after Adam and Eve sinned, through disobedience, we read:   They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”       God created man for fellowship and relationship not religion. After Adam and Eve sinned their guilt and shame caused separation from God. But God knowing their sin, still sought them out. God wanted to restore the fellowship and relationship between Him and them. From the very beginning, even though God gave the law, the rules and regulations for man to live by to try to live righteously, God had another plan to restore the relationship between Himself and sinful man. Speaking to the serpent in verse 15, God says: And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”   God gave the law, but He knew the law, religion could not restore the relationship that was lost. He had a plan.    God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Jesus came because God so loved the world. Jesus came because of love that through love He might reconcile man to God.  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) What religion cannot do God did because of and by love.

Jesus says: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”(Matthew 22:37-40)     The whole Law and the Prophets, all that is and was religion depends on love. God restored the broken relationship between man and Himself because of love and by love. If we want to see others restored and reconciled to God it will only be by and through love, not religion. It’s not that Jesus doesn’t love religious people, the church. In Ephesians 5, Paul is speaking about relationships, about love. He begins saying: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.   Later he says:  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ²⁸ So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹ for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of His body.

Religion is not the answer to reconcile sinners to God, it is through and by love. But the truth is God does want sinners to be reconciled, redeemed and restored. Religion is not the answer but, sin is the problem. In today’s text Jesus says:   “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. ²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”    It is not religion or secularism which saves or defiles a man. Evil and sin defile people. The love of Jesus, displayed on the cross, is the only thing which saves a person. Our religion, our rules, our regulation and our traditions cannot save a person from their sin. But, neither can our love save a person, if it only seeks to meet and satisfy their physical needs,  if it does not point them to the love of Christ. Jesus says: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)

In the garden God came looking for Adam and Eve because He loved them. He wanted to take away the guilt and shame of their sin. Jesus came because of love. He came to take away the guilt and shame of sin. Religion cannot save us from the defilement of sin. But the love of Christ, the love demonstrated on the cross calls us not to stay there.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ my Redeemer; Thank You for the demonstration of Your love for me, the cross of Christ. Thank You for calling me out of my sin and reconciling and restoring me through love to a relationship not religion. Holy Spirit, fill me and empower me with all the gifts of the Spirit, but most of all with love. But may it not be an empty human love which only seeks to satisfy and serve the needs of this physical realm. May it be true love, a love that points others to the only true love that matters, the cross of Christ.    Amen.