Clean and Unclean

Genesis 47:27-47:8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
March 13, 2010

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were unclean, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the market-place they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands? He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. And he said to them: You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that. Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 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'. After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. Are you so dull? he asked. Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) He went on: What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean'. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'. - Mark 7:1-23

A good heart is the source of a good life. Jesus comes into conflict with the scribes and Pharisees over the Law and Tradition. To keep from breaking the Law, the scribes announced detailed laws and interpretations. The body of these scribal pronouncements was known as the “oral law” or the Tradition of the Elders. Later the oral law was put into writing and is known as the Talmud. Jesus distinguishes between the law of God and the traditions of men. Jesus is asked why He does not require His disciples to observe the tradition by washing their hands before eating. Jesus points to the heart as the source of good living. It is not a matter of dirty hands but a dirty heart. Vices come from a filthy heart and they make a person unclean. On the other hand, a good heart will produce good deed.

The heart is the source and center of a human being. It is the mainspring of the watch, the source of the fountain. The heart is the spring from which water flows. To change one for the better is to change one’s heart. By nature his/her heart is evil. For this reason a person needs to be born again with a new heart that loves God. Out of a good heart comes a godly life.

Lord of all power and might, Author and Giver of all good things, graft in our hearts the love of Your name, increase in us true religion, nourish is with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing, Lima, OH
Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost Lutheran Book of Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House St. Louis
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