Overview of: MarkToday's Reading:
Mark 7:1 – 9:13
"Religion, Faith, and Jesus"
Focus Verses: Mark 7:6-8, 13
6 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. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. - - - 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
Insight:
Jesus consistently confronted and denounced the religiosity that embraced external regulations, but missed God's heart and intent. What good did it do to have washed hands if your heart was filled with deceit and hate? Can lips really honor God if hearts are far from him?
You have missed the point of God's commands, Jesus told them, and reduced them to shallow rule-keeping. Worse, you have twisted God's commands and come up with ways to use them as a justification for doing the very things God condemns.
When Jesus ministered to the people of Tyre, Sidon, and Decapolis, he was taking hope and healing to people the Jews had written off as unclean. By doing this he was directly confronting the self-centered interpretations of the Mosaic Law and Abrahamic covenants that turned them into reasons to condemn an discard the Gentiles. God had promised Abraham that his descendants would bless all the nations. Jesus was living out God's covenant with Abraham when he healed the Syrophoenician woman's daughter and restored the hearing of the deaf man in Decapolis.
Response and Action:
I must be on guard against practicing religion that misses the point of God's intent. I must be careful to not replace God's heart and purposes with shallow tradition. To truly honor God, I must understand and live out his redemptive purposes in the world. As a follower of Christ, I must practice true religion that crosses barriers and shares God blessing. God's commands are intended not to cut us off from the world, but rather to help his people live in a way that blesses and saves others.
O God, save me from empty and self-deceived religion. Help me to discover true religion that loves you and lives for you. Help me to pursue holiness for the purpose of being ready to share your hope and redemption with the world around me. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, that I might live out your redemptive promise to bless to bless and save. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Genesis 12:2-3
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
In Context: Genesis 12:1-8
Proverb for Today: Prov. 8:35
"For whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and receives favor from the LORD."
Recommended Reading:
Jesus Without Religion
by Rick James
