Sermon Notes - June 16, 2024
Follow Me / Mark 7 / Tradition or Truth?
Murray Watts
Recap: Mark 1-6 // Who is this Man?
He commands unclean spirits and they flee
He shows compassion for the lepers and they are cleansed
He lifts the paralyzed to their feet
He has the authority on earth to forgive sins!
He infuriates and confuses religious people
He teaches with AUTHOR-ity and casts out demons
He speaks to violent windstorms and they obey
He brings deliverance to oppressed outcasts that no one else can help
People that touch Him in faith get healed from incurable diseases
People that He touches get raised from the dead!
Tradition vs Truth
Mark 7:1-13
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Isaiah 29:1-13
Ah, Ariel, Ariel,
the city where David encamped!
Add year to year;
let the feasts run their round.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel,
and there shall be moaning and lamentation,
and she shall be to me like an Ariel.[a]
3 And I will encamp against you all around,
and will besiege you with towers
and I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 And you will be brought low; from the earth you shall speak,
and from the dust your speech will be bowed down;
your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost,
and from the dust your speech shall whisper.
5 But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust,
and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.
And in an instant, suddenly,
6 you will be visited by the Lord of hosts
with thunder and with earthquake and great noise,
with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
8 As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
that fight against Mount Zion.
9 Astonish yourselves and be astonished;
blind yourselves and be blind!
Be drunk, but not with wine;
stagger, but not with strong drink!
10 For the Lord has poured out upon you
a spirit of deep sleep,
and has closed your eyes (the prophets),
and covered your heads (the seers).
11 And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” 12 And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot read.”
13 And the Lord said:
“Because this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Isaiah prophesies a warning to Israel who has become spiritually deaf. He is bringing distress on them. BUT there's hope! We can know when the Messiah is coming when we start to see the things mentioned in Isaiah 29.
2 Timothy 3:5
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
These Pharisees (and us) have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power. This warning is for us today as well. There are places in our lives where we appear to be doing good but actually deny all the power.
Mark 7:14-23
Man's Traditions: God's Truth:
- outward forms; bondage - inward faith; liberty
- stifling rules - fundamental principles
- outward piety - true inward holiness
- neglect and/or replace God's Word - exalts God's Word
Mark 7:24-30
1. Proxy Deliverance
2. Non-Jew Ministry
3. "Bread" Ministry
Mark 7:31-37
Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah 35:5. He continues to announce His reign and rule by fulfilling prophecy and miracles.
Each story in Mark 7 deals with uncleanliness.
1. The Disciples are unclean because they don't wash their hands properly
2. The woman was unclean because of her culture that was known to worship other gods
3. The land of the Decapolis was unclean because the people had turned away from God in disobedience